Claiborne, Shane. The Irresistible Revolution: Living As An Ordinary Radical. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 2006.
When I picked up this book, I was excited. The concept of an irresistible revolution seemed like powerful concept in touching people for Christ. Within just the first few pages, I began to see labels such as activist and manifesto. Immediately, my walls went up because I am so distrustful of “political Christianity”, having seen so much of what I consider shallow and manipulative positioning in recent years in the United States from so-called Christian, moral movements. But within just one chapter, I realized that I had stumbled onto one of the most compelling books I have ever read - honestly. I read about the life that Shane Claiborne and his group lead. Starting out as a group of college friends in Philadelphia, they get involved with a group that serves the homeless, living in an abandoned church in the city. From that experience onward, these friends continue living among the poor, with their own wealth “redistributed”, in an abandoned building being reclaimed as their home. Even to this day, you learn on Claiborne’s website, they live in the same neighborhood as all those years ago.
From out of this story, Claiborne gleans his core beliefs and how they could revolutionize the church. Although, he talks in detail about his own experience, he does not give steps as to how to live and serve in the way that he does, but through the stories alone, he inspires the reader to want something deeper, not only in their belief of God, but also in their walk in the world as believers. The book is filled with more than a dozen core values that I found that I hope to incorporate fully into my own set of ideas and actions (my own book is covered from front to back with purple highlighter and post-it flags). They are more valuable and disarming when you discover them for yourself, but there are a couple beliefs that really appeared to me so clearly, maybe for the first time through this book that I want to share them.
First, Claiborne believes in an earthiness of Christianity- a grounding in the reality of what is actually happening in the world - coupled with hope. He has a sincere view of heaven, but believes that when we really hold that picture of heaven as valuable and real, we wouldn’t want to wait for it to begin - instead we would try to live like what we dream of and wait for.
Secondly, he embodies engagement. He states that the insulation that many Americans exist in, safe in the suburbs, is what allows them to live in complacency. This is the cure for whatever apathy a person might be feeling about the world and their role in it. I believe it would change young adults and those who serve them if they would make the commitment to interacting with their community in a truly incarnational way. Like Jesus came and lived among us, I was challenged to form friendships with others so that reaching out to meet their needs and love them as Christ loves is much more natural. This means that instead of encouraging people to write a check to a charity, the church, and each member of it, would be committed to having experiences with those in need around us.
Finally, the key of what he said is that we have to take Christ seriously in his commands on how to live. He states that digging into Scripture and viewing how Christ lived and interacted with people is the foundation of character development that grows into a lifestyle of activism - of radical love of humanity. In other words, he challenges young adults in America, don’t believe Christ...follow Christ! That is what he invited his disciples to from the beginning and we have to take seriously the fact that Jesus call for us to be disciples isn’t different now than in the first place.
It is not only the revolutionary concepts of Shane Claiborne expressed in this book that are great, it is also the vast number of intriguing personal experiences that have lead him to these thoughts. From studying in suburban Chicago with churches set up like malls, to spending a summer with Mother Theresa, his life takes you on your own journey of belief that makes you want to grow, be more real with Christ and be part of his work in the world. It is a powerful book that sends a lightning bolt right into the blind spots that you didn’t even know you had or realized how big they were. I am haunted by the implications of this book on my own lifestyle even now, and fully intend to pick it up and flip to my post-it notes every time comfort starts to dull my senses of God’s plan for my life. I encourage you to do the same.
