#3 - Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne

The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

Shane Claiborne

Recommended by: My brother Chris

Purchased from: Berean Christian Book Stores

Rating: 9 out of 10

Synopsis (from Publishers Weekly): If there is such a thing as a disarming radical, 30-year-old Claiborne is it. A former Tennessee Methodist and born-again, high school prom king, Claiborne is now a founding member of one of a growing number of radical faith communities. His is called the Simple Way, located in a destitute neighborhood of Philadelphia. It is a house of young believers, some single, some married, who live among the poor and homeless. They call themselves "ordinary radicals" because they attempt to live like Christ and the earliest converts to Christianity, ignoring social status and unencumbered by material comforts.

My Review: I'm not sure if I've ever read a book that has smacked me upside the head like this one. I've been seriously considering how I live out my faith in the past few months. One evening, I was cleaning out my closet and I realized how many pairs of shoes I have. It's a ridiculous number. Not Imelda Marcos ridiculous, but still. I broke down. I cried and I cried. I couldn't believe that I had so many pairs of shoes -- and so many pairs that I never wore -- while there are millions of people who will never make enough money to even afford shoes. God broke my heart that night and I realized that perhaps we're not living in communion with other people like we should, helping each other out and shouldering each others' burdens. The more I read in the Bible, I'm getting a picture of a different community, one that is rooted in love instead of judgement, sharing instead of stockpiling wealth, helping instead of ignoring. This book served to drive that point home. I'm not sure what this looks like for my life yet, but my eyes are open to see the needs of the world now, so I'm hoping and praying God will do something with this sight He has given me. I'm excited about my Reading Challenge, but I'm also feeling called to get my hands dirty. Can't wait! 

The book is full of great insights, both from Claiborne and from other authors he quotes. Here is just a sample (my book is half highlighted!):

"It's not the parts of the Bible I don't understand that scare me, but the parts I do understand." (quoting Mark Twain, page 40)

"As I read the Scriptures about how the last will be first, I started wondering why I was working so hard to be first." (page 42)

"...we have insulated ourselves from miracles. We no longer live with such reckless faith that we need them." (page 48)

In reference to the removal of a cross from a mega-church because it makes people uncomfortable: "True, the cross is not always seeker sensitive. It is not comfortable. But it is the cornerstone of our faith, and I fear that when we remove the cross, we remove the central symbol of the nonviolence and grace of our Lover. If we remove the cross, we are in danger of promoting a very cheap grace. Perhaps it should make us uncomfortable. After all, it wasn't so comfy to get nailed there." (pages 106 and 107)

"Few people are interested in a religion that has nothing to say to the world and offers them only life after death, when what people are really wondering is whether there is life before death." (page 117)

"We are called to be the Good Samaritan, but after you lift so many people out of the ditch you start to ask, maybe the whole road to Jericho needs to be repaved." (page 153)

"Some of us have been told our whole lives that we are wretched, but the gospel reminds us that we are beautiful. Others of us have been told our whole lives that we are beautiful, but the gospel reminds us that we are wretched. The church is a place where we can stand up and say we are wretched, and everyone will nod and agree and remind us that we are also beautiful." (page 245)

No, really, I could go on and on. The book has a lot of stories of simple people living out their lives in love. Claiborne points out the inconsistencies between the church in America and the church in the Bible without being angry or condescending. He was funny and you could tell that his heart is bursting at the seams with love for the people in his Philadephia neighborhood. Still, I didn't agree with everything that he offered up in his book. For example, he's staunchly anti-war, but doesn't offer up an alternative when, say, an guy named Hilter is killing six million Jews. Yes, blessed are the peacemakers, but sometimes (in very, very rare instances), I think it might be necessary to take some just-war action. I'm not sure what Claiborne would have to say about it, considering one of the guys he quotes frequently, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, tried to assassinate Hitler. But my misgivings were few and far between and overall the book was one giant bucket of conviction. I have a hard time believing that someone could read it and remained unmoved.   

And yes, we are all insulated from the poor, but there are hundreds of other things that need our attention as well -- abused women, people being forced into slavery, the sexual exploitation of children, kids who die from malaria, the AIDS pandemic, people's hopeless lonliness, our culture of self-entitlement, etc. etc. etc. Shane's "Calcutta" is the poor (a reference to Mother Theresa), but I think we can all search out and find our own Calcuttas. We can discover where God needs us to go...and from there, with His guidance and mercy, we can make a difference.

And because of this book, I have several authors I want to read now -- Mother Theresa, Chuck Colson, Tony Campolo, Martin Luther King Jr., St. Francis, and others. My to-read list is growing every day!

More information about my 2009 Reading Challenge can be found here. As of yesterday, my total raised is $2,230 (not counting my boss's or my matching funds)!