"Simple" lifestyle...?

The Lausanne Covenant of 1974 is a foundational document for contemporary evangelical understanding of what the Church is and what it ought to be doing. (Check it out at www.lausanne.org)

But it's interesting that Billy Graham's wife wouldn't sign it.

She objected to one particular clause that calls rich, western Christians to a "simple lifestyle", principally because she argued that it was beyond definition. Mrs Graham preferred the wording, "simpler lifestyle" - she didn't get her way, refused to sign up to the Covenant, and the rest is history.

But what's really at stake here? Issues of poverty and equality have taken backstage somewhat for evangelicals over much of the last century. But recent emphases - particularly the Make Poverty History campaign - have marked something of a sea-change in thinking as evangelicals have 'rediscovered' their social conscience, at least in Britain. Responsibility for the environment is back into our theologies of creation, and may be filtering slowly down into our churches as well.

But what is the situation in the US? Or in China? My uncle - a naturalised American citizen - remarked to me last week that most American Christians have never even heard of the Kyoto treaty, and have little or no idea what was at stake at the G8 summit last year. Narrow, dispensational theology, and a focus on 'personal' moral issues such as abortion and homosexuality at the expense of global injustices and issues such as climate change, have perhaps taken some of the edge off the gospel's radical call. I was part of a church in Japan for 3 years and never once heard (or preached) a sermon that got beyond salvation as something essentially personal, private, and ultimately world-denying. The emphasis on sharing faith was essentially a call to get into the lifeboat in time to jump the sinking ship. It didn't really strike me that tithing (while it no doubt had value as an expression of obedience) was basically just giving to my own little group, to serve our own little interests. Never was a challenge issued to western (or Japanese) affluence per se. In fact, most would probably have thought it wrong to issue any such challenge.

Does Jesus call us to a 'simple' lifestyle? Would you sign the Lausanne covenant? If so, what does it mean, for God's world and not just for you, to lead a simple lifestyle?