With long dreadlocks and gaged ears, Shane Claiborne is not the kind of person who comes to mind when someone hears the word “monk.” However, as a founding partner of the Simple Way, Claiborne embodies a new monastic lifestyle in an inner-city community in Philadelphia.

Claiborne will speak to members of the ISU community at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union about “living as an ordinary radical.” He writes and speaks about peacemaking, social justice and Jesus in more than 100 lectures each year across the United States and in more than 12 countries.

According to his website, Claiborne has given academic seminars at Vanderbilt University, Duke University, Pepperdine University, Princeton University and Harvard University. He also speaks at various denominational gatherings, festivals and conferences around the globe.

Claiborne is considered a revolutionary role model for those disillusioned with today’s materialistic “pop Christianity.” He is the author of several books, including “The Irresistible Revolution,” “Jesus for President” and “Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers.”

He graduated from Eastern University, a Christian university that, according to its mission statement, is “dedicated through teaching, scholarship, service, spiritual formation, student development and societal involvement to the preparation of undergraduate, graduate and seminary students for thoughtful and productive lives of Christian faith and service.”

After graduating from Eastern University, Claiborne completed graduate work at Princeton Seminary. According to his biography on the Simple Way official website, Claiborne’s ministry experience is “varied, from a 10-week stint working alongside Mother Teresa in Calcutta, to a year spent serving a wealthy mega-congregation at Willow Creek Community Church outside Chicago. During the recent war in Iraq, Shane spent three weeks in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team.”

Cost to get into the event, which is part of the Monsignor James A. Supple Lecture Series, is free.