Jesus for President (A Book Review)

Lately I have found my view of the world and my Christian role within it shaken up. In high school I remember debating with the social justice club leaders often, raising debates in law class and in sociology class... I have always enjoyed a theological sparring match and I was very passionate about upholding Christian values within Canadian social programs as well as legal restrictions (even though my lifestyle didn't always match these convictions, but that's another story entirely).

Lately I've been discovering that I have a lot of ideas, but few relationships. I have an idea where I stand on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage because of my biblical worldview, but ... my "knowledge" was flipped on it's head when I met a young man in a local high school. I have been running Christian Apologetics programs out of several local high schools and having an opportunity to interact with young people brave enough to call themselves Christians in one of the harshest environments there is.

After a particular session a young man approached me and said after lunch he has a spare period, and would it be ok if he and I went out for coffee to talk. Of course I was happy to take him out and pretty quick to pat myself on the back for making a "connection".

While we sat in a small coffee shop, as isolated as we could be, this 16 year old proceeded to tell me that he has grown up in the church, his parents are ministry leaders and recently he's discovered that he's attracted to other boys.

This young man poured his heart out to me about how he has prayed for over a year, nightly, that God would make him straight... that God would take this away and make him normal again. He's heard Romans 1 preached in church, he's heard that the feelings he has are unnatural, but the more he prays, the more frustrated he gets.

My heart broke for that young man as I thought, this young boy feels alone and terrified in the church... the church, that is the body of Christ, where he should feel the most embraced, love and accepted.

Recent events like this combined with reading several eye opening books have really made me reassess some things (mainly UnChristian by David Kinnaman as well as the one I will somewhat review). Don't get me wrong, I know what the bible says concerning these issues, but I also know the Jesus the bible describes, and that's where "Jesus for President" comes in.

Jesus for President is a book written by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw, two of the founders of an intentional faith community in the Kensington district in Philadelphia. These are two men who have chosen to truly sell everything they own and follow after Jesus... no possessions, just them, Jesus and a community of diverse needy people.

Their book describes the difficulty facing the modern (North) American church. Shane writes: "We are seeing more and more that the church has fallen in love with the state and that this love affair is killing the church’s imagination. The powerful benefits and temptations of running the world’s largest superpower have bent the church’s identity. Having power at its fingertips, the church often finds 'guiding the course of history' a more alluring goal than following the crucified Christ. Too often the patriotic values of pride and strength triumph over the spiritual virtues of humility, gentleness, and sacrificial love."

Chris Haw goes on to talk about how Nationalism is such a compromise to being a Kingdom citizen of heaven. This was where I began to feel my heart strings tugged a little.

Shane and Haw begin to question how living in the only remaining superpower nation affects our Christian lives. They examine the similarities between America and the Roman empire that was in power when the early Christians lived and wrote the New testament enduring. The two authors create a stark contrast between the early churches relationship to the empire in which they lived and modern America's attitude of church and state.

Claiborne and Haw describe out great undertaking as modern Christians is to navigate this sticky terrain. To try and live a life of love, sacrifice and faith within an empire that will preserve its interests at any cost.

Describing our biblical heroes relationship with "state"Claiborne writes, “The powers would drag them before governors and courts, beat them and insult them, feed them to beasts, and hang them on crosses. And hate [Christ's] followers is what the world did- at least for the first couple of hundred years.” The authors postulate that North American Christians have been able to escape persecution not because we live in a Christian nation, but because the church is content with the government’s Christian facade.

Perhaps Christians have forgotten that we are not only called to "believe" in Christ, but to "follow" him... and Jesus went places I don't think the church is ready to go. Into the dens of harlotry, into the houses of tax collectors and sinners... like the young boy I sat across the table from in that coffee shop, I realized these hurting, fragmented souls are those that Jesus most attracted... they came to HIM! Yet these are the people less likely to run to the church for the same love Jesus extended.

Perhaps Christians have become so used to living with power, luxury and blessing that we are hesitant to articulate a different way of living. What if we're not called to lobby to change laws without changing people's hearts? What if we're not called to ask people to live moral lives before we point them to Jesus? And what if our allegiance to our nation runs deeper than our allegiance to our God? What kind of church would that turn us into... or has that turned us into?

I know there are alot of things swirling around in my head and heart, and I'm struggling with articulating the change that needs to be made within my own life... it's that scary kind of change you don't want to be part of, but love compels you to...