Following Jesus can be more about serving others rather than judging them....
Shane Claiborne and John Perkins know the hopes and longings of this age. One...
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The books is divided into three parts, I'll explain each section from his point of view. 1)Poor Lazarus and Rich Christians, or I don't understand what causes poverty: There are currently 218 gizmos running around and America is currently using 130 of them. We're such jerks. If we distributed the gizmos evenly, everything would be peachy fine. 2)A Biblical Perspective on the Poor and Possessions, or I don't know what the Bible says about mammon: Look! Woe unto you rich folkies! Take that!... hmmm?... Job? Never heard of him. 3)Implementation, or I'm going to apply my mental dystopia: Live in a commune, eat veggies, stop having so many kids (surprise, surprise), start a garden, and vote for Socialists! My personal favorite of his "practical" suggestions: use "the postage paid envelopes of direct mail advertisers to object to their unscrupulous advertising." In the words of Dave Barry, I am not making this up. Of course, my heart goes out to any poor sap who actually bought this idea. He must live a guilt-ridden, steakless existence.
I was really floored by this book. The author first presents some startling and informative statistics on world hunger and poverty, where we have been and what is projected. Then he talks about God's intense love for the poor, and that if we want to "be imitators of God" we must as Christians learn to share in that love. I left this book really wanting to do more to make a difference... even with specific ideas how! The best thing about this book was also the worst thing - sooo much information. Never before have a seen a pastor (no offense John haha) talk so intelligently about ALL facets of poverty. Politics, economics, environment, sociology, religion - these topics were all included in great detail and from a Christian perspective. I have not seen anything more complete out there. That said, it was also very overwhelming (as it probably should be). The book was first published 30 years ago, but this new addition has substantial updates and was published in 2005. Many of us avoid reading books like this, afraid that God will inevitably ask something of us. After reading this, I find myself welcoming God to start asking.
Christianity Today named this one of the "Top 100 Religious Books of the Century" a blurb on the front of this latest revised edition tells me. Anyone who gets through this book will come away knowing: 1) Hunger is a BIG problem; 2) Christians have the resources to stop it; 3) Caring for the poor is presented in the Bible as a paramount issue for Christian discipleship; and 4) We need to do more, and there are things we can do. However, the best thing about this book was also the worst thing - way too much much information. The book is extremely comprehensive and covers politics, economics, environment, sociology, religion in exhaustive detail and from a Christian perspective. The amount of detail in this book is astounding. That said, it was also very overwhelming in quantity and quite dryly (sp?) written. The thing is, if it was a slog for me to read, there aren't many people I know who will pick it up & fewer yet who will finish it, which is unfortunate because the problems are real and we CAN do something about it. It would have helped a great deal to reach more people had Mr. Sider's editor insisted on the book being readable and cut some of the information to make it an easier read.
This book was kind of what I expected. Long, confusing at times, but also full of lots of information. We can all do a lot more to change our lifestyles to be less wasteful and more generous to help the world's poor. Cultural and institutional change is a big project to manage and he offers some good ideas and suggestions; but I felt that his description of the massive, complex problems was underscored by what I considered simplistic answers and solutions - ("end corruption, decrease military spending,increase aid to the poorest of the poor, increase taxes to decrease usage of fossil fuels".) I just didn't trust all his analysis and/or all of his solutions. (I understand that he believes that God judged the Israelite people for their unjust treatment of the poor. I believe that was a symptom of a larger problem. I understand that the core issue was that the Lord's covenant people fell away from living and worshiping their covenant God. Their mistreatment of others was a symptom of them failing to live in relationship to their covenant God. They were no longer a blessing to other people. - Gen 12) He certainly is motivated to work on the problem and his work motivates me to do what I can do. It seems to me that he trips over his left wing bias much too often.
Everybody should read this. It's really convicting about how we tend to spend money on ourselves while others are dying of starvation. Sider presents a case of how wealthy Americans are, explains God's heart for the poor, and gives practical suggestions. He talks a little about how developing nations face a system of oppression and steps to change that. This book encouraged me to live simply and give more. Get the new edition--in it he says he learned a lot more about economics than in the first edition.
This book is an amazing summary of why a billion people in this world still...
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