Political misfits and social refugees

I just finished reading Shane Claiborne's new book "Jesus for President". And let me just say that this is a must read for Christ followers. In the same sense as his previous book "Irresistible Revolution", Shane challenges the theology of his reader to more completely embrace the modest life and hard teachings of Jesus of Nazareth pertaining to the church's obligation to care for the poor and opressed. However, in this new book, Shane speaks up regarding the modern day political expressions of people who are otherwise recognized as Christians and then compares those political expressions to those of Jesus, Himself.

This book could not have come at a better time for me having just been introduced to Rick Warren's P.E.A.C.E. plan and feeling a great call to become more deliberate in the ways that my faith is expressed in my ministry and actions towards those less fortunate than me. Here are some defining quotes from the book:

"This book is a project in renewing the imagination of the church in the United States and those who would seek to know Jesus. 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."

"My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man. My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood. It's to a King and a Kingdom."

"You my church told me it was wrong to kill...except in war. You my teachers told me it was wrong to kill...except in war. You my father and mother told me it was wrong to kill...except in war. You my friends told me it was wrong to kill...except in war. You my government told me it was wrong to kill...except in war. But now I know, you were wrong, and now I will tell you my church, my teachers, my father and mother, my friends, and my government it is not wrong to kill except in war...It's simply wrong to kill. The executioner's blade is always dulled by grace. Friends, since the establishment of the new covenant there is not one single mention in New Testament Scripture in which God calls His people to kill others."

Grace and Peace to you.