Life

As we move closer to the presidential election, the remaining candidates are vying for votes and promising change. Shane Claiborne, a founding pastor of The Simple Way, a church in inner city Philadelphia, believes that our hope should be found in an alternative candidate, one that's not on the ballot for 2008.

In Claiborne's new book, "Jesus for President" (Zondervan, $16.99), coauthored with Chris Haw, Claiborne invites people of faith to imagine what our world would be like if we embraced a different political agenda, one that looks more like the message of Jesus.

Here's an interview with Claiborne:

Q Where did the idea for the book originate?

A The whole vision for it was born out of a conversation four years ago. Part of what we really saw was we need to have the creativity that Jesus had when he's interacting with the political questions of his time.

Q Why are you so passionate about political change?

A For me, this is such an unfolding journey. I was born in East Tennessee, and in 1992 I helped organize the Bush-Quayle campaign. My political views were very formed by the world I grew up in, and I think what really rocked that world was when I moved to North Philly and saw that the questions and issues are much different and much bigger than I grew up thinking they were.

Q Should the church endorse a certain brand of politics?

A We're not trying to endorse a candidate, but we're trying to get them to endorse the agenda of Jesus.

Q What does Jesus' political agenda look like in today's world?

A Jesus had a political manifesto in the Sermon on the Mount, and the beatitudes and the poor are at the very center of it. So if our political agenda is not good news to the poor, then it's not the gospel of Jesus.

Q What kind of reaction are you getting from the book?

A There are more and more people — especially young people — that are realizing that this economy and this culture, this American dream, looks very different from the dream of God.

Q How important is it to vote?

A For many of us, voting may simply be damage control. It may be a way to minimize the impact of principalities and powers and try to free up the kingdom of God to spread in this world. But it's certainly not that we're voting to put our hope and faith there.

Q So, will you be writing "Jesus" on your ballot Nov. 4?

A We'll see. I'm going to try to vote for the things that look most like Jesus, but to me, I'm not willing to settle for anything short of that. Our tagline has been "Enough donkeys and elephants, long live the Lamb."

Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw will be traveling through Ohio on their 23-city book tour this summer. You can visit www.jesusforpresident.org for dates and more information.

Brian Orme is an associate pastor at Community Church in West Milton and a freelance religion writer. Send e-mail to mjorme@gmail.com or read more at www.brianorme.com.

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