Revolution is defined by my good friend Merriam-Webster as a sudden, radical, or complete change; the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed; an activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation; and a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something. Essentially, a revolution is a change of paradigm. Of course, the word also has scientific roots as a very literal way to define the action of a celestial body going around an axis and returning to its original position.
I’d say both of these definitions capture the essence of Shane Claiborne’s recent book, The Irresistible Revolution. Not only does he encourage readers to change the way we think about Christianity, I think he would argue that the new paradigm he sets forth is in fact, nothing new at all. Just like a planet taking a trip around the sun and returning to its original position, the revolution that Shane calls his readers to is irresistible precisely because it brings us back to where we started – a little closer to what Christianity was meant to look like all along.
I have heard Shane speak on one occasion, and anyone who has ever seen Shane will know that this guy is the absolute manifestation of the word “revolution.” He breathes new life into the term “counter-culture,” living with others in inner-city Philadelphia among the forgotten of society, in a community called The Simple Way, planting urban gardens in old tires and broken TV’s, sharing a communal pool of money to meet daily financial needs, and making his own clothes. I wish I could paste his picture in this post for you all to see his dreadlocks, but I’m still not that blog-savvy.
But as uncomfortable as Shane’s self-described counter-cool image might make a person (well, at least those who pride themselves in looking cool), his book had quite the opposite effect on me. A candid and unashamed discussion of the Church today and its role in our world, Shane asks questions that most don’t dare to voice, let alone discuss for 367 pages. And then he goes and does the unthinkable – he actually provides some answers.
Using his own life story as a canvas from which to paint a new picture of the church, Shane layers personal stories amidst concrete dialogue about the cultural conditions that are destroying our society and Church today, like poverty, war, consumerism, and nationalism.
He begins with his own origins of faith as a young teenager, describing the summers in Tennessee when he was born again….and again and again and again. He had become a believer, but had no idea what it meant to be a follower (p. 38). Most churches do a great job of teaching Christians what they should believe, but few teach us how we should live. He describes his interaction with a dead Church that offered little concern or response to a hurting world, and how his experiences with the homeless in Philly gave him a glimpse of revival.
He recounts moving stories of a summer he spent “interning” with Mother Theresa in Calcutta, India (yep, he just called “Momma T” up and asked her if he could come!), learning from the most destitute in the world how to truly live in community and complete dependence on one another (p. 73).
In odd contrast, he then moves on to an internship at Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, known by most as the largest Protestant Christian church in the nation. The culture shock he experienced moving from a leper colony in Calcutta, in which people went hungry, to the suburban upper-class Mid-West where the church had a food court on its “campus,” offered him a candid platform from which to discuss what the church ought to really look like and how it should spend its money.
He goes on to discuss economics, Iraq, and human rights, all sprinkled with scripture and personal stories, to remind us that Jesus had a lot to say about how we live in our world today, and that modern Christianity has lost its potency precisely because it has given up on going counter-culture and tried too hard to “fit in.”
I found the book highly offensive, but offensive in the most wonderful way. It speaks of a Christianity that calls me to die to myself in order that Christ might live in me. Shane reminds me again of the Jesus I signed up to follow ten years ago, the one who woos us to live and love and dance and play in a kingdom far different from our present home. He articulates so well many of the questions I have struggled with in recent years – how to embody kingdom ethics here on earth, and he offers hope to those like myself who had forgotten that it is possible to live against the grain with confidence and joy.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves frustrated with Christianity, scared of Christians, or bored with the “new life” they thought they would find when they put their faith in Christ. Claiborne’s book proves a revolution of the soul, and the revolution, I believe, truly is irresistible.
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