Why I am blogging about Shane Claiborne

I had a great mini-vacation with my family and our very good friends, the Vanderkolks. We spent most of our time at Ludington’s Best Western Hotel relaxing around the pool, waterslide and hot tub. As I mentioned before, my goal over this break was to read Walker Wink’s “Powers” trilogy. I read Engaging the Powers and sparsely read Naming the Powers and Unmasking the Powers. The books were stimulating, but it was like eating a whole chicken. There were a lot of bones to spit out in order to get to the meat. I spent much of my time having to sort out his liberal assumptions before I could really take in a few of the good points that he makes. To sum it up, these books really didn’t help me as much as I’d hoped in understanding Shane Claiborne’s beliefs, but they did help me understand where he got some of his practical ideas in responding to violence non-violently.

After taking some good advise from Sherilyn (my wife), I need to clarify why I am even spending time blogging about Shane Claiborne. For the record, UTM sentiments is not a “gossip” blog where people pool their ignorance in order to form some sort of united consensus of criticism. Unfortunately, the Cedarville cancellation due to the buzz from the “angry bloggers” put Shane Claiborne in a negative limelight, where he took some unfair shots from his critics (slanting the truth, pronouncing him guilty-by-association, conveniently leaving out certain facts, etc…).

My purpose for writing has more to do with clearing up the fog concerning his worldview so that fundamental and evangelical churches are neither labeling him as a heretic nor remaining in the dark about some of his beliefs that are outside the realm of evangelical theology. Since Shane Claiborne’s influence among the younger evangelical world has exploded due to the success of his book. irresistible revolution, and the fact that he is in constant demand speaking about urban ministry and social justice issues at churches and college campuses all over North America, it is natural to engage into a conversation about his worldview on UTM Sentiments. In my coming blogs, I will explain where I believe Shane Claiborne is right, where I believe he is wrong, and where I believe he is partly right.