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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
I really liked how this book made me think, about my beliefs, and why I think the things I think. I don't really agree with everything he says, but still think this book is great.
I greatly disagree with many of his methods, and more than a few of his . . . narrow (or narrowly explained) positions (and what I vaguely understand of them; I could be wrong). But oddly enough, quite a BIT of what he said, I've been know to lecture on (to a sad unwilling audience of friends and family). So I certainly don't think he's all wrong.
The power of this book is in seeing a position so radically different from what most people know. The stories and touching, and powerful and mind opening. It's good to see that there might be a better way, and that we should be standing up for it. It is absolutely a wake up call from apathy.
But it doesn't offer reasoning, balanced perspective, or even adequate explanation for statements--which makes the book accessible only to those who already agree with Mr. Claiborne--so if you go, go with the firm determination to try to understand and sympathize; to try to get why someone would see the world that way. I would not recommend anyone follow his positions with reckless abandon, just because he does so much good and so much right. There is far more to . . . just about everything . . . than the simplified hip version offered up.
The power of this book is in seeing a position so radically different from what most people know. The stories and touching, and powerful and mind opening. It's good to see that there might be a better way, and that we should be standing up for it. It is absolutely a wake up call from apathy.
But it doesn't offer reasoning, balanced perspective, or even adequate explanation for statements--which makes the book accessible only to those who already agree with Mr. Claiborne--so if you go, go with the firm determination to try to understand and sympathize; to try to get why someone would see the world that way. I would not recommend anyone follow his positions with reckless abandon, just because he does so much good and so much right. There is far more to . . . just about everything . . . than the simplified hip version offered up.
Qua inhoud erg goed, zet je erg aan het denken over wat voor keuzes je eigenlijk maakt voor je leven. Alleen jammer dat ik hem in het Nederlands gelezen heb, soms erger ik me aan de vertaling.
I liked this book, and I did not like this book. The reasons I did not like it, I think were personal problems. Overall, it was well-written with an amusing sense of humor, and a passionate spirituality. It was kind of like looking at your room in the mirror -- a different sort of perspective. Really, a perspective I'm not quite ready for. However, there was much food for thought, and I might come back to it some day.
Source: B-day present :)
This is going to be a shorter review since it's Saturday, it's non-fiction, and it was just amazing so I don't have any nits to pick. My very good friend gifted this to me for my birthday since she knows what a reader I am but that I don't really read a lot of non-fiction. Claiborne is one of her favorite authors and I'm excited to have been introduced to him.
Favorite Quote: "I have pledged allegiance to a King who loved evildoers so much he died for them...teaching us that there is something worth dying for but nothing worth killing for." (pg 365)
Trying to decide where exactly to start is quite difficult as the book covers a lot of ground following Claiborne's life as a Christian, from his inauthentic conversion as a youth, accepting something he didn't fully understand and tracing his adult life searching for that authentic faith and disturbing his comfortable lifestyle for something Christlike. It's a history but it's also a calling to work and an inspiration for where to go. The overwhelming impression I have is of the fire in Shane as he reaches out to us, very personally, trying to shake us up especially good for me as I had become somewhat complacent in the waning days of 2012. Additionally I found his writing style just very smooth and engaging even when it made me uncomfortable, either because I knew he was calling me out in a way I needed to be challenged or because I didn't entirely agree with him.
The other theme I would like to touch on is the seeming contradiction in the subtitle "an ordinary radical." How do those seemingly opposite words fit together in Claiborne's vision? Well he traces the word "radical" back to its origins in "root" and sees it as utterly fitting that his lifestyle is now more in line with that of those in the early church. If it seems odd to contemporary Western Christians, then that's more a reflection of the culture in which we immerse ourselves; it would seem typical to disciples in the early church. There are lots of other educational passages in this book and all together it was an excellent read and very jolting.
This is going to be a shorter review since it's Saturday, it's non-fiction, and it was just amazing so I don't have any nits to pick. My very good friend gifted this to me for my birthday since she knows what a reader I am but that I don't really read a lot of non-fiction. Claiborne is one of her favorite authors and I'm excited to have been introduced to him.
