Book Review - Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All? by Mark Steele
Category Book Review Mark Steele Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All?
Now this is a book that is all too timely in today's culture... Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All? by Mark Steele. Based on the behavior of far too many who call themselves "Christian", we've allowed the term to be turned into something negative, something it was never intended to be and stand for. The aspect of a relationship with Christ has been replaced with a set of rules and regulations (applied with little love or care) that isn't appealing to anyone. And it's all due to too many people trying to live a "Christianish" life...
Contents:
i am Christianish; scandalous - revealing the rough stuff; wholiness - it is also written; phariseesaw - perhaps I am my nemesis; shut up already - righteousness is not the change agent; God said no - standing in my own way; losers for Jesus - the painful give; vanilla me - going without; upside is a downside - becoming unhuman; the grace discount - ministry is surgery - the Jesus show - love is a muscle; in Jesus' name, amends - willing to transform; i am Christian
In each chapter, Steele relates a story from his own life and then weaves it into the topic at hand. The stories are quite funny, but painfully real to many who read it. One of my favorite chapters is Shut Up Already. He talks about an event in his life when he went to a Christian school. There was a contest called the Academic Bowl, where Christian schools met up to compete on biblical knowledge and other such stuff. Steele was *very* knowledgable about all the questions being asked, but there was just one problem... he was in the audience, not on the team. He constantly berated his schoolmates for not knowing the answers to such "simple" stuff, and otherwise made a nuisance of himself showing off his knowledge. A few days later, he was picked to do the same type of competition in a school assembly. But little did he know that the contest had been rigged, with impossible questions designed to knock him down a few pegs on the ego scale. And that it did...
His message in that chapter is that knowing all the facts, or being "righteous", didn't change anything. In fact, it was a relationship with Jesus that led to being righteous. Beating people over the head with facts and "holier than thou" messages did the exact opposite of what was intended... it drove people away. And how often do we see that in churches and in the news these days? Christianish people are demanding righteousness before you're allowed to join their "exclusive" club... when in reality, we're all broken and getting to righteousness is the end goal, not the entry price for admission.
Hopefully, those who read Christianish will come away with an understanding that it's not all about following some rules to be perfect... it's all about a relationship.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publicist
Payment: Free
Now this is a book that is all too timely in today's culture... Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All? by Mark Steele. Based on the behavior of far too many who call themselves "Christian", we've allowed the term to be turned into something negative, something it was never intended to be and stand for. The aspect of a relationship with Christ has been replaced with a set of rules and regulations (applied with little love or care) that isn't appealing to anyone. And it's all due to too many people trying to live a "Christianish" life...
Contents:
i am Christianish; scandalous - revealing the rough stuff; wholiness - it is also written; phariseesaw - perhaps I am my nemesis; shut up already - righteousness is not the change agent; God said no - standing in my own way; losers for Jesus - the painful give; vanilla me - going without; upside is a downside - becoming unhuman; the grace discount - ministry is surgery - the Jesus show - love is a muscle; in Jesus' name, amends - willing to transform; i am Christian
In each chapter, Steele relates a story from his own life and then weaves it into the topic at hand. The stories are quite funny, but painfully real to many who read it. One of my favorite chapters is Shut Up Already. He talks about an event in his life when he went to a Christian school. There was a contest called the Academic Bowl, where Christian schools met up to compete on biblical knowledge and other such stuff. Steele was *very* knowledgable about all the questions being asked, but there was just one problem... he was in the audience, not on the team. He constantly berated his schoolmates for not knowing the answers to such "simple" stuff, and otherwise made a nuisance of himself showing off his knowledge. A few days later, he was picked to do the same type of competition in a school assembly. But little did he know that the contest had been rigged, with impossible questions designed to knock him down a few pegs on the ego scale. And that it did...
His message in that chapter is that knowing all the facts, or being "righteous", didn't change anything. In fact, it was a relationship with Jesus that led to being righteous. Beating people over the head with facts and "holier than thou" messages did the exact opposite of what was intended... it drove people away. And how often do we see that in churches and in the news these days? Christianish people are demanding righteousness before you're allowed to join their "exclusive" club... when in reality, we're all broken and getting to righteousness is the end goal, not the entry price for admission.
Hopefully, those who read Christianish will come away with an understanding that it's not all about following some rules to be perfect... it's all about a relationship.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publicist
Payment: Free
| Permalink |
