Shane claiborne in esquire

Shane Claiborne was named one of the "radicals and rebels who are changing the world" in Esquire magazines 'Best and Brightest' year-end edition. Apparently he had a nice discussion with one of the lead editors, and it resulted in him being asked to write a letter about his faith in said men's magazine. You can read how he came to be asked to write the letter here: "How I Came to Write An Apostolic Letter to Non-Christians in Esquire." You can read the actual letter that appears in the magazine here: "What If Jesus Meant All That Stuff."

A little snippet:

The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination. But over the past few decades our Christianity, at least here in the United States, has become less and less fascinating. We have given the atheists less and less to disbelieve. And the sort of Christianity many of us have seen on TV and heard on the radio looks less and less like Jesus...

I want to invite you to consider that maybe the televangelists and street preachers are wrong - and that God really is love. Maybe the fruits of the Spirit really are beautiful things like peace, patience, kindness, joy, love, goodness, and not the ugly things that have come to characterize religion, or politics, for that matter.

You should really read the whole thing. It's not long, but it's good.