About Jim
Rescue Jesus from Religion — Take Him Public
How? Promote the Way of Jesus, a.k.a. Otherlyness… the spirituality of serving.
The Three Practices of Otherlyness
• Be unusually interested in others
• Stay in the room with difference
• Refuse to compare my best with your worst
Tell Me More About Otherlyness
It looks like this…
• Notice, pay attention, pray for/bless and listen to others
• Join others in making their communities and world a better place
• Practice the spirituality of serving in personal, local and global ways.
And this…
• Noticing the checker at the grocery store, making eye contact and asking how she’s doing.
• Holding the door for someone
• Restraining yourself from talking and asking a question instead
• Identifying with groups our culture marginalizes
• Ignoring conservative/liberal labels and serving together
• Becoming experts in facilitating dialog
• Aligning your resources with existing social justice activist groups
What about Christians?
Many Christians participate in Otherlyness without calling it that. They serve in big as well as small ways. We simply want to encourage more of this behavior. We want followers of Jesus to be well known for practicing Otherlyness.
What about Religion?
Religion can be helpful unless it becomes preoccupied with beliefs. Beliefism (my beliefs are better than your beliefs) is often an attempt to legislate and control spirituality and runs counter to the practices of Otherlyness.
What about God/god?
Practicing Otherlyness does not require belief in God/god. You don’t need a higher power to practice Otherlyness. Many of us however have developed a confidence in and dependence upon the God who is Otherly. We attempt to live as if it’s true.