At this point, it would be nearly impossible for someone to look honestly at the events taking place in our country and not come to the conclusion that we have a serious problem when it comes to gun violence. Some say it’s a gun problem; others say it’s a people problem. Shane Claiborne and Michael Martin argue that it’s both, and they address both aspects of the issue in their new book, Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence, which I had privilege of reading ahead of its release today.

Before we get too far into the review, I’d like to make a note that this book is not meant as an attack on gun rights or gun owners. Shane himself shares fond memories of hunting with his grandfather in the book. Some of the research for this book was done while one of the authors was shopping with his wife at gun shows. The opening line says, “If you own guns and want to see fewer people killed, this book is for you.” I think we can all agree that we want to see fewer people killed, so this book is not looking to exclude anyone, regardless of their political leanings when it comes to this issue.

The title is a bit of a double entendre. Of course, the authors’ goal is to help us overcome gun violence, but that’s not all they’re trying to do. Inspired by Isaiah’s prophecy that God’s people would one day beat their swords into plowshares, Claiborne and Martin have made a habit of literally welding guns into farming tools, and even the occasional work of art. In this way, they are “beating guns” both literally and figuratively.

It isn’t just for show, though. Through their work, Claiborne and Martin are seeking to transform not only bits of metal and wood, but the hearts of people. When they look at the violence plaguing our world, they see it for what it is, but they also see the potential for it to be changed into something beautiful. And they share that vision in their book.

I’ve been a fan of Shane for a very long time, ever since I read his first book, The Irresistible Revolution. Shane is an author and public speaker, but his day job is at The Simple Way, an intentional Christian community he helped found in Philadelphia. There, he and his team minister to their impoverished community and work to improve living conditions in the name of Christ. He’s also the co-creator of Red Letter Christians, a movement of evangelicals committed to truly living out the words of Jesus in their daily lives.

I wasn’t familiar with Michael Martin before reading this book, but he’s got an impressive resume as well. From his Mennonite background, Michael inherited a commitment to nonviolence that has come to define his career. He founded RAWtools, a ministry that travels the country turning guns into gardening tools and, as they say, “other lovely things.” Michael also teaches seminars on nonviolent confrontation and deescalation, skills that most people simply don’t know enough—if anything—about.

Both Claiborne and Martin write from the worldview of the Christian faith, which they use a lens for understanding and dealing with the problem of gun violence. Unfortunately, public debate on this issue often doesn’t make room for the faith that so many of those debating claim to hold. But this book does a good job of integrating public discourse with theology in a way that affirms the truths of scripture and calls believers to live up to them.

The book is truly comprehensive, despite its manageable length. (I read it in just a few sittings.) In addition to taking a theological approach to combatting gun violence, it also covers the history of gun violence in the US, analyzes the economics of the gun industry, addresses the Second Amendment and its interpretations, and touches on important issues like the intersection of gun violence with age, race, and gender. Spread throughout are graphics, photos, and statistics that go along with the author’s points. While reading, I got the impression that this book was very thoroughly researched, not just the byproduct of another echo chamber.

Most importantly, the book shares the stories of real people impacted by gun violence and what we can learn from them. The authors recognize that while statistics are important, it’s stories that can truly transform the way people think. Nearly every chapter includes a memorial to the victims of a mass shooting, including a brief summary of the story and the names of each and every person killed. It’s jarring, humbling, and heartbreaking to read these stories, many of which I haven’t thought about since they were in the news. But if we’re going to make a difference, it’s important that we not allow ourselves to become desensitized to the violence, and reading these stories helps prevents that.

The part of the book that impacted me the most was the chapter on suicide. While most of the news coverage on gun violence centers on mass shootings, a significant number of those affected are actually victims of suicide, not homicide. I had no idea. In the book, the authors spell out intelligently the ways that we can prevent many, many deaths by creating a few simple barriers to access for those who are most at risk. I know many in our day and age shudder at any mention of limitations on gun access, but if we can save the lives of those who’ve lost the ability to save themselves, I think it’s at least worth considering. Seriously, this chapter alone is worth the cost of the book.

At the center of the gun debate in our country is the tension between personal liberty and public safety. Claiborne and Martin address that tension in a way that is sensical, practical, and faithful both to their Christian beliefs and to the American ideal of freedom for all. They include several suggestions for commonsense reforms that they believe would reduce gun violence significantly, many of which have already proven popular among the American people.

