"Saint Francis is someone who not only understood this holistic gospel but lived it in an empowered simplicity. He was unencumbered with the kinds of philosophical and theological subtleties that enable so many of us to escape from its requirements. Can we, too, live in such a way that we do not escape its requirements? Can we live in harmony with all three parts of the gospel — spiritual intimacy, evangelism, and justice? Is everyone called to develop mystical intimacy with Jesus? Is everyone expected to share Christ through evangelism and justice? Although the answer to these questions is yes, that does not mean that we give equal weight to all elements in our lives. Each of us is called by Christ to manifest some ways of living for Jesus more than others, as Paul talks about in his discussion of spiritual gifts in I Corinthians 12-14. But living with our spiritual gifts does not mean we pay exclusive attention to only one part of the gospel. For example, we may be called to teach what it means to have intimacy with Christ; we may be called to share Jesus through evangelism; we may be called to work more intentionally for social or other earthly changes. But no matter our calling, each of us is to be involved in an ongoing intimate relationship with Jesus, each of us is to always be ready to give 'an accounting for the hope that is in [us]' (I Peter 3:15), and each of us is to minister to the poor and to whoever or whatever in God's creation is oppressed. This means not only working to meet any short-term needs, but also being willing to work toward building a world that is more just. All three are part of Jesus' gospel, and each of us is called to express all three. The degrees to which these are conveyed in individuals' lives may differ, but none is optional, even if we are not attracted to one or more of them.
"We must all be in the business of connecting how we live with how we are affecting others who may be lost in their souls or in the system but are no less loved by God — no matter why they are lost, since Jesus came to save and serve us all. We therefore connect by asking ourselves questions such as these:
"Are we sharing the loving, redeeming message of Christ with others?
"Are we caring for our own family, our friends, and others in our social sphere?
"Are we championing the rights of those who cannot champion their own rights?
"Are we using our resources, such as our time, money, and our right to vote, to help the oppressed — both human and nonhuman — have a more acceptable quality of life?
"These are not just individual questions, since we cannot carry out Jesus' holistic gospel single-handedly. We and others, as the body of Christ, can only accomplish this mission by being incorporated into vital churches wherein people with differing gifts and callings can complement one another, encourage and build up one another, and support one another's respective ministries, all in the context of helping God's Kingdom to come, God's will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven. To do this, we believe these Christian communities need the kind of mystical spirituality that early Christians practiced and that gives impetus both to evangelism and to justice efforts. In this book we outline how that spirituality can be developed."
