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The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

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I really enjoyed this book. I won't touch Shane's theology. I know next to nothing about the evangelical church. I am a blue collar liberal "cradle" Episcopalian. What I noticed and want to comment on, is that Shane makes a lot of young man's errors. He tends toward self righteousness. He is glib. He thinks he discovered any number of problems that no one else ever noticed. He confuses lifestylism with social change.

I don't think his mistakes invalidate his ministry. He is a young man. He has a young man's energy and God knows Christianity needs that. I just wonder, as he matures, will he find himself slipping into an old man's errors? Can he avoid cynicism? World weariness? If life turns ugly, as it sometimes does, will he be able to resist bitterness?

I'm sure any number of theologians can criticize me for this, but I've found the way to God is through an open heart. Your haircut, even if it's dreadlocks, your address, even if it's the ghetto and your friends, even if they're radical, can't help you. If you remain open to God, sooner or later he will break you. I am curious to see how young Shane grows through that. I will certainly give him credit for acknowledging that eventuality.

If you're planning on reading this book to find a new leader and a new set of rules, don't bother. If you're willing to read this book to learn from a young man's earnest attempt to love God and his neighbor you will be rewarded.

Shane Claiborne has written a highly personal account of his journey as a follower of Christ and the call he feels to live radically for Christ. Much of The Irresistible Revolution is inspirational. Shane writes primarily to American evangelicals, who he calls out of their depressingly normal lives. Along the way, he levels numerous criticisms at the church, many of which seem on target.

The American evangelical church is in many ways indistinguishable from secular culture -- by its materialism, marketing, bigger-is-better mentality, and celebrity adoration. Worship services and youth ministry have almost become forms of entertainment. The church cultivates believers, but not always followers. Shane challenges his readers to take Jesus at his word when he spoke about the poor being blessed; the last being first; loving our enemies; denying ourselves; and serving Christ himself by serving the poor, lonely, sick, and imprisoned. And Shane criticizes the mixture of faith, patriotism, and conservative politics that characterizes parts of the evangelical landscape.

Shane doesn't beat up his readers. He writes with a light, often humorous touch. He teaches almost entirely through stories, mostly his own. One of his appealing qualities is his willingness to take the unconventional route, to take risks for God. He seems to have cultivated an enjoyment of risk-taking, almost like that of a prankster. There is a streak of mischievousness that runs through his stories.

I wanted to like this book. There isn't very much about my walk of faith that I would call radical. Serious and heart-felt, yes. Sacrificial, to a degree. But radical, very little. One line from the book has stayed with me: "We have insulated ourselves from miracles. We no longer live with such reckless faith that we need them. There is rarely room for the transcendent in our lives."

However, as I read deeper into the book I began to notice many problems. By the end of the book I was pretty tired of these problems, several of which I describe below. Nevertheless, The Irresistible Revolution contains many good observations and will probably inspire and stick with many readers.

Now for the problems:

- I noticed an occasional harshness, even scorn, toward Christians with whom Shane disagrees. I don't know why he thinks this attitude is okay.

- Shane criticizes the mixture of biblical faith and right wing politics that exists in much of the church today. But his own politics are clearly left wing and his own faith and vision for the church are just as tinged by those politics. Nowhere does he acknowledge the truly difficult judgments involved in rightly engaging the culture with the gospel. Nor does he acknowledge the long cultural and moral slide that the Christian right has tried to address or propose alternative ways to address it.

- Shane is anti-war and anti-death penalty. His theology on these issues is anchored in Jesus' teaching to love our enemies and appears to preclude any use of violent force under any circumstances. Does he even believe the fight against the Axis powers in World War II was wrong? One of his heroes is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who opposed the Nazi regime. Shane approvingly quotes Bonhoeffer and calls him a fellow resister, but nowhere mentions the problem (for a pacifist) that Bonhoeffer tried to assassinate Hitler.

- Shane condemns the Iraq war, but the war he condemns is a straw man. Based on his description, one would think the war is merely an American conquest of Iraq. In fact, it is more complicated, consisting of a war to depose Saddam Hussein, a war against the Jihadists who subsequently poured into Iraq to destabilize the new democracy, and a civil war between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

- At times Shane seems anti-capitalist, but he does not make his position completely clear, nor does he say what economic system would be an improvement over capitalism.

