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Living and Loving as an Ordinary Radical
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The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne
review by Sandra Whittington
From being a Jesus freak to exemplifying the true authenticity of sharing God’s inclusive love with all his people, Shane’s life journeys, religious revelations, and social injustice crusades inspire us all to discover the true meaning of “whosoever” in the teachings of Jesus Christ. He taps into the heart of commercialized religion revealing the messiness of church politics and egotism in the name of Christianity.
Story after story, Shane walks us through the concepts of “giving up Christianity in order to follow Jesus”; being called to be faithful, not successful, and the idea that we can do no great things, just small things with great love. He causes us to ponder: How do we embrace the least, the last and the lost from the comfort of our church pew all in the name of Jesus? How do we feed the hungry one day a week knowing we have full stomachs every day? How do we relate to the homeless when every night we lay in warm beds of our own? He challenges us all to face the uncomfortable cross of our personal riches. We can not compromise the cost of discipleship in order to draw a larger crowd because when we do, the Christian identity is lost and cheapened. And we are cheapening the very grace that people need to experience! It is that “cheap grace” that some look to in order to buy their way into heaven; although true giving is of the heart and not the pocket. As Gandhi puts it so well, “There is enough for everyone’s need but there is not enough for everyone’s greed.”
The Irresistible Revolution is your personal journey to discovering inclusive love and the true meaning of the Great Commission through the eyes of the least, the last and the lost. It’s leaving the church’s religious, systematic ideas of ministering to all God’s people to embracing and living by the example Jesus set time and time again for us. It is carrying our uncomfortable cross of biased judgmental Christian beliefs and interpretations until we find the hope and faith to let it go and not die on our own crosses.
It is in those moments of truth and pain that we find the strength and the light of the “Son” to live as an ordinary radical every day.
– Sandra Whittington
We are asking each member, regular attendee, and friend of St. John’s MCC to prayerfully consider your individual level of participation in this drive and make your gift by the end of March 2012. Please click here for more information.
Thank you, and may God add a blessing to your gift … your intentional act of generosity to our community of faith.
We invite you to share your thoughts and impressions of your favorite spiritual books. In particular, we’d like to know why they meant so much to you and how you think others could benefit from them.
When you have your review/reflection written, send it to Sandra Whittington or Shaun Harr. Please be sure to note in your message if we can put your name with the review on our website.
