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I went a lot of years without reading.  After University I got really tired of the process, and completely abandoned it for a long period of time.  Within the last few years I have really tried to get into the habit to always have my nose in a book, or two.  There are a ton of books out there, so the question becomes what do I choose to spend my time reading?  Sometimes I choose to read classics (see Fahrenheit 451), sometimes things fall into my lap by pure accident. The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne was one of those such books.  3 months ago I had barely even heard of him, and at most was told by someone that he was “raw” (ha!).  Back in early December I had the opportunity to listen to him speak at the Canadian Youth Workers Conference in Toronto.  From there I fell in love with what he had to say about justice, grace, and living in community, so I asked for his book for Christmas, and I got it.  Well a couple nights ago I finished reading it.  So I’ve decided to put down some of my thoughts on it, as I tend to do with movies, and books here on my blog.

I have said this to many people, but to put it mildly, this book has been probably the most convicting book I have ever read besides the Bible.  There are three main areas in which conviction set in for me.

First was my North American Lifestyle.  I do not live an extravagant lifestyle by any means, but I live one that the earth’s resources cannot afford for all 6.5 billion people.  There is enough for everyone to eat, live and enjoy life, but we in North America have consume 80% of the worlds resources, and we are merely a small fraction of the world’s population.  There is something wrong with this, and it is not as some believe “God’s Blessing” for us.  One of Shane’s main points is that if you own two coats, you are essentially stealing from someone else… ouch.

Secondly, my ignorance towards the poor.  Many times in my life I have simply walked by people asking for money and continued on my way.  I have done very little with my life to give back to the poor of my community.  Jesus was homeless, and he asked us to treat everyone as if we were meeting him.  That is something we will be judged on, and it is an area in which I have failed.  Sure I give money to world vision, but that doesn’t absolve me of my duty to others, especially those less fortunate than I.

Lastly, his idea of community is one that has been on my heart for a long time.  But he is actually living it in a major North American city.  He is involved in a community life style with a group called The Simple Way.  His corner store neighbour doesn’t charge him for food, in return he helps raise their son, tutours him and looks out for him.  They went and help another family, and down the road their car was fixed for free.  Love is the great equalizer.  I have not loved my neighbours enough.  So often we have been taught that life is about getting more, internalizing everything, and it’s all about me.  Well, Jesus sure did let us know that the kingdom of heaven is here.  Read Acts 2:42 – 47 to get a better idea of what NT community looked like.  We need a bit more of that here in North America.

This book is a MUST read for anyone.  It will assault your sensibility, it will shake your core beliefs, it will energize you.  If you can read this book, and not be changed than I would have to say you have a hard heart.  He weaves these points through autobiographical stories of his time with Mother Teresa, his time in University, a trip to Iraq and in him living in the community.  Shane is authentic, real, humble, and searching for true Christianity, and he can help you find it as well.

I give this book 10 vegetables planted in old TV sets out of 10.

I had been fairly immune and disconnected from all the ranting, raving, and lunacy surrounding The Shack up until a few months ago. I had heard in passing that the author was going to be speaking at my old University and thought very little of it. Even at that point all I heard was that the book “Is a whack on the side of the head.” Not putting any more thought into it, I placed the title of the book into the back shelves of my mind.

Fast forward a month and a half and I had the privilege of attending the Canadian Youth Workers Conference in Toronto where they had invited the author of the Shack W.P. Young to speak. He did a lecture/reading that I did not attend, but then heard him in one of the general sessions. He read a small portion of the book to the audience and I was intrigued. Through out the weekend I over heard several conversations surrounding the book, and had heard various ideas, rumours, nay sayings and endorsements. I appreciate Williams honesty when sharing about some of the controversy surrounding the subject, and then decided to make a decision for myself. Michael Krahn wrote a review of the book mentioning that people made judgment on the book before reading it, that issue is a soapbox issue of mine I won’t get into, but to put it bluntly those people aren’t worth wasting your time on.

So for Christmas I asked for two books, one being The Shack and other being The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne.  Two weeks later on a long plane ride from Charlottetown to Winnipeg, I finished The Shack.  I know understand why the book is so controversial on varying levels.  Young takes God out of our neat and tidy theological boxes, turns the knob to 11 and then lets everything splatter out all over the floor.

To put it mildly, this book is not one you are going to start hanging your theological hat on.  What it does do though, is challenge some of our preconceived notions of what/who God is, and how he interacts with us.  it gets us asking questions, and in my opinion that is always a good thing.  That then leads to searching, which we often do not do enough of.  Too often in my faith, I have heard people say “That’s not God”, or “God doesn’t work that way”.  It is those people who I feel are afraid of The Shack.  With careful articulation we see what it *might* look like if God did come down to meet us, face to face, and how we would be changed by such an experience.

Young’s portrayal of the relationship between the trinity, to me is one the most significant things in the book.  He did an articulate job on showing us what a perfect relationship might look like, one that is centered around love.  It challenged the very core of my relationship with my wife in a very good way.  We as a human race love with condition, even if we don’t think we do, generally it always comes down to condition, even if we don’t like to admit it.

If you haven’t read this book, you really should, Christian or non-Christian alike.  I also think you need to read it with as little preconceived notions as you can.  Try to read this book for what it is, and not for what it isn’t.  I believe it is a compelling story about redemption, love, forgiveness, challenging our view of the world, and dealing with the short comings of our humanness.  It isn’t going to take authority away from the Bible for a theological basis, it isn’t about pagan images replacing the trinity, it’s about God’s love for us, and how that can and does change people.  Read this book, be inspired, challenged, stretched and touched.

As with all my reviews, I like to review with a number.. so here it is.. I rate The Shack 9 Canoe Rides out of 10.