"What If Jesus Meant All of That Stuff?"

Here is a great article printed in "Esquire" magazine written by Shane Claiborne, a man I particularly look up to:

Shane Claiborne's "Letter To Non-Believers"

Shane was designated by the magazine to be one of the 30 Best and Brightest People of 2009. Knowing him through his writing, I am sure Shane was probably embarrassed by the designation but it at least gave him a chance to get the Message out to a wider audience.

I consider Shane to be a modern-day John the Baptist, an "ordinary radical" in the best sense. You can read a little more about him through his Wikipedia profile.

As a "radical", Shane often riles up many people in Christian circles. His "Esquire" article drew this response from popular writer, blogger, and pastor Kevin DeYoung.

I tend to agree less with Kevin's response and more with the message Shane communicates in his article, but they both write good things to ponder. Both agree that the Gospel needs to be shared in a compelling way, and that is something I can agree with as well.

(I'm in the middle of a book Shane recently co-wrote with Civil Rights leader John Perkins called "Follow Me To Freedom: Leading As An Ordinary Radical". It's fantastic. Once I finish, a review won't be far behind!)

Posted on: December 9, 2009 in Blog, Links
Tagged:

Randy

I tend to be pretty skeptical about anyone who says Christianity is all messed up and I understand what Jesus is really all about. That seems to be his message. My question is why should I believe you?

The only real sinners in his world are other Christians. He starts by apologizing but he does not apologize for himself. He apologizes on behalf of Christians. Not Christians like him but bad Christians which are all Christians not like him. This is the typical protestant canard. Your problem is not with God but with the church. If you embrace Jesus and reject the church you are golden.

In the end it is a false choice. Loving sinners does not imply hating moral law. Caring for the poor does not mean rejecting organized religion. A messy religion does not imply nobody is going to hell. We need to think about what guys like this say but don't make them saints.

People in religious life embrace a radical Christ-like lifestyle but they don't reject the church and much of her teaching. That is the model we need to follow. This guy has watered down the faith. He has just as much of the image of modern culture as he has the image of Jesus.
Mary

wow... what a neat message to send in esquire! and am glad you posted the responding article... i didn't realize people felt that way about the "new gospel" or even that it had a name.

thanks for sharing these things in your blog, brandon! hope you're doing great.
Dorothy

Great article! Thanks for sharing, anything from Shane Claiborne comes with some heavy hitting words. But we all need to hear the truth even if it hurts.
By the way, I just learned about these Convergence DVD's with Donlad Miller, do you know anything about them? I just watched a "commercial" for them on youtube but would like to hear from someone that has viewed them.
Brandon Vogt

Dorothy: I have not seen the videos in their entirety, but I have seen many clips and snippets from them.

I saw Don about a month ago on his A Million Miles In A Thousand Years" tour and he introduced (and previewed) the series that night.

It looks like it's a good series if only by looking at the participants. Phyllis Tickle is a wonderful woman, as is Lauren Winner. Both are very good speakers on faith, and both are outside-the-box thinkers like Don. For a good review of the films, check out:

http://tinyurl.com/ycc97kf