Favorite Quote: "I have pledged allegiance to a King who loved evildoers so much he died for them...teaching us that there is something worth dying for but nothing worth killing for." (pg 365)
Trying to decide where exactly to start is quite difficult as the book covers a lot of ground following Claiborne's life as a Christian, from his inauthentic conversion as a youth, accepting something he didn't fully understand and tracing his adult life searching for that authentic faith and disturbing his comfortable lifestyle for something Christlike. It's a history but it's also a calling to work and an inspiration for where to go. The overwhelming impression I have is of the fire in Shane as he reaches out to us, very personally, trying to shake us up especially good for me as I had become somewhat complacent in the waning days of 2012. Additionally I found his writing style just very smooth and engaging even when it made me uncomfortable, either because I knew he was calling me out in a way I needed to be challenged or because I didn't entirely agree with him.
The other theme I would like to touch on is the seeming contradiction in the subtitle "an ordinary radical." How do those seemingly opposite words fit together in Claiborne's vision? Well he traces the word "radical" back to its origins in "root" and sees it as utterly fitting that his lifestyle is now more in line with that of those in the early church. If it seems odd to contemporary Western Christians, then that's more a reflection of the culture in which we immerse ourselves; it would seem typical to disciples in the early church. There are lots of other educational passages in this book and all together it was an excellent read and very jolting.
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This is my introduction to Shane Claiborne, but it certainly won’t be the last book I read by him. This book is based on the idea that “ordinary radicals” are necessary to change the world into the place we want it to be. I have always been drawn to people’s personal stories of a life guided by spiritual principles rather than just spiritual rhetoric— books like the long loneliness by Dorothy day and See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur. The thing that I think all of these authors have in common is their courage, and I think they use their unique voices to show others that they can have courage too. Key quote - “What the world needs is people who believe so much in another world that they cannot help but begin enacting it now.”
Shane's book is a challenge to everyone to live a life not devoted to success and materialism but to find a way to live life in Christ's footsteps and make the world a better place. I loved that he does not suggest leaving the church but wants to create a movement within her to seek our reform and find in her something greater than where we are now.
His real world examples feel like you just sat down with him and asked how he had gotten to the point he is today. I will definitely have to reread this book to fully understand all his challenges and how they fit into my own life. I highly recommend this book for any Christians (young or old) disenchanted with the church and hoping to find a calling that asks for something more!
His real world examples feel like you just sat down with him and asked how he had gotten to the point he is today. I will definitely have to reread this book to fully understand all his challenges and how they fit into my own life. I highly recommend this book for any Christians (young or old) disenchanted with the church and hoping to find a calling that asks for something more!
This will be the next book I buy in large quantities while I work at Half Price Books so that I can gift it to everyone I know (like I did with Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts). THIS. BOOK. MIGHT. CHANGE. YOUR. LIFE.
My friend Amanda talks about wanting "to do the stuff" Jesus says in the Bible. "Let's do the stuff, church!" she says at our meetings on Saturday nights. The highest compliment she could pay you would be to say, "you did the stuff." Shane got wrecked by God because he had to audacity to "do the stuff" Jesus said.
I will be digesting this book for awhile. I hope the Holy Spirit will poke me "to do the stuff" like Shane and the others in this book have done. How can I say I believe in Jesus if I don't do what He asked?
Read this book. It will change your opinion of God. I'm serious.
My friend Amanda talks about wanting "to do the stuff" Jesus says in the Bible. "Let's do the stuff, church!" she says at our meetings on Saturday nights. The highest compliment she could pay you would be to say, "you did the stuff." Shane got wrecked by God because he had to audacity to "do the stuff" Jesus said.
I will be digesting this book for awhile. I hope the Holy Spirit will poke me "to do the stuff" like Shane and the others in this book have done. How can I say I believe in Jesus if I don't do what He asked?
Read this book. It will change your opinion of God. I'm serious.
Offers an interesting perspective for Christians interested in how to live out their faith in line with some of the "radical" teachings of Jesus. Shane poses questions about how professionalized nonprofits can help distance people from communities in need, even as they may efficiently deliver important services. It was definitely athought-provoking read for me.
I've rarely heard such an authentic voice in a Christian book. Claiborne passionately delivers his experiences, his beliefs, his struggles, and his dreams to the reader, trying to be both challenging and respectfully humble to the church and community.
His attitude and heart are a great witness.
His attitude and heart are a great witness.