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Many of us find ourselves caught somewhere between unbelieving activists and inactive believers. We can write a check to feed starving children or hold signs in the streets and feel like we've made a difference without ever encountering the faces of the suffering masses. In this book, Shane Claiborne describes an authentic faith rooted in belief, action, and love, inviting us into a movement of the Spirit that begins inside each of us and extends into a broken world. Shane's faith led him to dress the wounds of lepers with Mother Teresa, visit families in Iraq amidst bombings, and dump $10,000 in coins and bills on Wall Street to redistribute wealth. Shane lives out this revolution each day in his local neighborhood, an impoverished community in North Philadelphia, by living among the homeless, helping local kids with homework, and "practicing resurrection" in the forgotten places of our world.--Publisher description.… (more)
User reviews
Though I do agree with what szarka said - he deserves better editing - I loved it, and can't recommend it highly enough.
Liberalism and reality are two different things.
I read this book marveling at the idealism and smiling at the innocence of youth.
But no, I could not fully embrace this book. He is a definite inspiration (even though he would deny it). The problem is like many crusaders, he has no room for those who does not follow his path. His path is one of extreme Christian community, where property is given up to the community to use for the Church (big 'C') and one fights for the underpriveleged - those who have none. The books traces his life, showing his theology through the events that formed it. His time serving the poor in Calcutta with Mother Teresa. His time in college fighting for the homeless. It led him to the realization that a major problem is that some of us have lots and others have none. So the solution? Give is all away to your Christian community.
This is where my problem is. It is not that we should be ready to give up "our" belongings to help one another. In this we agree. But his call is more radical yet he tries to make it universal. His is a reaction to a society where the lines of communication and community are broken. He seeks to restore them by removing the barrier of materialism. But his rejection comes across less like a rejection of materialism and more like a sneer at people who do not agree. A laugh. Rather than effectively engage people and show what can be accomplished by a little, what can be done by helping people to open their clenching hands and letting go of materialism to embrace community, the book ends up being one note and flat - sell all. By limiting his interpretation to a few verses, he misses on the true joy of people using their different gifts - in business, in ministry, in public service, in anything - and sharing as they can.
The book was not a manifesto as such - thoughts about social action were interspersed with anecdotes from Shane's own life. But it does present a call to action that would be difficult to overlook. Hopefully this book and Claiborne's work become a jumping-off point for many Christians today, to re-engage them in the church as we rethink what exactly the church means.
Claiborne's a third type of person. He's as idealistic and visionary as they come, but without rancor. He's managed to mature in his Kingdom-vision without losing his passion. I hesitated to read this book for a while because I assumed it would lay out some grand call to discipleship that would thoroughly discourage most of the Christians I know. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Irresistible Revolution tells of Claiborne's own experiments in living faithful to the gospel, along with some of the lessons he's learned. Instead of prescribing solutions to lukewarm Christendom, he presents a story that's so attractive you can't help but want to join in.
One of the best aspects of this book was Claiborne's humour. Here's an example. One of the times he was in court for civil disobedience, he called the prosecutor the persecutor by accident. Priceless. In a world that takes itself far too seriously, divine foolishness is one way to get noticed!
Reading Claiborne is like moving from the sin-heavy atmosphere of this world to the rarefied air of the Kingdom of God.
Note: A free review copy of this book was provided by Zondervan.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. For Shane, these are no longer repetitious words, atonally muttered in anticipation of a future era. They are today’s conviction.
At this point in my book review, I'm supposed to gleefully endorse Shane's revolutionary Christianity. Actually, the book was a bit troubling for me, more so as I saw shades of Jesus himself in its radical suggestions, for I cannot lend my support to some of Shane's teachings, and others, though just as unarguably Christ-like, I find myself unwilling to embrace. I find, like Shane, that Jesus was a radical activist, a role I am uncomfortable with. I agree with Shane that Jesus taught we should literally sell all and follow his humanitarian lead, and the only weak defense I can muster is to point out that that was 2,000 years ago. Shane's energy (fueled by a deep belief in the "Jesus of faith" and the Bible's inerrancy that I cannot share) left me drained and discouraged. I’d like my Jesus served up passive and agreeable, please, even when I know it ain’t so.
His attitude and heart are a great witness.
All negatives aside, I think this a great book that discusses ways we can be better stewards of what God has given us. Most of all, it provides examples of how to be involved in people's lives, be active in the world, how to better love our enemies and our neighbors instead of the complacency and apathy we find in today's American Christian pop-culture. It would do well for every Christian to read this book alongside David Platt's excellent book entitled, "Radical". It's all about getting out of the comfort zone of the American Dream and serving others in a BIG way that will affect change both on earth and for eternity.