The Irresistbile Revolution

So I am on to February books ... The Irresistible Revolution (one that Rob recommended to me) and Made to Stick (which I skimmed once, but am now going to read cover to cover).

Irresistible Revolution is rockin' my world. I'm not a big reader. I don't like to read. I'm slow at it becasue I try to digest every word, and, at times, for me it's the equivalent of telling an ADHD child to sit in the corner and be still. They're not good at it and neither am I. HOWEVER, I read because I love to learn. My love for learning trumps my hate for reading ... so I read. Very seldom have I found a book "I just can't put down." Irresistible Revolution is becoming one of those few books that fit into that category. Here are the random (and I do mean random) things I highlighted from the first 35 pages.

"I am alone, surrounded by unbelieving activists and inactive believers. Where are the true Christians?" A "silent majority" is developing as a growing number of folks are deliberately distancing themselves from the noise and arrogance that have come to mark both evangelical Christianity and secular activism.

In college, one of my professors said, "Don't let the world steal your soul. Being a Christian is about choosing Jesus and deciding to do something incredibly daring with your life."

"How about that, you're a preacher ... I'd go to a church that would let you preach!" I thought to myself, wouldn't we all go to a church that believes in ordinary fools and ragamuffins and whose gospel is actually good news?

And in an era of smart bombs, maybe the world needs more fools. There have always been "fools" in the imperial courts, but it's an interesting age when folks trust the court jesters more than the court itself.

I don't really fit into the old liberal conservative boxes, so it's a good thing we are moving on to something new. My activist friends call me conservative, and my religious friends call me liberal. What I often get branded is "radical." I've never really minded that, for as my urban-farming friends remind me, the word radical itself means "root." It's from the Latin word radix, which just like a rad-ish, has to do with getting to the root of things. But radical is not something reserved for saints and martyrs, which is why I like to complement it with ordinary. Ordinary does not mean normal, and I lament the dreadful seduction which has resulted in Christians become so normal.

So I am a radical in the truest sense of the word: an ordinary radical who wants to get at the root of what it means to love, ...

People are no longer convicned that the "Moral Majority" is either moral or the majority.

And yet attendtinve ears can hear the ancient whisper reminding us that another world is possible.

Today we can hear the whisper where we least expect it: in a baby refugee and in a homeless rabbi, in crack addicts and displaced children, in a groaning creation. Indian activist and author Arundhati Roy proclaimed at the World Social Forum in Brazil, "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." The whisper cries out for God to save the church from us Christians and breathe new life int the aging Body.

New prophets are rising up who try to change the future, not just predict it.

... a generation that stops complaining about the church it sees and becomes the church it dreams of.

Our problem is that we no longer have martyrs. We only have celebritiies.

There's a lot of shouting and sweating, but the people seem too superhuman, and I'm not convinced all the moves are real. And as with any sports event, there are tons of spectators, desperately in need of exercise, who sit back and watch a handful of people who could really use a little break, and maybe a nice massage.

Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. Luke 6:26

It's hard to disagree with a story, much less split a church or kill people over one.

Besides, people seem to loosen up after a good story. I think that's why Jesus told so many stories -- stories about ordinary first-century Mediterranean life, stories of widows and orphans, debts and wages, workers and landlords, courts and banquets.

The point is not to give you all of the answers but to stir up some of the questions. Some of us haven't even asked the right questions, or found a church that would let us. I trust that as we ask questions together, the Spirit will guide us along the Way.

There are a lot of people speaking the truth with no love, and there are a lot of people talking about love without much truth.

And there are enough white men writing books. Most good things have been said far too many times and just need to be lived.

Publishing a book validates what you have to say, and that's something we should all be careful of.

When people hear you wrote a book, they listen to what you have to say.

And there are tons of good people with something to say who will never write a book. (How about Jesus, for starters?)