Key Quotes
“Every day we move towards the places of brokenness – we do this in loving community out of a story of redemption, with a robust ethical vision, counter cultural practices, under the authority of the Creator, lovingly exerting redemptive influence for His glory. Wherever you live, whatever your work is, I invite you to consider becoming a Creative Minority so you can redemptively influence the world that Jesus so dearly loves.”
Summary
The authors use the example of ‘Forest Man’, Jadav Payeng, as an example of the power of ‘small acts of faithfulness done again and again and again.’ The island he lives on, Majuli, in North East India, is threatened with extinction through erosion. His response has been to try to counteract this by singlehandedly planting 1300 acres of forest, one tree at a time, since 1979. He is an example of how we might counter the erosion of our society through faithful presence and redemptive participation. In the last words of the book (see above) we are reminded of the six characteristic of a creative minority:
- Living in and from authentic covenant community
- Living by an alternative narrative to the world – the gospel
- Pursuing an alternative moral vision
- Engaging in alternative countercultural practices
- Living under the alternative authority of our Creator
- Redemptively participating in, and so influencing, the world
Questions for Reflection
- What does the story of Jadav Payeng say to you – in what way might ‘small acts of faithfulness’ repeated have a redemptive influence in our world?
- Which of the six characteristics do you find most compelling and why?
- What do you think it might look like for to live by these six characteristics as part of a creative minority?
There is a PDF combing all these studies together here.