danielredbeard’s weblog

Last week I wrapped up Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, and I thought I’d jot down some impressions. As a grade school kid I had to do book reports, and think that what this is essentially.

So before I read IR, I read Jesus For President – which I reviewed here – and like J4P, I leave IR with a mixed bag of inspiration to challenge how I think, yet also disagreeing with Claiborne’s “this way or nothing” impression he emotes in both books.

On one hand I was blessed to read someone else in the Kingdom of God saying/thinking similar thoughts about the USA, war, the consistent value of life, poverty, and the state of the entertaining church. He and author Michael Frost have really pointed me in the direction of past authors who had been writing all of this stuff a long time ago, yet somehow it had been Westernized and made into watered down bullet points for an entertainment sermon.

All that aside, I found myself nodding in agreement with Claiborne’s thoughts on how our vows to country cannot coexist with our vows to the cross, to the Kingdom of God. It’s only a matter of time before Jesus’ words of being the only way to the Father (God) are considered “hate speech,” and Shane is one of several vocal prophets among us right now….IMHO.

Forget charismatics and conservatives, Methodists and Lutherans, Southern Baptists and Non-Denominationalists… it’s all as Tyler Durdin said: Polishing the brass on the Titanic. I love and agree with the prophetic messages within IR.

Where I part ways with Shane is in practice of how he lives, and assumes everyone else should live in practical terms. He is very much a city dweller, and his passion for it is contagious. His thoughts and practices on being wise stewards of Planet Earth have softened the hard mind of a Libertarian like me, and I find myself actually recycling plastic and paper these days. I’m even considering getting reusable shopping bags! WTF is happening to me?!?

But then Shane talks about the suburbs and rural areas with a tone that isn’t quite so friendly. Harsh criticisms coupled with condescension is how I’d put it. And this is where I believe Shane’s otherwise good message will be lost on many.

My friend Eric asked me what I thought of IR, and here is what I wrote him:

where i get uncomfortable is in the practical areas of life. while i find his life experiences and stories to be inspiring, i can’t relate.

i don’t think the average suburbanite could relate either. and while i know that’s sort of the point, there is a big elephant in the room of that shane can’t tell Joe Suburbanite, who has a load of debt, a wife who is not in sync with her husband, 3 kids:  ”i know what it’s like, and there is hope.”

instead i see a man of God who was called/led into this from college onward. for me, though, here i am living in a very nice home, in a great little village, with a mortgage, debt for a car and student loans, a kid, a wife who is not on the same page as me in just about everything… the template doesn’t quite fit that shane lays down.

what i’d like to hear more about is the suburban family he wrote about who live next to each other, do laundry together, etc. – maybe he pairs up with one of the many suburbanite house church leaders to hear what they’re doing to be Jesus in the Burbs, and write about that.

i guess what i’m saying/thinking is that i love the new breath that he and others (frost) are giving The Body. i’d just like to hear more stories of how it’s being done outside the inner city… while i write my own story

That pretty much sums up my biggest problem with IR: It puts the practicality of the Kingdom of God into a very narrow scope.

I have to say that I’m especially challenged by this because God is challenging me during this very weird season of life with what I think He blesses and uses. I used to have  a big chip on my shoulder against mega-churches because I am doing the house church thing. Then when my former house church imploded, I found rest for my weary soul at… a mega-church. Not just rest, either, but very specific rest, instruction, peace, and knowledge.

It left me with the humble thought of: How can I say what God uses or blesses? Who  the heck am I to think I know this? I don’t. I just have today and the work in front of me. That’s it.

So I hope that Shane is working on a book that opens his mind to the stuff happening in non-urban areas, or perhaps he’s inspired someone with more experience than me to write that book, give that lecture, or make those points.

At the end of the day, I’ll suggest that anyone read IR or J4P because they are worth it. They are worth reading and engaging. They must not be read and absorbed without critical thought, though. Glad I read them, and glad that a guy like Shane is out there saying these things.