April 15, 2008
Book Review: Jesus for President (Part 3)
Stories from within the alternative kingdom.
Let's make a couple of assumptions about a church leader who reads Jesus for President. First, he or she actually finishes the book despite the occasional punch in the gut. Second, that this same church leader agrees (on some level) with the premise that too much of our American church life has been shaped by our comfortable relationship with the state. If one accept both of these assumptions, what then?
While the book offers plenty of fodder for thought and conversation, it is not a how-to manual of subversive Kingdom living. Since most of us will not be leaving our churches to join a New Monastic community with Claiborne or Haw, what is our response? How do we serve and lead congregations that preserve Kingdom distinctiveness while demonstrating God's redemption to our neighbors?
One way to answer these questions is found in how Claiborne and Haw compose their book's last chapter: story telling. The authors claim, "Preserving the distinctiveness of the kingdom of God has always been the most important task for the church." And, "The only thing all Christians are called by the New Testament to imitate is Jesus' taking up his cross." Rather than tell us exactly how to do this, they've decided to show us in the final portion of the book.
They tell stories about missional robotics engineers, dumpster diving, making stuff "from the scraps of the empire," Amish forgiveness, defending the homeless, and alternative economics. The stories range from a peacekeeping trip to Iraq on the eve of the US invasion, to a young couple who adopted an old woman with Alzheimer's from the projects of Omaha.
There are stories that will startle the reader with their creativity. There are others, especially for church leaders, which will feel more like a rebuke. For example, the authors use Relational Tithe as an example of an organization that practices alternative economics. They write,
Church father Ignatius said that if our church is not marked by caring for the poor, the oppressed, and the hungry, then we are guilty of heresy- and a new reformation is long overdue. Some of us who were pretty discontent with how the church was embezzling money belonging to the poor to build buildings and pay staff began to dream again what it would look like to reimagine tithes and offerings, which God intended to be instruments of a redistributive economy? and we came up with the something beautiful and small- the relational tithe.
How do we serve and lead congregations that preserve Kingdom distinctiveness while demonstrating God's redemption to our neighbors? - that was the question I had as I approached the end of Jesus for President. Without directly answering that question perhaps Claiborne and Haw have answered the question. Maybe it's about sharing stories.
In each of our churches there are astonishing stories that happen every week. People caring for each other, sacrificing for each other, taking risks for the Kingdom. But if your church is like mine, you probably do not talk about these stories very often. Whether we wish to avoid pride or simply don't have enough time during our services, the result is many untold (yet inspiring) stories. Stories about people who are living as citizens of an alternative Kingdom. And while it may seem a tame response to a radical book, perhaps our first step is to become better storytellers.
The stories we tell shape us. What stories are being told in your church? Are they stories about power and influence that unwittingly celebrate the values of empire? Or, are you sharing the stories of ordinary people living out the extraordinary values of an alternative kingdom?
David Swanson is the associate pastor of Parkview Community Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and a regular contributor to Out of Ur. Read more from David at his blog, Signs of Life.
Posted by UrL Scaramanga on April 15, 2008
Comments
Thanks David for the 3 book reviews! FYI we have 2 videos of Shane talking about Jesus for President and a sample PDF to see the artwork inside the book at this link:
http://www.zondervan.com/JesusForPresident
Mike
Posted by: Mike at April 15, 2008
It's kinda of funny if you allow the humor to seep into consideration that for all our...heh... intellectual and technological advancement...not a lot has changed in community structure in the past...oh, what...four, five thousand years?
Regardless of religion, ethinicity, or geography the center of the community was/is the building where they go to worship.
That building served as a monument to the piety of the community in terms of both it's sacrificial giving to construct it, and as a representative of it's enduring faith for what they believed to be true.
I think it would help to contextualize the authors viewpoint so that we don't loose perspective of the why we have the buildings, or our very human, and at times misplaced sense of need for exhibitive piety.
Now granted, in todays world we still have edifices, and like every other faith, Christians deep down find that these buildings still serve as a testament to our piety and enduring faith. But I think these models of the past, like our toys from childhood, have served their purpose, and it's time to let them go.
How do we overhaul that mentality...that...I do not have an answer for.
I can suggest that perhaps, recognizing this need in ourselves to show off our piety can be...uh...hmm...redirected(?) to a more satisfying self-demonstration of both our piety and love for G-d and our neighbor.
Posted by: sheerahkahn at April 15, 2008
That frustration of feeling convicted after reading a book like this leads me to months of pendulum swinging. I go from one extreme to the other: one day I'm inspired for radical change in my life or ministry, the next I'm depressed and anxious and stuck. After a couple of years of this, I found a re-birth. I've found God anew in this frustration. I can't help but imagine that maybe this is just a little bit of what it was like for Jesus' disciples as they followed him around.
Posted by: Andrew at April 15, 2008
I have So enjoyed all three reviews of the book. I can't wait to get a copy and read it. Thank you for the fair and intriguing review you have posted over these posts.
Posted by: Kevin Bowman at April 15, 2008
“Preserving the distinctiveness of the kingdom of God has always been the most important task for the church.”
What does that mean and where is it in God's Word?
"the church was embezzling money belonging to the poor to build buildings and pay staff"
This is covetousness pure and simple. It is envy and bitterness. It is judgemental and unbiblical. It sounds like the publican talking about the tax collector.
Posted by: Richard Dennis Miller at April 15, 2008
Calling the Church's blind ignorance to its God-given mandate of meeting the needs of the poor and oppressed, embezzlement, is probably extreme. Yet, what else is it in reality? How do we justify things like lavish worship edifices in a world where young children have no alternative but to sell their bodies in order to keep from starving to death? How anyone can describe Claiborne and Haw's compassion and commitment to the poor with adjectives like covetousness, envy, bitterness, judgmental and unbiblical escapes my thinking. Sounds like a nerve has been hit to me.
Posted by: J.W. at April 17, 2008
Claiborne and Haw are covetous because they are advocating for the poor?
I'm no fan of the celebrity worship that will inevitably rise from this book around these guys...
BUT...
Those guys live in solidarity with folk and they aren't asking for redistribution so that the poor can live like professionals in the suburbs or yuppies in a trendy loft condo in the city.
First off, it's the "pharisee and the publican".
Secondly, that would be you in the role of the "pharisee".
Thanks for being a great case of Christians using the word "unbiblical" when what they really mean is: "I disagree" or "I don't like that".
Posted by: skeptical at April 18, 2008
John Wesley makes an excellent point regarding wealth creeping into the church:
"I fear, wherever riches have increased, the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore, I do not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of religion to continue long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality, and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches."
Get the moneychangers OUT NOW and start looking after the widows and orphans like we're supposed to. We're told we are provided our daily bread, not our daily wants.
Posted by: Sara at April 18, 2008