Reprinted with permission from 'Divine Rebels: American Christian Activists for Social Justice' by Deena Guzder. The following is a foreword by Shane Claiborne. Text copyright 2011 Chicago Review Press. Published by Lawrence Hill Books, an imprint of Chicago Review Press (distributed by IPG). Available in May 2011.
I remember hearing about a study done with elderly folks. Researchers asked the seniors what they would do differently if they had a chance to do life over. The number one answer was "I would risk more."
We live in a security-obsessed culture that is held hostage by fear. Too often we come to die and find out that we have not really lived. As the old saying goes, unless you have found something worth dying for, you haven't lived. The pages of this book are filled with people who are alive -- they have found something worth dying for, something worth going to jail for, something worth marching in the streets for. They are daredevils for love.
I grew up thinking that being a good Christian was synonymous with being a good, churchgoing, middle-class, well-behaved American. But as you take a closer look at church history, you can't miss the fact that some of the greatest saints and prophets have been holy troublemakers, instigators and agitators, prophetic pranksters and grace-filled revolutionaries -- folks who disturb the status quo because they do not accept the world as it is but insist that another world is possible and devote their lives to seeing that would come to be, on earth as it is in heaven.
This book (at least the first nine chapters of it), tells the stories of some of the most beautiful holy rebels alive today. If Saint Francis is right and we preach the Gospel not just with our words, but also with our lives, then these are some good sermons.
Deena has been careful not to homogenize these stories, but to harmonize them. There is a web of subversive friendships here that invites you to join God's little conspiracy of grace spreading across the globe. Each of these chapters is about someone who has encountered suffering and injustice so deeply that it lit a fire in their bones. Their lives expose injustice, making it so uncomfortable that all of us must do something. They are provocateurs of imagination. They invite you to make your life sing, to hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other and do something beautiful for God with your life -- find something worth dying for, or at least worth living for.
For some, the justice stuff is old news, but to see justice folks who love Jesus is a new idea. For others, Jesus is an old friend, but connecting our faith in the God of heaven to the real stuff of earth is new. All of us are on a journey. And these folks may be a few steps further down the path of Jesus and justice, but they can keep us all moving. Deena doesn't argue you into stale political ideologies, old camps and dead rhetoric -- she tells stories, and it's hard to argue with the story of someone's life. Ideologies are hard things to love. In the end, the Gospel revolution is not so much taught as it is caught. The "Good News" spreads best not through force but through fascination. And there is something fascinating about the lives of folks in this book- - they do not just have good ideas; they also have beautiful lives. Here are some contagious lovers of God and neighbor.
One of my favorite quotes comes from the late activist Ammon Hennacy, who said: "Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary church member. Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier. Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual. But the one who as love, courage, and wisdom moves the world." Like Ammon and Dorothy Day and the Catholic Workers and so many others who have gone before, this little choir of holy mischief makers are seeking to live a life that is integrated and whole. And the people in the book are careful to say with Dorothy Day: "Don't call us saints; we don't want to be dismissed that easily." After all, the tendency is to celebrate heroes and martyrs whom we don't have the courage to follow. But these are ordinary folks who have been set on fire with love.
Finally, one of the things I admire about the folks in this book, many of whom are dear friends, is that they are humble. Humility is in danger of extinction these days. But every wannabe radical must cling to humility like a lover. Otherwise, pride will rot away our souls. Pride is like the "yeast of the Pharisees" -- it infects us like a disease. Liberal and conservative, self-righteousness has many different forms. Just as important as it is to be right, it is also important to be nice. To love folks who disagree with us and see our critics as our beast teachers -- I admire those qualities in the folks in this book. Otherwise, in fighting the beast we become the beast. So just as you learn from the courage of these stories, also learn from their humility. Many so-called rebels and revolutionaries can be pretentious, judgmental and self-absorbed -- their greatest passions and gifts become their greatest liabilities and often end in their implosion. But, as a close friend of many of the "rebels" of this book, I can say that even though they are some of the sassiest people I've ever met, they are also some of the most gentle. Part of their charm is that you don't see them coming. They remind us that if we want the revolution of Jesus, we must have the humility of Jesus: to come like a lamb rather than an eagle (a little imperial humor there). These "rebels" are grandmothers and promising young professionals who have been drafted into the revolution -- drafted by love. They remind us that God's table is open to tax collector and zealot alike -- God's revolution is big enough to set both the oppressed and the oppressors free. These folks have not always been rebels, but the Spirit of God chased them down. The love of Jesus wooed them. Injustice drafted them for a revolution. They have been set on fire by something bigger than themselves. Let their lives inspire you -- not to become them, but to become you.
Shane Claiborne is an author, activist, and self-proclaimed recovering sinner. His books include 'Jesus for President,' 'The Irresistible Revolution' and a compilation of prayers called 'Common Prayer.' Shane has been featured on CNN, Fox News, NPR, and in the Wall Street Journal. Most of all, he's a freelance troublemaker for God and is one of the divine rebels feature in this book. Visit his web site at TheSimpleWay.org.
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Religion holds its grip on people through fear, intimidation, coercion, and ignorance.
The moment that I realized the Bible wasn't true was the moment when I first felt real freedom.
Freedom to disbelieve. Freedom to question. Freedom to live my life without fear of judgement by people who are too arrogant to admit they don't have all the answers.
It's in both of our interests to unite and oppose the religious right and their various hobby-horses and fear-mongering. Too often, we only hear from fundamentalist bible-belt types, as they shout the loudest. This sets out to profile the somewhat under-reported phenomena of progressive Christians in the US and how these individuals have actually helped forward social justice.