Meet the Author
Shane Hipps is a second career pastor. This portion of his journey started after working as a strategic planner in advertising. Hipps served as lead Pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church (2005-2010). He is now nearing the end of his time as teaching pastor at Mars Hill (2010-2012). Hipps is the author of two books: Selling Water by the River (2012) and Flickering Pixels (2009 – my review) as well as the co-author of The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture (2006).
Book Basics
After reading and reviewing Flickering Pixels back in 2009 then leading an adult discussion group a few weeks ago using the Hipps’ session in the new Animate materials, I had high expectations for his latest book. Unfortunately, while it was worth reading, it didn’t come close to reaching my lofty hopes. It did, however, include the stories Hipps relates in Animate.
Selling Water by the River is a collection of stories by a master marketer and seasoned story teller designed to help followers of Jesus overcome the increasing gap between the way of Jesus and the sensibilities of modern day Christianity. At its best, many of the short stories are cleverly linked to actionable ways to live into one’s faith. At its worst, a heavy reliance on the idea of the many lenses through which people view reality and multiple excursuses focused on biblical terminology left this reader feeling like he had read a series of articles of varying quality rather than a single cohesive text.
Readers of the book (and viewers of the Animate lesson) will be challenged to live faithfully each and every day, as long as this life lasts with a recognition that the kingdom isn’t primarily about the next life or eternal life, but rather the here and now. Put differently, Hipps invites readers to consider this life as the main course rather than merely an appetizer for what is to come.
So What?
The journey of faith lasts this lifetime and beyond. Hipps summarizes his book thusly: “Jesus did not come to start a new religion or a new social order . . . Jesus came to show us what it truly means to be human – to live life conscious of the exquisite gift we’ve been given” (p.207-208.
- As a follower of Jesus, what does it mean for you to be truly human?
- How does an understanding of this life as the main course rather than just an appetizer influence your approach to living fully each day?
Shane Hipps. Selling Water by the River: A Book About the Life Jesus Promised and the Religion that Gets in the Way (Jericho Books, 2012). ISBN: 9781455522088.