- Shane seems to romanticize the poor and credit to them a nobility that I don't see. He even refers to them as his teachers. The poor, at least the poor in America, are not simply victims of economic injustice. In my (limited) experience working with the homeless, I have mostly encountered people with a complex of problems, many being of their own making, and poverty being just one. These people are created by God and deserve practical help and love, but they are not particularly romantic or noble.

- In his anti-war and anti-poverty advocacy, Shane often expresses mushy sentiments about how we're all one big family, regardless of country, race, class, or religion. At times he seems to confuse the Body of Christ with the family of mankind. He sometimes sounds like mainline Protestantism of 50 years ago, with its de-emphasis of orthodox doctrines and its emphasis of the social gospel.

- Early in the book Shane refers to himself as a postmodern: "The things that transform us, especially us 'postmoderns,' are people and experiences. Political ideologies and religious doctrines just aren't very compelling, even if they're true." Perhaps I'm reading too much into these lines, but I found them disturbing. As a philosophical ideology, postmodernism holds that objective truth either does not exist or cannot be known; all one can know are stories, and no story is better than any other story. Reality, truth, and value are held to be arbitrary cultural and linguistic constructions. But Christianity has always claimed that objective truth exists and is knowable -- truth about God, mankind, and the world -- not exhaustive truth, but real truth. I don't know what we're left with if we abandon this philosophical foundation.

- Shane rightly asks what Jesus has to say about this life and this world, but at one point he asks a strange question: "Even if there were no heaven and there were no hell, would you still follow Jesus? Would you follow him for the life, joy, and fulfillment he gives you right now?" But Paul came very close to answering this question in 1 Corinthians 15: "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." And: "If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'" If the gospel offers anything, it offers hope -- hope that we are not accidents, that we are loved by a good God, that our lives are going somewhere, and that we don't face personal extinction at death. It is only this hope that gives sufficient impetus to follow Jesus.

Claiborne lives what many of us have dreamed of but not dared--a radical life of reaching the "least of these." It's hard to read his narratives without thinking, "How could I live like this?" "What would it take?" "Why don't I start?"

And, in part, that's the concern with this book. It skewers "the American dream" to such an extent that it is hard for the truly "ordinary" American to apply it without giving up trying. Had Claiborne been a tad more inviting and a tad more illustrative of how people living the American dream could at least take baby steps toward his revolutionary lifestyle, then perhaps many more would join the "kingdom movement." However, this tends to be the way with 30-something and younger Christian writers. It is all black and white, all or nothing, no middle ground, "my new way or your old highway." For all the talk of grace, some writing like this comes across judgmental and invents a brand new "holier than thou" attitude that yet a new generation 20 years from now will reject. Again, this is not to say that the book is not valid. It is to say that "with just a spoon full of sugar, the medicine goes down. . ."

Additionally, the application of Scripture at times seems more based on leftist cultural interpretation than contextual scriptural examination. For all the talk in the book about being counter-cultural, what seems to happen is that the book is counter-right-wing-cultural, but quite cozy with left-wing-cultural ideology. Regardless of where one stands on political/social issues, we should acknowledge when our exegesis reflects cultural immersion.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction , Spiritual Friends, and Soul Physicians.

As someone who lives in an intentional Christian community that emphasizes the inner, contemplative life of the church, it has been difficult for me to articulate and put flesh on my longings for this life of Christ within me to spill out onto the streets. Shane Claiborne succeeds in telling his community's--the Simple Way's--story...admirably.

For him, there is no dichotomy between the rich mystical experience of God's fellowship and the urgent need for ordinary radicals to live out God's justice and shalom. Page after page, the two go hand in hand.

The story of Shane and his friends will convict you--through Scripture, church history, struggle, and experience--in the best of all possible ways: not by piling on guilt but by assuring you that another world is indeed possible, one where the glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Shane has captured the complacency found in western Christianity. Personally I prefer deep books on theology, but this author has given us "street-wise" theology that needs to be read by every teen, collegiate, and adult. Shane has taken the essence of the message of Jesus and given a practical and pastoral theology. That does not mean it has become domesticated, not in the least. Shane Claiborne sees the phrase "Kingdom of God" and exchanged the world "Revolution" for the word "Kingdom." Does that make a difference? Not in what Jesus meant, but it greatly changes how people view the practicaly day to day workings of Jesus' life, ministry, teachings, and words. He freely shows how even the words of Jesus existed in the flesh through the works of Ghandi and Mother Teresa. Whether it is sleeping with the lepers or giving away everything he has to feed an empty stomach, Irresistible Revolution grabs the westernized, domesticated, once-a-week Christian and shakes them to the core with ideas and thoughts that rarely enter most church doors on a given Sunday. Does that mean I agree with it all? No. But reading a good book, like Shane's, is like eating fish...there is a lot of meat and a few bones to spit out. But in the end, I think every reader will be greatly satisfied with the meal after feasting on this book.

