An Excerpt

I just finished reading "The Irresistable Revolution" by Shane Claiborne, and it was fantastic. I think I'll probably end up reading it again before the summer is over. Throughout the book, the author paints an incredible picture of what it looks like to really live and breathe for Jesus Christ.

There are so many parts of this book I want to share with you (basically you just need to read it!), but one story in particular in the last chapter of the book really stands out to me. I'm going to share it here, and I really encourage you to take the time to read it. It's a beautiful analogy of what it looks like to live your life passionately for Jesus...

My grandfather used to bale hay, and he was notorious for buying new tractors and equipment without my grandmother's consent. So this one summer, he had just gotten a brand-new truck and trailer and wanted to "break 'em in." So he and my uncle began loading up the hay bales scattered across the field, stacking them higher and higher, pushing it to the limit. Finally, they hit the road with the hay, my uncle driving and my grandfather riding along proudly. What they didn't notice was that one of the hay bales was rubbing against a tire. Which is pure trouble, thanks to a little thing called friction.

Before long, the hay bale caught on fire, then another and another. (It's hay.) Eventually, the truck looked like a comet headed down the highway. And they didn't notice. They were probably just talking about how nice the truck ran or jamming to the Chuckwagon Gang. People began to wave hysterically, and my uncle nodded back. (That's how we roll in East Tennessee.) But eventually, he looked in the mirror and saw the flames behind them, and they quickly pulled over and got out of the truck.

This created new problems, since now the flames that had been behind them raged upward and began to melt the back of the truck. My uncle noticed my grandfather had the glove compartment opened, and he asked what he was doing. My grandfather pointed to the pile of stuff he'd pulled out and said, "Well, I don't want this stuff to burn too." But my uncle was not so quick to give in. He snapped back, "No, get back in the truck." So they did.

My uncle hit the pedal and they were on the highway again, this time with the goal of getting rid of the fire. He began to swerve so the hay bales fell off behind them. But then the fields began to catch on fire. Pretty soon fire trucks from all the neighboring counties were following along behind them, trying to limit the damage, and they finally managed to extinguish the inferno.

My grandfather told me, after he got out of jail (just kidding), "Shane, we caught half of East Tennessee on fire." We laughed and laughed. And I thought to myself, that is what the kingdom of God looks like. Christians blaze through this dark world and set it on fire with their love. It is contagious and spreads like wildfire. We are people who shine, who burn up the darkness of this old world with the light that dwells within us. And perhaps the world will ask what in the world passed through here.

What a beautiful picture. I think that when Jesus talks about letting our light shine before men, so often we picture ourselves as a candle or a flashlight in the darkness. Well, I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be a wildfire.