A couple days ago, I went to hear Shane Claiborne (author of Irresistible Revolution and Jesus For President) speak at Warren Wilson College, which is about 15 minutes from where I live. Warren Wilson is a unique school that has its students work on all areas of the college, including their organic farms. It is known, affectionately and derisively (unfortunately), as "The Hippie School." Most there would maybe take it as a compliment, but it's not said in a complimentary fashion.

Shane Claiborne was made to speak at Warren Wilson. He's, I'd say, one of the most challenging people with a voice in modern Christianity. He is passionately seeking authentic New Testament life with no excuses and rationales dulling the edges of the Gospel.

I went into the talk with a bias against Shane. I've read some of his stuff and have found it... it's hard to describe. I think that saying shocking things in a shocking manner while intentionally building an image of an extremist is a cheap trick and intellectually NOT engaging. It's hard for me to see past the hype. And I have deeper issues with some of his Biblical conclusions that, I feel, excludes some Biblical testimony and creates an air of superiority that is unhealthy and ultimately counter-productive. It's hard to get everyone to do what you're doing when you're coming across as often saying, "Don't lie to yourself and don't be dumb. Do what I'm doing."

I had to mentally just get myself out of critical mode and be willing to LISTEN to what the man had to say. And I was humbled and moved by his talk. I was so impressed by the guy's legitimate and passionate desire to live the life that the Bible calls people to. I don't agree with maybe some of his broader statements, but I'm deeply impressed by the things that he's done and the commitments he's carried out in his life. I mean, how can you look down on a guy for working with Mother Theresa, ministering to war-torn Iraqi communities, and setting up camp in urban Philadelphia to better communities and love people practically in the name of Jesus? Those are kind of awesome things. I was touched by his proclamation of the tangible grace of God for people in a broken world.

And then the Q&A afterwords. Most of it was interesting or ho hum. But some guy, knowing where he was (a spiritually... open place, shall we say?) and the crowd that was potentially there, asked a question that's pretty straightforward. "We've talked about the inclusivity of the Gospel, how it's for all people, etc. But can you talk about the exclusivity of the Gospel? How it's only through Jesus?" Now, the guy was kinda being a jerk in a way. He was looking for conflict. But once the question's out there, you have to answer it. Either that, or you have to call out the questioner.

Shane tap-danced it. He gave a political, vague answer that I was absolutely shocked by. In fact, he alluded to how this was a fuzzy question with a big answer than we're comfortable with, etc. I watched him spin phrases and spin away from answering this question as if it was the plague. In all honesty, I was heartbroken.

You see, all night he'd been talking about the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus moves people and demands that people, His people, love people radically, tangibly and with no return necessary. It commands discomfort. The Gospel of Jesus is what has moved people throughout Christian history to love the poor, the wounded, the widow, the orphan. It's not some vague ethic involved in some optimists hoping to change the world. It's the Gospel that has driven people and moved them with compassion.

The Gospel is that Jesus came to rescue people from sin and death. He came to give life and hope.

How can you leave any room, then, to allow people to think that there's ANY HOPE outside of Jesus? How can you say that, "Ok, maybe you're not DEAD in your sin so much as just... you know, not living optimally"? How can you ignore what the Biblical message is? It's not unclear. It's not fuzzy at all. Jesus talked about death and hell more than anyone else! Paul makes it clear that there is NO LIFE outside of Jesus. You need to be resurrected, not hand held until you die.

Maybe Shane believes those things. I don't know. Maybe he's afraid of saying that and coming across as saying it gleefully. That is certainly possible. But the answer isn't to NOT say it. It's to say the truth with a broken heart. It's to say it how you mean it. With grief and longing to see the whole earth full of the glory of God. It's to say it how the Bible depicts as God saying it. With care and a desire to see all men saved.

The New Testament is the most well-supported set of documents in the world in terms of ancient documentation. There's nothing even close. If we have a couple copies of Julius Caesar's histories and they're basically the same, we take it as accurate and reliable. That was what ole Julius wrote. Same thing with Shakespeare and every other piece of antiquity.

The New Testament has literally HUNDREDS of manuscripts. Thousands. They're all the same with little or no variation. It has more manuscript backing than any work of history and it's not even close. They all carry the words of Jesus the same way. Everyone who knew Jesus and everyone who knew the people who knew Jesus all knew from word go that Jesus preached that in this world there is only death and despair. And the only hope, the only way God was inaugurating a new world, His kingdom was through Jesus. And the message that's loud and clear in the Bible is "Come to Jesus! Come find life! Don't die any longer! Be alive! Have hope!"

Christians aren't saying, "Pick the right team or go to hell." We're saying you are ALREADY DEAD. You've already chosen the wrong team. You're already well on your way to hell. You probably feel like you're there now. Jesus wants to save you. Do you want to be saved?