I read this book months ago, and waited until now to review it. It took me that long to pray through and digest this challenging view of the Christian life. But after going through it more than once and discussing it with college kids and seniors, theologians and new Christians, I have come to a few conclusions. Most of what I found in it has been covered well by other reviewers. Be sure to read the review titled, "Deeply Flawed" by PK Keith, he states very succinctly most of the flaws. But the points I bring up here I did not see in the other reviews.

First let me state that I want this book to motivate people to do great works for our Lord, His glory and the good of His children. So please do not allow my review to throw water on any fire that Shane might have been used to light. Take risks for the proclamation of the Gospel. But, be careful that you don't start to think that doing good works for poor people is the ultimate goal of the Christian life. The ultimate goal is to glorify God. Part of bringing Him glory is sharing His message with the world. One way to do that is to care for others. If this book has motivated you to live your life for others, then do so. But please understand that there are some very serious problems with how this Christian life is presented. First is the idea that poor people are in greater spiritual need than anyone else. Second is the idea that to do real ministry, you must go to people who have serious physical needs.

If you look at the ministry of Jesus and the disciples, you will see that they traveled the earth searching for those that had "ears to hear." Those that were in deep spiritual trouble and would respond to the message of the Cross. Every type of person is found being ministered to by Jesus. The lame, blind, ill, healthy, rich, poor, female, male, Jew, Gentile, Roman, Greek, Ethiopian, educated, uneducated, kings, slaves, and on down the line. The idea that the poor occupied a special place in His heart is simply not true.
I really don't know how Shane arrives at this conclusion. In fact, Scripture illustrates a different view. Think of the rich young ruler (Jesus seeks to address his spiritual need, but the young man refuses) and the widow with the two mites (Jesus used her as an example of virtue, not as one in need of help).
I am not saying that we should forget the poor and preach to the rich. I'm simply stating that economic status should not be the criteria for which we decide if people need ministry. If we do this, then those with deep spiritual needs will never be reached with the love of Christ.

Let me illustrate in this way. According to Claiborne, we in the suburbs of America are getting fat and complacent while those in real need are left to rot in the ghettos of the world. If we were as spiritually astute as those at the Simple Way, we would drop our charade and go do some real ministry. But there is a person I would like Shane to meet. She is a real person, but I will call her Tiffany. Tiffany is 14 years old, has never met her biological father and lives with her mother and stepfather in the suburbs of Atlanta. She recently found out that her mother has another daughter in her twenties who she gave up for adoption before Tiffany was born. Her mother drives a high dollar SUV and barely sees her daughter. In order to take her attention off of the emotional pain, Tiffany takes a razor to the inside of her biceps, cutting herself repeatedly. She usually wears long sleeved shirts, even in the summer. My question for Mr. Claiborne is this: If I leave for the ghetto, will you come to the suburbs and share with Tiffany? Will you let her know that her Father in Heaven will never leave her nor forsake her? Will you share the love of Christ with her? Or is she not in need of Him because she has 30 pairs of shoes?

The fallacy is this: One's economic situation is a NOT a direct correlation to their spiritual condition. If a person dressed in rags and in desperate need of a bath came to our fellowship, would it be wrong for us to assume that his spiritual condition was far worse than our own? Of course it would. The man might be a modern day John the Baptist. But is it not just as fallacious to assume that people with lots of money are less a priority than those who are poor?

Let me make myself clear. I am not saying that we should not care for the poor. I believe we in the modern Church have been horrible stewards of what God has given us. This is true. But I have discussed with many college students who have read Irresistible Revolution and think that they must go and live in the ghetto to properly serve God. This is not true. If you are a young Christian seeking guidance, use this book as a launch pad to consider God's call on your life. Read it, read other books. Talk to dozens of ministers and missionaries. But go where HE sends you, not where Shane does. I would never want to usurp a young person's call by making them feel as though there was only one way to truly minister in God's kingdom.