But ultimately, their book isn’t about laws. While they recognize the importance of the legal system in addressing the gun problem, Claiborne and Martin are interested in changing something much more fundamental: the human heart. Their book is a call for Christians to choose love over fear, to stop seeing the world through the lens of persistent self-defense, and to choose what they call the “third way” of Jesus in the face of violence. We don’t have to be either perpetrators or victims. There’s a better way that Jesus shows us, and while it may not be the most comfortable, it is the way we’re called to follow.

It’s the only way that will lead us to the future that Isaiah saw for God’s people, where violence is defeated and weapons are beat into farming tools. And we can only get there by committing ourselves to living out the way of Christ even when the world says it won’t work. Even when we’re laughed at or subject to scare tactics or even taken advantage of, we must choose to emulate Christ and refuse to participate in the world’s violent ways.

We can end the epidemic of gun violence in our country, but not by continuing to do things the way we’ve always done them. We have to choose a new way forward: the way of Christ. Otherwise, the cycle of violence will only continue. As Claiborne and Martin say in their book, “One of the greatest mysteries of our faith is that, for some strange reason, God does not want to change the world without us.”

Beating Guns is a faithful attempt to imagine what that way could look like, and we would do well to listen. If enough Christ-followers would heed the words of this book, we might actually see things start to change in our communities and then across the country. That’s my hope, at least, and the hope of Shane and Michael in writing this book. So give it a read, and maybe you can become a part of the movement that beats gun violence once and for all.

Beating Guns is available today wherever books are sold. I highly recommend you pick up a copy. (Or you can borrow mine.) If you get a chance to check it out, I’d love to hear what you think!

I finally finished reading the Chronicles of Narnia series! It took me a couple of months, but it was worth it. Each of the seven books is so enjoyable and easy to read. If you’ve never read them, you should check them out (and if you read them when you were younger, it may be good to re-read them). I wrote a review of The Magician’s Nephew when I read it a couple of months ago, but don’t worry. I’m not going to write a review of all seven books. But I did want to write one more review from the Narnia series before I put the books back on the shelf for a while.

I read each of the Narnia books as a kid except The Silver Chair. I’m not sure why, but I never got around to it. Maybe it was because it wasn’t super-popular or because it didn’t feature any of the characters I was familiar with. But for whatever reason, this was my first time reading The Silver Chair, and it blew me away. This may actually be the most powerful of the Narnia books, and that’s saying something.

The Silver Chair tells the story of Eustace, cousin to the Pevensies, and Jill, his school friend, as they travel to Narnia and search for King Caspian’s lost son. Their traveling companion is a Marsh-Wiggle named Puddlegum, a well-meaning, frog-like creature who is never looking on the bright side. Along the way, the group finds themselves in a giants’ castle, a ruined city, and the Underworld. Sent by Aslan with a series of signs, the travelers seem to slip up at every turn, but in the end they find that Aslan’s signs were leading them the entire way.

What I really love about this book is that is a powerful representation of what life looks like when you have faith in God. It portrays faith in such a tangible, relatable way that even someone who has no belief in God whatsoever can understand it, and that has the power to change lives. I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, but at one point during the story, the main characters find themselves trapped in the Underworld under the curse of a witch who is trying to convince them that Aslan and Narnia are not real. The characters nearly fall under the spell until Puddlegum—the most pessimistic character in the story—steps forward and makes one of the most powerful statements of faith I’ve ever heard. It’s so simple that a child could understand it but so deep that I could read it over and over and get something new out of it every time. It beautifully and simply displays what it feels like to live with faith in God as a reality in one’s life, and it’s extremely compelling.

I don’t know why more people haven’t talked about The Silver Chair. I love all the other Narnia books, but I think this one is so theologically beneficial that I would go so far as to say that if you only read one of the Narnia books, it should be this one. Some people may object that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe should be the most read because it portrays the core truth of the gospel so simply, and I think that has some truth to it, but I think The Silver Chair has something to offer that none of the other Narnia books does. It can show anyone—even an atheist—what life with God is like. And just like C. S. Lewis on his own spiritual journey, a person must become a theist (a believer in God) before he or she can become a Christian, which is why The Silver Chair may actually have the potential to influence more people than any other Narnia book.

The Silver Chair is currently being made into a feature-length film, so hopefully we’ll be seeing that pretty soon. I would love to see what kind of impact this book could have in movie form. But until then, I would highly recommend you read The Silver Chair. It’s not very long or hard to follow, and it’s an exciting story as well as a great representation of what life with God is like. Check out The Silver Chair and let me know what you think of it! Thanks for reading, friends, and have a great weekend.