The good things that Shane said aren't less good. They aren't now wrong. They're still right. But, ultimately, if they are not rooted in the fullness of the Gospel, in Jesus, they are another empty offer to the world, a temporary solution. If hope isn't rooted in Jesus Christ, then it's no hope at all.

When people ask what I'm doing these days, I know they don't mean in the immediate. I'm tempted to answer, "Well I do things like eat, drive, sleep, play with my daughter, love my wife... I'm slammed. I do lots of things." They mean more general, overarching things. They want me to supply answers that fit within our American scheme of measurement of one's value. Or, they're just sincerely wanting to know what the heck I'm doing with my life. It's actually more the latter and everyone's really nice about it.

Currently, I find myself saying... lots of things. I keep trying out new ways to describe/say it that make it sound cooler. I'm "going back to school." I'm "working on my Masters." I'm "in grad school." I'm "a full-time student." It ultimately ends up at the same destination. I end up having to say, "I'm working on getting my MA in Christian Thought at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary."

Theological Seminary. Ugh. It just sounds pretentious doesn't it? Now to a non-Christian or nominal Christian it's like an instant off switch. Well, for most people. I just see this barely veiled startled look appear in people's eyes as they scramble for an appropriate question or response to this news. I think, mainly, they want to ask "ugh... why?!" I don't know if it's better or worse than the response a person gets if they say, "I'm a pastor." I think, maybe, when they meet a pastor, they know they are looking at someone who is a bona fide psycho. Someone in seminary is someone who is voluntarily BECOMING insane. It's incomprehensible. There's nothing that I really can do about that for people in this category. I do my best to explain the coursework and not appear to be anything different than the guy they were just happily having a beer with.

Christians, though. They're interesting. They fall into many categories. Many are just plain supportive. Some, though, are supportive because this is the natural order of the pastor species. You're born, you learn to read, you meet on a mountain top with Jesus, you go to seminary to get your pastor gifting handed to you along with your degree, and you go on to your assigned profession of talking non-stop.

Other Christians, the side of the fence I grew up with, tend to look at you like many non-Christians do. They look at me all cock-eyed like I just said I'm going to work part-time for Lucifer. For some reason, among the more charismatic of Christians in America, seminary has all the appeal of Nazi bootcamp. Good, decent Christians who love Jesus go to seminary and come out zombies who have all the passion of well-made chalk. They can't fathom why people, and especially me since they know me, would go to SCHOOL to prepare for ministry. I mean really, what does a classroom have to do with listening to Jesus and communicating what He says.

It's been an interesting journey. I didn't even want to go to college. I wanted to, somehow, miraculously, leave high school and start working at a church, preferably for around $2 million a year. But I went to college and found that... lo and behold... I really liked it. In fact, I learned alot that I wouldn't have been able to learn by myself. I had discussion with people. I was challenged. I was changed. I was affirmed in many things I believe. I found this to be an enjoyable process. Seminary become a possibility on my horizon because I figured, "If some is good... more is better."

I have been surprised at how often I have to explain why I felt seminary was necessary. My reasoning usually goes like this:

A) It isn't necessary.
B) It's beneficial.

I want to be the best I can with the gifts I have. God gave me a brain to use and the ability to communicate with people at person-to-person and person-to-group levels. If I do not do anything I can to develop those things, I neglect my gifts and dishonor God. I don't feel like seminary makes great church leaders. I do believe it can make great church leaders even better. It's putting more tools in the toolbelt. I want all the tools I can get my hands on.

I'm fortunate to be able to be invested in a local church, actively involved in bringing things from the classroom to the street. I think if all I did was sit in a classroom for two years, I'd go crazy. But when I can digest and spit things out that are worthless, superfluous or just wrong... I love it.

I know plenty of people will just think I'm nuts, or wasting time, or wasting money, or committing myself to the removal of my heart. There's nothing I can do right now to convince many people otherwise. But I read things for my classes that do more than inform my mind. They move my heart. I'm impressed and challenged by the passion of the Reformers. I think about aspects of God's character that I would never have just stumbled upon. I think better at the big picture level.

I'm reading about Jonathan Edwards right now for a class on... Jonathan Edwards. I don't know that I've ever been so moved and encouraged by someone's biography. I feel like I'm reading about someone who I understand to some degree who would understand some of the things that I struggle with. I read about a guy whose heart is soft and walks through fields gazing upon and thinking about the beauty of God. A man intimately familiar with the "affections" of the Spirit. But he also stands as a man who is one of the greatest minds America has produced, Christian or not. He was a philosopher, a scientist, a theologian and a flat out genius. I read it and I find hope that maybe, just maybe, it's ok to be moved at the deepest levels of the heart, to listen to the Spirit, AND aspire to know as much as I can. I find hope that knowing about God can be a great part of the process of knowing God. I mean, Jesus is awesome. But I want to find as many ways to realize and explain that as I can.

To do that... I'm going to seminary.

So yeah, that's what I'm doing these days.