The Irresistible Revolution, Updated and Expanded: Living as an Ordinary Radical

by Shane Claiborne

A buddy of mine who is a fairly prominent youth minister just told me about a trip he took with a bunch of teenagers to one of those “mountaintop” spiritual retreats with lots of tears, confessions, and spiritual goose bumps. On the way up, the van had a flat tire of the worst kind—in the rain, no tools, a bad spare. As all the kids stared out the window, his temper escalated and went beyond the tipping point. He lost it and started yelling, cussing, and kicking the blessed thing. Finally, he was able to get the van going, climbed back in, and told everybody to shut up and leave him alone for a bit. A little embarrassed, they headed on to the retreat, with a few snickers coming from the back of the van. He said the retreat was the same as it was every year, with the worship, preaching, and altar call. But that year, something crazy happened. One of his toughest kids from the ghetto told him the week after they returned that he had given his life to Jesus. My friend was a bit stunned and asked him to explain how it happened. “Was it the messages, the altar call?” The young man said, “No, it was on the way up when I saw you cussing at the van. I thought, If he can be a Christian, I can give this thing a shot too.”