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By Christina Crook
‘SERIOUSLY RIDICULOUS.’
An unusual concept, to say the least. Yet, the second
annual Canadian Youth Worker Conference (CYWC), sponsored by canadafire and
Youth Specialties, utilized the idea as a theme, with convincing ease.
As some speakers at the December 4 – 7 Toronto
event noted, the job of a youth worker, and the call of Christians at
large, is nothing less than seriously ridiculous.
On opening night, one speaker presented an appropriate
excerpt from a poem by Amena Brown: “God’s call is absurd. In
his world, virgins birth saviours, stutterers become speech-sayers,
backside of the mountain shepherds become kings, and old men past their
prime become fathers to generations.”
It’s tough to argue with this sentiment. The
kingdom of God has always been an upside down sort of place.
It’s a message Shane Claiborne – author of
the runaway bestsellers Irresistible Revolution and Jesus for President – resonated with.
“Is it God’s dream for CEOs to make 400
times their workers, or for a population that makes up five percent of the
world to consume 50 percent of the world’s resources?” This, he
emphasized, is truly ridiculous.
Listen Up TV’s
Melinda Estabrooks introduced Claiborne as the kind of man who “reeks
of humility.” It got a laugh – but this self-deprecation and
modesty have made Claiborne a smash hit.
A rising anti-consumerist mindset is flooding North
America – pioneered by the antiestablishment culture-jammers of Adbusters, whose global
headquarters resides on Canadian soil. As the world watches our
slight-of-hand economic system travel deeper down the rabbit hole, the
church has slowly been turning a corner – even if it is at the rate
of a Carnival cruise liner making a hairpin turn.
Adbusters’ faith
equivalent, Geez magazine,
has been giving voice to the Church of Stop Shopping and Buy Nothing
Christmas for the last three years. Today, dread-heads like Claiborne are
leading a counter-cultural revolution – and the mainstream Protestant
and evangelical church are taking stock.
“The questions when we get to heaven are not
going to be doctrinal,” Claiborne posited in front of a 900-strong
crowd. “They’re going to be: ‘When I was hungry, did you
feed me? When I was naked, did you clothe me? When I was in prison, did you
visit me?’
“In the words of Mother Teresa, ‘We are
called to serve Jesus in his most distressing disguises.’ Jesus came
for the sick, not the healthy. The church that changes the world will be a
people who are peculiar, a people who fascinate the world with
grace.”
Talk of spiritual disciplines and radical living filled
the halls and seminars of this year’s CYWC. This focus opened the
door to talk about the Christian approach to Christmas, particularly in
this time of economic crisis.
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As Claiborne suggested: “It is a rather strange
idea that we celebrate the baby refugee [Jesus] by buying stuff. Young
people are the ones who get this. They see the world we inherited from our
parents, which is fragile, and they don’t want it. They want to be
dared to live differently.”
Tony Campolo, Claiborne’s mentor and teacher at
Eastern University, followed in his student’s footsteps for a change.
He resonated with the younger man’s sentiments regarding the need to
resist the allure of comforts and power.
The popular and often controversial author stated:
“Power is not the way the church is going to change the world.
It’s through true authority: tens of thousands of acts of
love.”
Conference attendees like Terrence Hoffarth, a Youth
For Christ worker from Wetaskiwin, Alberta, found the CYWC speakers
reinforced a focus on love rather than programming.
“I work with First Nations youth, and
there’s nothing quick on a reserve. You have to be ready for the long
haul. People respect you for the time you spend – your humour and
care – not what you say.”
Laura Bronson, who is with the skate ministry Keep it
Real in the Greater Toronto Area – found the event very helpful.
“Attending the CYWC feels like an
honour,” she said. “All of the greats and all of our heroes are
here. We’re sitting at a PAOC dinner, and Tony Campolo’s right
beside us.
“We’ve learned so much – and it
encourages us that one day maybe we can do a seminar too. We’re for
sure coming next year.”
Christina Crook was a speaker at the CYWC conference.
She owns The Word Studio and is associate editor of Christian Info
Society’s Options magazine.
January 2009
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