just finished “the irresistible revolution.” wow. great stuff. chapter 12, the next to last chapter, was my favorite… overall i thought this book got better and better as it progressed. some observations on the church from claiborne:
“…we must never fall in love with our vision or our five-year plan. We must never fall in love with “the revolution” or “the movement.” We can easily become so driven by our vision for church growth, community, or social justice that we forget the little things, like caring for those around us. An older charismatic woman told me, “If the devil can’t steal your soul, he’ll just keep you busy doing meaningless church work … The person who loves their dream of community will end up destroying the community around him, but person who loves those around him will create community.” [I struggle with this, see previous post.]
on his experiences interning at Willow Creek, and their announcement of a $10 mil building addition: “… I did a ton of research on tithes and offerings in scripture, and discovered they are unmistakably intended to be used for redistributing resources to the poor and not to go toward buildings and staff for the church … Scriptures consistently teach that the offering is God’s instrument of resistribution and that it belongs to the poor. Giving to the poor should not make its way into the budget; it is the budget.”
“…the first major organizational structure in the early church was created to assure order in the redistribution of resources to widows and orphans.” [does this sound like the church today? have we really lost our way? we spend much time worshiping and proclaiming God’s name, but how much does that really accomplish for the Kingdom of God? I believe that the term ‘Kingdom of God’ has been wildly distorted… it now means ‘saving more souls so they may enter heaven,’ when I feel like it is supposed to mean, ‘living as a people, the way God intended for us in the beginning’ (which is a huge statement that encompasses much). this includes bringing others in, but by other means than just plain asking them to convert. they should see what we do and want to be a part of it].
“…over 90% (of the churches offerings) was given to the poor. We live in an age when we have nearly reversed what God set in place. An average of 85% of the church offering is used internally, primarily for staff and buildings and stuff to meet our own needs. And this borders on embezzlement, as pointed out by theologian Ray Mayhew…”
Plenty more where that came from, but my fingers are out of energy. He also spoke of a cool network of people all over the world called “Relational Tithe.”
dialogue ---> reality 
Hey my name is D.O. and I recently posted a comment on your post about Shane Claiborne telling you about Another World is Possible. Well I’ve just got one more thing I wanted to tell you about and then I’ll leave you alone. The folks who made the AWIP DVD’s are making a feature-length documentary called “The Ordinary Radicals.” The film will address many of the negative stereotypes that are affiliated with present-day Christianity, and tell the stories of ordinary folks who are disproving these generalizations. People doing pretty amazing things, motivated by their faith. I think you should check it out. Interviews include folks like Shane Claiborne, Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Becky Garrison, and a whole host of others. If you’d like to learn more or pre-order the DVD, check out the website at http://www.theordinaryradicals.com.
By: D.O. on April 3, 2008
at 12:06 pm