A final illustration. My family and I have been called to the United Kingdom to reach their post-Christian culture. We have no idea how. We have no method or detailed plan. We simply have a love for the people of the UK and a willingness to share His message. We also know that 13 years ago, God told us to go. We always thought it would be after we built up a strong ministry here in the States and our children were grown. But He has clearly said the time is now. When we share this fact with other people they often scoff at us. "The UK? Isn't that a Christian nation?" "Missionaries to England?" "You sure you're not just going on a long vacation in Europe?" This type of response is to be expected. People have taken hold of the idea that to be "sent out" means you have to go where people are in grave physical need. I believe that people in the UK have grave spiritual needs. I believe that you should go where He leads you. If others are called to a different place, praise God that together we will cover the globe. Someone must go to all the people. Shane has found his people. I have found my people. You too, must go to the Father and find yours. Then give yourself away.

In his book, The Irresistable Revolution: Life as an Ordinary Radical, Shane Claiborne speaks of his journey into love. He tells the stories of his life, a path that has led an upwardly mobile Christian young man into one of the worst neighborhoods I have ever been in. Although this book is full of radical theology (stuff that gets you to really fall in love with loving God's poor), it is communicated by stories. These tales are always delightful, often funny, and very confrontive to the ways of a middle-class suburbanite. Yet I don't feel guilty about my life by the time I am done with the book: I feel invited into serving God's poor and working to bring about a more just world, bit by bit. Shane shares with gentleness and care.

Shane is very careful to embrace the Christian church while at the same time challenge it to be more persistent with God's call to involve our lives with the poor and work for justice. It is not a riducule of evangelicalism, as he is clear that he is an evangelical; it is merely a relook at what evangelicalism can and should be about: living in the way that Jesus would have us to live.

And with all that said, Shane presents the downsides of solidarity with the poor while also sharing about the wonderful lifestyle of joy that can come about through creating what he calls the Kingdom of God. Life as an ordinary radical might lower your economic social status and it might put you on the FBI list of ones to watch, but it also allows you the opportunity to depend on your neighbors, play with children, and live without a lot of the worries that a materialistic culture brings.

The book reads easy enough for a middle schooler to get, and deep enough for a PhD to be moved. It is excellent material for group study. Pick up ten copies and have your Sunday School class dig in, and then go try some of the lifestyle stuff for yourself. It'll be awesome!!!

This book is a quick read that will leave you thinking (and praying) long after you're done with it. Shane's writting is witty and self-depricating, and yet he takes himself seriously as a disciple of Christ. He is not interested in finger-pointing or placing blame for what he sees as a chasm between what the Church is and what Christ called her to be, neither is he interested in glossing over each of our complicity in "the system". His book is a paper version of his tireless invitation to anyone who asks about his community, The Simple Way, "Come and see!" I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in following Christ--it would make a great introduction to radical Christian living. I can't wait to share it with friends and family and see what they think about the challenge of the Gospel as Shane lays it out.

In "Irresistible Revolution," Shane Claiborne tells of having dinner a few years back with John Dominic Crossan. During the conversation, Crossan said "he had met plenty of evangelical Christians, but not too many that still believed that ole rabbi really meant the stuff he said."

Claiborne's book is his account of trying to live a life out of the belief that Jesus really meant the stuff he said. From the account of his search for one true Christian, to his daily life in the inner city of Philadelphia, Claiborne is convinced there's a better way of doing Christianity - a better way of following Jesus - than what most people have had presented to them.

Although Claiborne is slightly self-conscious - I've heard two different messages in which he began by saying that he didn't look like what the hearers probably were used to seeing behind a podium - he tells his stories effortlessly. Even if you disagree with his conclusions about the war in Iraq or political activism, you'll come away from his accounts realizing that not only does he passionately believe, but he passionately acts. And when the day is done, his priority is the community of faith he helped found, called "The Simple Way."

At times, I was nearly moved to tears to realize that there are people in the United States who attempt to create community reminiscent of the Book of Acts, so much so that they give up many of the luxuries of life to do so. By the end of the book, in which Claiborne gives an "alter" call, I was encouraged and excited to know that he represents many of a new generation who are not content to believe, but feel compelled to act.

Once you pick up this book to read it you'll immediately find yourself uncomfortable and being challenged in ways you probably haven't thought much about. In other words, this was a deeply disturbing book as I was challenged by the author as to what kind of faith do I really have? In an "in your face" kind of brutal honesty, Shane writes from a deep passion and conviction to embody and live out the Gospel in our lives now and that the benefits of following Christ isn't just heaven, but it starts now. We can transform culture if we simply decide to live the way of an ordinary radical. This book has challenged and stretched me spiritually as to how I'm living as a follower of Christ or am I just another American consumeristic Christian?