10 Reasons to Read "Jesus for President"

1. It’s our book club selection for the month of August!

2. The book’s design is unique and aesthetically pleasing - lots of color and art on every page. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

3. It will make you uncomfortable….It may even offend you.*

4. Jesus for President will inspire you to sell all of your belongings, run your car on vegetable oil, and live among the poor….at least for a few minutes. Long term, it will inspire you to more faithfully apply the teachings of Jesus Christ to your life in ways that you never thought about before. (I know it did for me.)

5. One of the authors actually went to Baghdad to hang out with civilians when the U.S. starting bombing the area as part of its “shock and awe” military campaign. He could have been charged with treason. You gotta wonder what’s going on in this guy’s head.

6. It serves as an excellent reminder that neither Barack Obama nor John McCain can achieve God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.

7. Jesus for President masterfully challenges the notion of America being “a Christian nation”

8. It will give you LOTS of interesting conversation starters for boring dinner parties! For example: “Do you think that war is ever God’s will?” Dan and I have had some long and heated discussions about that one!

9. Jesus for President includes some really neat anecdotes and quotes from the early church, most of which I’d never encountered before.

10. You find yourself questioning whether or not you really take Jesus seriously.

* IMOPORTANT: I can almost guarantee that you won’t agree with everything the authors say in “Jesus for President.” In fact, you may strongly disagree with some of their positions on  pacifism.  But what fun is reading if you simply stick to books that confirm your previously held presuppositions? The best books are the ones that make you scratch your head and re-think your faith. This book does that on a whole lot of levels.

“In regard to Christian politics, some might say, ‘Sure my citizenship is ultimately in heaven, but I have to live in the ‘real world ‘now.’ In other words, acting heavenly on earth is too risky; or, Jesus was the Son of God, but he was not realistic; or, following the Sermon on the Mount will not work on earth, so it will have to suffice in heaven. This interpretation basically comes to mean that my citizenship in heaven means nothing in the real world….

"To claim that one’s citizenship is in heaven is to say that you pledge allegiance not to any kingdom of the world but to Jesus and the body of those who take on his suffering, enemy-loving posture toward the world. This is what Peter meant when he called the church ‘a holy nation, a people set apart,’ a people who are supposed to live as ‘aliens and strangers in this land.’”

- Jesus for President, page 106-107


Deleise
Comment
Re: 10 Reasons to Read "Jesus for President"
Reply #1 on : Fri August 01, 2008, 21:10:07
I just took my 17 yr old son to Dallas to attend the "Jesus for President" tour in Dallas. Everything you said is absolutely true. It is extremely challenging. My son is a huge fan of Shane Claiborne, one of the authors, and I felt I needed to check it out. I had read his first book, but this is far more controversial. I sat in the pews and thought, "I have really come along way from my fundamentalist private school upbringing." I have to admit, I was very uneasy with some of the views expressed but my son and I have had amazing conversations about what the Bible says about war, poverty, and what is our responsibility. I think what shocked me though the most was the realization that I have grown up as a conservative Christian and have never had these type of conversations until this last year. I have not been able to get this book out of my mind and it definitely has generated much conversation. I have to really watch what I say though because it would be offensive to many in my family. I am trying to just bring up little points here and there but would love to actually have a discussion about it with other adults
Travis
Comment
Re: 10 Reasons to Read "Jesus for President"
Reply #2 on : Sat August 02, 2008, 20:38:05
I'm really facinated by Shane Claiborne, so I'd like to read this book soon.

I remember 4 years ago when the general mentality among Christians was that if you voted for anyone else but Bush, you were a bad Christian. It's good to see Christians now saying, "God is neither a Democrat or Republican."

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