Shane Claiborne's dreadlocks have graced the cover of at least one national Christian magazine and the insides of several others. His new book, "The Irresistible Revolution," has opened new platforms for this suburban refugee to speak about ministry among the urban poor.

When Claiborne addressed the National Pastor's Convention this year, the questions foremost in my mind (and likely in those of thousands ministering in traditional settings) were: How do you integrate hippies and Hummers? How do you merge the radical ideas of someone who lives in an inner-city commune with mainstream, suburban church ministry?

I sat in on a convention workshop that Claiborne – whose community is known as The Simple Way – and fellow resident Chris Haw conducted. What Claiborne seemed to be challenging most was our culture, specifically the "consumptianity" that the American church seems to endorse. He urges believers to stop gorging on "stuff" and get their hands dirty helping the poor.

"What brought the gospel to life for me was spending time with the poor," says Claiborne, who studied under social gospel spokesperson Tony Campolo at Eastern University near Philadelphia.

There, Claiborne says he was challenged to love more, risk more and be uncomfortable. In his interpretation, that meant first caring for a community of homeless people in Philadelphia, then living in community in an impoverished area as a re-creation of the early church's spirit.

"By living in community and taking care of each other, something begins to happen," Claiborne says. "If we begin to share, there is enough for everyone's need."

Rather than a sacrifice, this sort of life has brought joy. Haw says trading independence and a tract home in suburbia for interdependence and community among the poor has become abundant life: "We are coming alive."

Call to community

But is this the sort of radical lifestyle shift that American congregations need in order to come alive? What should the average congregation do with this approach to Christianity?

First of all, Claiborne says American churches should not dismiss the rigor implied in discipleship. He says too many are tempted to be seeker-sensitive and "sort of cheapen the cost of what the call is about."

A shift in thinking about people, poverty, interdependence and independence, and ministry programs vs. personal ministry is the essence of The Simple Way.

Still, it left me wondering: Should pastors encourage their members to sell everything and give to the poor? To co-house in urban slums? Make their own clothes and follow a vegetarian lifestyle?

Shane Claiborne speaks to Bethel University students about The Simple Way.                                         Courtesy Photo

"The ethos of what we're trying to do is spark conversation," Haw says.

Those conversations may be causing change, even in institutional churches.

"Almost everywhere I'm going there are congregations interested [in sharing life, co-housing, community]" Claiborne says. Some are even doing something about it, often starting small, with community gardens, shared laundry and shared childcare.

Other forms of community that don't require radical shifts of lifestyle have caught on among thousands of American believers.

Take for example, Medi-share and other, similar Christian health coverage plans. Though technically not considered insurance, they are based on believers caring for one another, praying and sharing medical bills. Haw belongs to the Medi-Share coop, as do thousands of other believers from all walks of life and churches.

Revolutionizing the budget

Relational Tithe is another small-community effort that channels 90 percent of church offerings toward external needs and only 10 percent to internal. This reversal of most typical budgets hearkens back to the early church, Claiborne says.

"There are congregations now that are really rethinking these things," he says.

While Ellison Research says both clergy and laity continue to view facilities as a priority, laity are far more likely to say the first target for increased spending should be social outreach.

The church budget is a good beginning point. "We've been encouraging a lot of congregations that have building funds to match with relief funds," Claiborne says.

He sees spending money outside the walls of a congregation as important. However, part of the draw toward a new view of Christian community is toward sharing more than money. Christians today are interested in sharing life in what Claiborne terms "post-small groups."

In Philadelphia, The Simple Way has allowed a small group of Christians to reconnect with the poor. "Most Christians care about poor folks," Claiborne says. "They just don't know any."

For Simple Way members, the poor are their neighbors. And in a neighborhood marked by violence, prostitution and drug addiction, personal connections are the key to ministry, Claiborne says.

"We're always trying to shake it back down to the relationships," he says. There is a marked difference between a soup kitchen and the personal invitation to a homeless person to have dinner at your house, Claiborne says.

Changing minds and hearts

Dining with the indigent may be a long way from a suburban Bible study. But according to Haw, discipleship is the beginning. He advocates discipleship that changes the way individual Christians think. "That's essential," Haw says. Then, what grows from a Bible study may be revolutionary ministry, because what believers do once they take the truth of the Scriptures to heart is where faith begins its work.

According to Claiborne, personal connections and encounters comprise the Christian life. It isn't really about checks written to charity or short-term mission trips. "These can become ways we legitimize the way we live," Claiborne says. Instead, he says it should be the everyday that becomes the essence of Christianity, in a life structured to allow living as an "ordinary radical."

Feel uncomfortable? Feel challenged to love more? Risk more? Me too.