Claiborne shares "life of love" with EMU

"Do small things with great love rather than great things with no love," said Shane Claiborne in a statement that summed up his message to the EMU campus during his visit from Nov. 2-4.

Claiborne is a member of the "new monasticism" group, a movement of people choosing to live in intentional communities that stress simplicity, peace, and love that is becoming more and more visible in the Christian world. He lives in a community called "The Simple Way" in Philadelphia, but he has world-wide experience. Through stories and discussions in several settings, Claiborne shared how the love of Jesus can work through lives and impact the world in amazing ways, whether one lives in a intentional community or goes to college.

The first time Claiborne spoke at EMU was in chapel on Nov. 2. He used storytelling to introduce his community, The Simple Way, and reveal who he is, where he came from, and how by trying to love every day he is trying to live out the call of Jesus. He began by telling the story of a group of homeless people that moved into an abandoned church in Piladelphia because of city laws forbidding them to sleep on the street. Claiborne shared how he was troubled by the injustice of the situation, and how he and several of his friends began sleeping and worshiping with the inhabitants of the abandoned church. Eventually this combination of college students and homeless people became a movement that was able to change the laws of the city of Philadelphia.

Claiborne also shared stories about his life outside of Philadelphia in the global community. From meeting Mother Teresa and working with lepers for three months, to worshipping with Christians in Iraq during the initial bombing by the U.S. military, he has walked a path many could only imagine. What tied his chapel message together was the theme of love--of Jesus' love for us and the need for us to love in our daily lives. He presented how his life stories have influenced him to adopt a more loving lifestyle.

Sharing with the campus continued when Claiborne participated in a Common Grounds discussion that was attended by a large number of students. He spent most of the time answering questions on a variety of topics ranging from The Simple Way to his advice to college students struggling to live out Jesus' teachings.

Claiborne was passionate about the choice to live in community. He described it as a precious gift from God, endorsing intentional community living as a manner of both returning to a way of life that God intended us to live and escaping the pervasiveness of a dominant culture that stresses fear and selfishness over love.