My brother Nathan and i are engaged in an email discussion about religion and spirituality. We have pages and pages of conversation, and i’m sure there’s a blog post or few in there somewhere. Eventually. But one of the things he suggested i do is read this book, Irresistible Revolution. He promised it wasn’t an evangelical book, but was a cool example of someone doing Christianity in a different way.
It may not have been evangelical, but it was a bit preachy at times. The author’s intended audience is people who are already Christians and are searching for more meaning in their Christianity. If this describes you, it was a very inspiring book. It is even inspired me, a nonbeliever, that i should be doing more for my community.
Basically, this kid grew up in what has become a traditional, white, suburban, protestant church. He finds this kind of Christianity getting stale and wants to go out and actually help the poor himself. And he does. He goes to the downtown parks at night and meets the homeless folks and befriends them. He goes to Calcutta and works alongside Mother Theresa. He founds The Simple Way, a community-sharing organization in Philadelphia.
The way he describes his journey is very moving. He touches on some themes i have seen explored elsewhere, about how typical Christians today are often aloof when it comes to the true challenges and suffering of the very needy. No doubt about it, the world would be a better place if people embodied more of the principles of how Jesus lived.
It’s been awhile since i read the book, and i’m just now getting around to writing about it, but i have two criticisms that i can recall:
- Jesus is my president. During the last presidential election, Shane wrote-in a candidate – Jesus. He has buttons that say “Jesus is My President”. I don’t understand this. You may want to live more like Jesus, but we still live in a human world, a world where some form of government exists in all cultures. Even in a tribal culture, they have clan chiefs and ways of disciplining each other and making rules for the society. Jesus can’t be your president, and i daresay he wouldn’t want the job.
- Let’s just end the war and show everyone God’s love. I hate the war, and i don’t know why we’re in Iraq. I can concede, though, that it is a delicate situation. Consider that Iran is trying to get nuclear weapons. What happens if they get them? Iran is an Islamic state. There is reason to be scared that they would lob a nuclear weapon at the US. Why might they do that? Because we are infidels. Anyway, we have a vested interest in preventing them from obtaining nuclear weaponry. What scares me is that if we “just end the war and show everyone God’s love,” then NYC will be obliterated. What scares me more is that there will be Christians who are happy about it, because it would mean the end of the world and Jesus’ return is imminent.
Those are two things that stuck with me after i finished Irresistible Revolution. The good stories stuck with me, too, and i will be making an effort to do more in my community. I can do (and secular organizations are already doing) a lot of good things in the world without a religious motivation.
I decided to find out what all the buzz is about, and i signed up for Twitter.