I thank God for Larry and for this book of spiritual theology. May this slender volume bring insight, renewal, and conviction to all who read it. May the simplicity of a life lived in harmony with the Jesus of the Gospels become through us a beacon of hope and welcome to our neighbors.
Rev. Elaine A. Heath, PhD
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas
April 16, 2012
1. The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), and Longing for Spring: A New Vision for Wesleyan Community (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2010).
2. New Day and The Epworth Project, www.peopleofnewday.com and www.missionalwisdom.com/epworth/.
Preface to the Second Edition
A lot has happened over the past five years. I have a grandchild. I finished my doctorate. I have less hair than I used to, and it is snow white.
The Missional Wisdom Foundation has grown and changed too. Elaine Heath has become the dean of Duke Divinity School, where she is doing holy mischief while sending blessings on our work. Our lead team has grown to four with the addition of Dr. Heidi Miller, who is a dreamer, a spiritual guide, and an expert in worship, and Ms. Denise Crane, who brings years of executive management and lay leadership experience wrapped up in a bundle of energy steeped in the Christian mystics. We have thriving ministries in Dallas and Asheville, and have established strong footholds in Portland and Wichita. Our educational platforms have grown and become more sophisticated, and our educational offerings are expanding.
And our country has changed, or at least has found a new voice. The rhetoric points inward—keep immigrants out, bring jobs home, build walls and weapons to keep us safe. And often politicians try to tie their pet issues to Christianity. They would have us believe that Christianity is the opposite of Islam. The climate is angry and many feel threatened or unbalanced.
Which is why it is time for a second edition of this little book. Now more than ever, it is important for Christian people to clearly understand the life Jesus modeled for us and called us to live. We need clarity regarding what Christian people are to do in our daily lives, how we are to do it, and why we need to do it. In a time when we are tempted to hate and fear people who are not like us, we need to know what Jesus calls us to do. In a time when people try to lift our Christianity as a rationale justifying particular types of national behavior, we Christians need a clear understanding of the teaching of Jesus so that we might decide for ourselves.
Over the past five years, I have had the opportunity to teach from this book in a variety of settings. I have taught from it as part of the MWF’s Launch and Lead course on Missional Ecclesiology. I have used it in church-based small groups, in Sunday schools, and in large conferences. This edition includes some new information and new chapters that incorporate responses to the most common questions that readers have raised while studying the text, and I am very grateful for the insights and contributions of those who have studied with me.
When I was a little boy attending Sunday school and church with my mom and dad, one of my favorite hymns was “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”—number 514 in your red hymnal. While the theologically educated adult in me bristles a bit at such military metaphors today, I find myself humming that tune as I listen to the news. In times like these, it is important for us to “stand up, stand up,” to resist policies that are contrary to our Christian beliefs and for us to fervently pray for our leaders and our country. In order to do so, we need to grasp the what, how, and why of being a follower of Jesus.
Larry Duggins
March 2017
A Note on the Illustrations
The beautiful Celtic cross illustrations included in this edition of Simple Harmony are the work of Jeff Fitzpatrick Adams, a wonderful Irish artist who illuminated the Missional Wisdom Foundation Rule of Life. Jeff has transformed my early stick figures into memorable works of art, greatly enhancing this edition of Simple Harmony. I am very grateful to Jeff for his beautiful work.
You can find much more of Jeff’s art at www.facebook.com/IrishCelticIlluminations/.
1
The number of Torah commandments that are obligatory for all generations is 613: 248 of them are positive commandments, whose mnemonic is the number of parts in the human body; 365 of them are negative commandments, whose mnemonic is the number of days in the solar year.
—Maimonides, from the introduction to the Mishneh Torah (as translated by Mechon Mamre)
Tradition holds that Maimonides, the famous Jewish rabbi, philosopher, and mystic of twelfth-century Spain, compiled the authoritative list of the 613 mitzvoth or commandments of the Torah. Maimonides searched the scriptures and documented the rules—both the things an observant Jewish person should and should not do in daily life. His efforts reflect an ongoing challenge for Jews and Christians—how does one embrace the Law and the Prophets in such a way that allows them to be fully incorporated into daily life? Are there truly 613 rules that we must remember to please God, and if so, how in the world can we remember them as we live our lives? Are there even more rules to live by when Christian people take the teachings of the New Testament into account?
It is my belief that Jesus dramatically simplified our task of compliance with the Law through his life and his teachings. Jesus frequently argued with the religious scholars of his day for dwelling on the letter of the Law and missing its intent. He criticized leaders who emphasized compliance with the tiny details of the Law while ignoring the overarching theme of God’s love.
The four Gospels are full of examples of Jesus being condemned by religious people for healing people on the Sabbath. It is easy to dismiss those leaders as hypocrites, but I am sure that many of them honestly believed that the Sabbath rules, which were part of those 613 commandments that Maimonides later documented, were to be literally upheld in all circumstances. In modern life, lots of people view Christianity in this way. They either struggle to identify and live under strict rules that they find in the Bible, or they reject Christianity altogether because they are unwilling to live under a set of rules that they don’t really accept or understand. Exclusively focusing on the rules divides people into groups of those who follow and those who do not, and makes it both simple and natural to live life by judging others through our own personal understanding of the rules. I just don’t think that is what Jesus had in mind.
The problem is that many folks use the “rules” to define their understanding of what a Christian person is to do in everyday life. Theologians talk about this issue as the question of human “vocation.” Many people associate the word “vocation” with work, with what we do to earn a living. In this book, I would like to expand our understanding of vocation beyond simply what we do to earn money to a much broader definition that includes what we do in life. Seen this way, vocation is an answer to the oldest of questions: “Why do we exist?”
It seems unlikely that many of us would be comfortable taking a job without understanding what was expected of us in that job. We would want to know our working hours, what tasks would be expected of us, what tools would be available, and what we would be paid. We would spend time and energy before we accepted a job to develop a good understanding of what would be expected of us and what we could expect to receive in return.
Yet, many of us have no idea what a Christian person is to spend their time doing! When asked, most people will say something vague about being good or about loving people, but they cannot put their “job description” precisely into words. The issue becomes even cloudier when folks try to explain precisely how they should go about Christian life, or