Living a Radical Ordinary Life

I cannot recommend the following article enough! What's It Like to Be Shane Claiborne-Again was written by D. L. Mayfield, a woman who decided along with her husband to pursue a life of simplicity and service after hearing of Shane Claiborne's work. This article addresses some of the struggles that come up as we discuss money, service, poverty, and social justice in the church...and when we hear the stories of others doing "big" and radical things.

...many who read Claiborne and his contemporaries do feel guilty. And in response, they either feel paralyzed and do nothing, or try to atone for their sins by doing everything.

Perhaps this is what the church at large struggles with, the pervading sense of both legalism and shame that can haunt “radical” conversion stories. Just as 1 Corinthians warns us about those who sell all that they have but do not love, Claiborne describes what too often happens to social justice types: they simply trade one form of moralism (“I would never drink alcohol”) for another (“I would never wear Nikes”).

I will only give you this snippet of the article because I want you to go read the whole thing for yourselves! Enjoy!

Tip: It works best if you scroll to the bottom of the first part of the article, past the ad, and then click "single page (reader mode)." Then you can read the whole article at once, rather than clicking through 4 pages.