This interview is reprinted with permission from Green Churches.
Paul Schenderling (37) is married to Margje and together with their two children they live in Amersfoort. He quit his job as an economist at Berenschot to focus fully on his life's work: helping (church) communities, businesses and government to live within ecological limits of the earth. "The burden of Jesus is light, much lighter than if you make yourself the servant of any king."
Boy, that's quite something, to quit your job...
Originally an economist, I enjoyed working at Berenschot for 12 years. At the same time, I was working on the three platforms I co-founded: Living enough (churches), Just Enough (conscious consumers) and Postgroei Nederland (government). I don't like working a double working week and chose the foundation. Enough is also enough in terms of work.
Nice, but you will also have to work to have an income and make a living.
It is a misconception that we buy products with money. We buy products with our own time. For the money you want to buy products, you have to work. The question is what is important to you. For me, that is also mostly selfless love work: work you do without being paid for it. It is work that in our 24-hour economy can easily get squeezed. We are called to do just that work. By living on enough, you can free up time for that.
'Vocation' actually sounds very Biblical.
We have all received different love talents from God and are called to use them. In the family, in church and at work, all places where we can serve God. In the logic of work, everything is about efficiency. In the church, it is about charity, about paying attention to others. In a society where economic logic is applied to more and more areas, love loses out.
How would you translate that love language to the society of our time?
Wealth is a life of too much, poverty is a life of too little. We can eliminate this in a community where we are mutually dependent and everyone can contribute. Think of the Biblical model of a community economy in which every person is able to give.
Isn't it true that we mostly take a lot instead of giving?
True. Our standard of living could not exist if every person working for us received a living wage. That is why it is important that we buy less stuff, of good quality, that lasts. The very production of stuff has a lot of impact on the climate. A new logic is about justice. A just handling of resources of creation and a just payment.
We are sitting on a huge pile of money and stuff we don't use.
What was a key moment in your life to start working on this?
Two things. My uncle was in the mission in Peru. Through his stories of disparities between rich and poor, I became aware at a very young age how much our wealth contrasts with global poverty. Even well before I started studying economics, I was critical of economic theories.
The other point is about justice, as with the prophet Isaiah. We appropriate to ourselves a disproportionate share of the fruits of creation. The same applies to the fruits of the labour of others, in our time mostly in the global South. The difference in actual wages and living wages is a factor of 2 to 3, i.e. 200 to 300 per cent! The spiritual and social consequences of exploitation are immense. My grandmother - who recently turned 100 - tells me that her grandparents could not practice religion because they had to work seven days a week.
In that light, how do you view current political developments?
Autocracies like Russia but also the US are turning against international agreements and opting for the law of the jungle. This is where the God of the Bible turns against it. I think we as Europe are now at a t-junction. We can choose to take the path of the law of the jungle, in which we also demolish past attempts to protect workers and the environment. Or we can choose to take a European path, against autocracies and in favour of protecting our values.
What does living in the freedom of Christ mean to you?
That Jesus is King and no one else. The burden of Jesus is light, much lighter than if you make yourself the servant of any king. By living off enough, we don't have to work ourselves over the top, not conform to the ideal picture of social media. And, more importantly, we are set free to come into our own in a community of interdependence. Therefore, it is a light burden, one that especially requires us to give out to others. When you live this way, you create thriving communities: your relationship with God, with others, yourself and the earth. As in the circle of joy of life.
How can you engage with this in the church?
For this, we have five rules of thumb, which culminate in flourishing and joy of life:
- With every need, ask yourself if you really need it.
- If you think you need it, see if you can borrow, repair or create it.
- If you really need it and can't borrow it, buy something that is honestly and sustainably made and has a long lifespan.
- Let everything you don't need on a daily basis circulate in the community. We are sitting on a huge pile of money and stuff we don't use.
- You are going to find out that you need less money: think about how you will give away the money you have left over or turn into time.
