Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals

I found the style and layout of the book kind of irritating-- it's like reading a scrapbook and it's tone is a bit juvenile. But the message is spot on. I read it after an evangelical Baptist friend of mine recommended it to me. During high school she didn't want to have anything to do with our mutual friend who is gay. After reading this, she has apologized to that friend and is now a really devoted environmental activist (a cause she always cared about, but now she has her faith behind it). I passed it on to a friend of mine who is a very out there anarchist and just discovering God, and he liked it to. That sort of resonance across people makes me think it has some Truth in it.

I picked this up because I kept reading about it from some friends on Facebook. I'm glad I did. This book will stretch you if you allow it. If you can get past your patriotic identity, this book will challenge you to rethink your place as a follower in Christ in The United States (or whatever country you live in). I did not like Claiborne's first book, The Irresistible Revolution. I felt like he was preaching to me how great a Christian he was compared to how poor a Christian I was because I didn't do the kind of things he did. But Jesus for President is a different kind of monster. I just read Rob Bell's newest book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians and the two are very similar. The major difference is Claiborne is in your face and won't let your cheeks go. The authors begin with the Hebrew Scriptures (The Old Testament) and explain how God wanted His people to live. Then how the people of God decided they had enough experience of God as King and wanted their own human king to rule their land. Big mistake. The second third of the book takes us to task for our allegiance to The American war machine, economic choices, and living patterns. My favorite part is when we're asked how can we worship Jesus as Son of God and follow a President? One says to love our enemies while the other says to kill our enemies. I shared just a little tiny bit with some friends and they were up in arms against what this guy was teaching. Like many American Christians, they believe in the idea of a Just War. Claiborne would say, as followers of Christ we need an alternative to killing. Any form of killing. But that's just the beginning of this book. There is no much depth and "meat" to digest that you will have to go out and get it. You will find it exceptional. Even if you disagree, you'll love the debate you'll have with yourself. Jesus for President a new kind of way of looking at politics.

I'm a writer. Yet, I'm at a loss for words to describe Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw's new book Jesus for President. Let me break this review down into two sections: (1) Design, and (2) Content. DESIGN Put simply, Jesus for President is a wonder to behold. I've never seen a book designed with as much attention to detail and visual impact -- not on the outside, mind you; on the INSIDE. The only thing comparable is House of Leaves, the debut novel by American author Mark Z. Danielewski...and Sandman graphic novels designed by the incomparable British artist Dave McKean. Sure, Jesus for President contains regular text just as you'd expect to find in a book. But, in addition, this groundbreaking new book also sports hand-written margin notes, little doodles and drawings, photos with typewritten descriptions, pieces of fabric, pressed flowers, varying type-faces and -sizes, arrows drawn in ink pointing to important passages, circled words, underlines, pages that look as though somehow took a pink highlighter to them, and a bibliography so clever that it, alone, is worth the price of admission. In other words, everything about this book screams "I HAVE BEEN CRAFTED WITH LOVE." You can pick up this book, turn to a page at random and simply enjoy what your eyes behold. If Jesus for President doesn't win an award for its design, attention to detail (recycled paper, printed in America), and its ability to grab -- and hold -- one's attention from the very first page, there is no God. CONTENT Studies show that Americans today are changing their religious faiths almost as quickly as they change their underwear. They jump from church to church, from religion to religion, and hover -- at any given moment -- somewhere between a creeping agnosticism and a growing, bitter, atheism. And I haven't even mentioned the rampant pessimism that's coloring everyone's outlook, especially in the area of politics. Once-committed Christians are not immune to this modern-day spiritual malady. In fact, many of them lead the exodus away from churches. Or, they remain in church out of a sense of duty to parents, spouses, or friends (or simply out of fear of reprisal from God), and become burned out and depressed, growing ever more frustrated that their Christian faith doesn't seem to mean anything, do anything, or change anything. Like Neo in The Matrix, Christians everywhere have begun to ask questions about the nature of reality. They want answers because what they're getting now -- from the media, from Hollywood, even from their own churches -- doesn't ring true. In that now-famous scene in The Matrix, Morpheus offers Neo two pills: one red and one blue. "You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland. And I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." As Neo reaches for the red pill, Morpheus suddenly says, "Remember. All I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more." Jesus for President is like taking the red pill. And, like Morpheus, all Shane and Chris offer is the truth.

Set aside its creative, engaging format. Set aside the fact that it is a page turner. Jesus For President is an important book. Claiborne and Haw speak with a challenging, even prophetic voice. Some will unfortunately dismiss the pair as ultra-liberal, but this is an easy and irrelevant mistake. Their interpretations are important. Their arguments sound. For those of us who love America and the political system of our forefathers, this book is essential reading. At its most surface level, the book rightly reminds us that sometimes such love is misplaced--even idolatrous. And idolatry never leads to life.

I recommend this book to anyone who is dissatisfied with current versions of Christianity. The authors return us to the biblical texts and present a reasonable and text-based interpretation of the Jesus who died as a political prisoner. The centrality of the politics of Jesus allows the authors to challenge the current mainstream Christian community to re-commit itself to a way of living that challenges most, if not all, of the political and economic power structures of our day. it is an invigorating and provocative read; I hope that many people take the time to reflect on it, if not, indeed, to pray with it!