The Irresistible Revolution
Living as an ordinary radical
Living as an ordinary radical
Shane Claiborne
http://www.thesimpleway.org/
http://www.thesimpleway.org/
The author confronts our ideas of what it is to be Christian from a very radical point of view. He lives among the poor in Philadelphia, PA in an organization called The Simple Way. Though his experiences here in this community and those that took place during his education studying theology. For a summer he worked with Mother Theresa in India with the lepers’ and the poor. He also studied at Willow Creek church for a short time which exposed him to the modern church. These life experiences lead him to the understanding of what he feels Jesus would do in our world. He explains this best with the statement asking us “when we stopped living Christianity and started to study it.”
Shane Claiborne often draws comparisons between those who give money but never really give time and connect what the problems of the poor. There are references to the idea that grace is cheap because we don’t want to pay the price. We admire Jesus and his followers for what he did but we are not willing to make the same sacrifice. The distant act of charity because those who have given helps those who need to receive but there is no interaction between the two. There is that distance between the rich and the poor. Early Christians believed that charity was merely the returning what we have stolen. And if there was not enough food for everyone they would fast until there was enough. If one child starves while one Christian has enough food then they are guilty of murder. We need to love others as ourselves. He express’s the belief that we need a theology rooted in abundance rather then the one of prosperity or poverty that we have today. One where we have just what we need and nothing more, having too much may cause us to disown God.
Some of the ideas that are presented in the book argue against the church of today. Shane Claiborne also pushes the idea of the politics in faith. And they are not always the ideal that so many of us may view as Christian. In fact his thought is that we as Christian should challenge the human authority that rules our world today with its wars and social upheavals. You may not agree with everything that he has to say but you must see the love of Jesus in his actions. There is also that fact that he feels that the mega churches are not what God wants Instead we should be looking to smaller and smaller churches. Jesus came as a small child, faith of a mustard seed,as God takes over the earth one small act of love at a time. Most important of all we must pray about everything!
Whether you chose to agree with everything or anything that Shane Claiborne says in his book, what he says makes you think about how we are as Christians in the world today.
Is his view of what Jesus would want true, I don’t know. I do feel that we need to question ourselves in the manner of what would Jesus do?
Shane Claiborne often draws comparisons between those who give money but never really give time and connect what the problems of the poor. There are references to the idea that grace is cheap because we don’t want to pay the price. We admire Jesus and his followers for what he did but we are not willing to make the same sacrifice. The distant act of charity because those who have given helps those who need to receive but there is no interaction between the two. There is that distance between the rich and the poor. Early Christians believed that charity was merely the returning what we have stolen. And if there was not enough food for everyone they would fast until there was enough. If one child starves while one Christian has enough food then they are guilty of murder. We need to love others as ourselves. He express’s the belief that we need a theology rooted in abundance rather then the one of prosperity or poverty that we have today. One where we have just what we need and nothing more, having too much may cause us to disown God.
Some of the ideas that are presented in the book argue against the church of today. Shane Claiborne also pushes the idea of the politics in faith. And they are not always the ideal that so many of us may view as Christian. In fact his thought is that we as Christian should challenge the human authority that rules our world today with its wars and social upheavals. You may not agree with everything that he has to say but you must see the love of Jesus in his actions. There is also that fact that he feels that the mega churches are not what God wants Instead we should be looking to smaller and smaller churches. Jesus came as a small child, faith of a mustard seed,as God takes over the earth one small act of love at a time. Most important of all we must pray about everything!
Whether you chose to agree with everything or anything that Shane Claiborne says in his book, what he says makes you think about how we are as Christians in the world today.
Is his view of what Jesus would want true, I don’t know. I do feel that we need to question ourselves in the manner of what would Jesus do?
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