“The one thing less exciting than a book tour is a documentary about a book tour.” If this is your reaction to hearing The Ordinary Radicals is the story of Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw’s 11,000 mile veggie-oil fueled road-trip promoting their book, Jesus for President, then I urge you to suspend judgment for at least three more paragraphs. 

Jamie Moffett (director and narrator) and Shane are founding members of The Simple Way, an intentional community in Philadelphia, and Chris participates in the Camden House Communities just over the Delaware River. They chose to live in a socially and economically bleeding neighborhood in order to incarnationally demonstrate the Creator’s care. Their local activism takes many forms, including after-school tutoring, homeless advocacy and obligatory sidewalk-chalk drawing.

These ordinary radicals are not alone. The true stars of the film are the amazing people we meet at each book tour stop—Mark Weaver winning the Showcase Showdown on The Price Is Right; Peter Illyn of Restoring Eden “promoting” naked gardening; Brian Walsh leading a tour of his community’s off-grid organic farm; Sister Margaret McKenna looking for solitude but finding family with recovering drug users. This block party has room for Mennonites, anarchists, urban activists and rural farmers.

If you haven’t heard of these ordinary radicals, maybe you are more familiar with other individuals interviewed along the way, people like Ron Sider, Tony Campolo, Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren and John Perkins.

Including these veteran leaders (who have worked for social justice for decades) provides context for the younger voices. This worldview is not just a passing fad or phase. The Simple Way and their many co-conspirators are merely the most recent manifestation of the Spirit bursting out in unpredictable forms at the edge of the wilderness. We are passionately reminded that the person “with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same” (Luke 3:11, NIV).

From the title of the book, you know this is political. After all, the tour takes place during the summer of 2008, leading up to the presidential election. This raises some questions. Since Pat Robertson and James Dobson are not interviewed, is this just a left-wing, neo-social gospel reaction to the religious right? Do they really think a more religious president is what the nation and the world need? And what does the title even mean? Let’s start there—“Jesus for President.”

We are so used to hearing “Jesus is Lord” that it has lost significance. However, to first century followers of The Way, this was profound. To declare Jesus as Lord was to insist that Cesar was not. The early Christians in fact co-opted and baptized the religio-political slogan, “Cesar is Lord.” Today, saying “Jesus for President,” acknowledges that my greatest hope is not in a politician from any political party.

In our era of religious voter guides and mega-church presidential debates, we might expect the film to hint at who Shane and Chris think we should vote for. Thankfully, they are true to their mission of simply provoking the Christian political imagination, though they do talk with one blogger, Zack Exley of Revolution in Jesusland, who wears an Obama T-shirt. Shane states strongly, “We’re not going to endorse a candidate or a party. This is not about going left or right, but going deeper.” He emphasizes that “ultimate change doesn’t happen one day every four years, but every day of our lives. May we be the body of Christ in this world.” As Shane wrote in my copy of Jesus for President and presumably hundreds of others, “Enough donkeys and elephants… Long live the Lamb.”

If you were hoping to hit the road this summer, but don’t have the cash, then the simple solution is to watch The Ordinary Radicals and vicariously experience their road-trip with your friends. This will cost less, leave a smaller carbon footprint, and quite possibly inspire you to serve in your corner of the empire.

WARNING: One scene describing a soldier who left the military contains strong language. Also, tattoos, piercings and dreadlocks may be distractions for some viewers.

NOTE: Shane Claiborne’s first book, The Irresistible is available through Advent Source. The cover photograph was taken by Seventh-day Adventist photographer, Erik Stenbakken.