A quote from Kathy Escobar from Down We Go:

I began to see that Jesus doesn’t call us to a life of ascent where we move further and further away from the things of this world. Rather, I believe he calls us to a life of descent, of downward mobility, where we move down into the trenches of real life, real pain, real hope in our own lives and in the lives of others.

This is in deep contrast to the life of upward mobility that the world — and sometimes the church — beckons us toward. A life of comfort, predictability, and self-protection was never the idea. Jesus embodied downward mobility and calls us to the same.

To me, downward mobility is a matter of the heart, not financial resources. It is losing our lives instead of protecting them. Giving away our hearts instead of insulating them. Intersecting with pain instead of numbing it out. Entering into relationship with people different from us instead of staying comfortably separated. Learning instead of teaching. Practicing instead of theorizing.