Off the Shelf May 2008

OFF THE SHELF I’M OK—YOU’RE NOT

By John Shore Navpress Reviewed by Heidi Unruh My grandfather Lou, an avowed atheist, taught at a prison where he was the focus of intense prayer and proselytizing by Christian inmates. One day an ardent devotee approached my grandfather: “Last night I was praying for you, and the Lord said to me, ‘Lay off Lou for a while.’”

This fairly sums up the message of John Shore’s I’m OK, You’re Not: The Message We’re Sending Nonbelievers and Why We Should Stop—just lay off.

Shore’s argument begins with our fundamental commandment to “Love God; love others.” Love entails accepting and respecting people just as they are.

Telling non-Christians (a.k.a.“Normies,” in Shore’s lingo) that they need to accept Christ is inherently judgmental and unloving. Jesus gave us the Golden Rule: Treat other people the way you want to be treated. Honestly, would you want to hang out with someone with the hidden agenda of “You need to change to be more like me”? We need to love and live in such a way that people are drawn to our faith, to be open about our faith when people ask us, and to privately pray that they accept God’s invitation to his eternal party. But, Shore says, it’s not up to us to push them, kicking and fussing, through the door.

Shore’s “cease and desist” injunction targets the unsolicited spiritual browbeating of people who have already heard the gospel yet choose to reject Christianity. A fundamental flaw in Shore’s reasoning is his contention that this group includes just about every non-

Christian in America. “At this point, our Good News is old news,” he asserts.

Although Shore rightly assesses traditional evangelistic methods to be woefully inadequate and even counterproductive, this does not mean that we are off the hook with the Great Commission in our own neighborhoods. To the contrary, our culture is desperately hungry for the real Good News. People may not need to hear—again—the four spiritual laws, but they do need to hear about the Jesus who declared, “The Spirit has anointed me to preach good news to the poor ...”And they need to see Christians doing it.

Christians too often adopt a superior attitude toward non-Christians, but Shore goes overboard by admonishing, “It’s got to be perfectly okay for non-Christians to be non-Christian.” Love does not mean uncritical acceptance. Jesus loved the tax collector, the Pharisee, and the adulterer—but he invited them to a radically new life. The call of Christ is still “Repent and believe the good news!” Shore’s own painful life story, shared with poignant humor, suggests how Christians can walk alongside nonbelievers on the path of repentance and healing.

Theological critique aside, I recommend this book for several reasons. First, anyone interested in North American missions must grapple with our culture’s negative perception of Christianity, revealed in quotes from non-Christians such as this one: “I’d rather go to hell than live the hypocritical life I see so many Christians living.”

Second, it’s good to remind ourselves that producing converts is God’s job: “We can love Normies just as we find them, and let God worry about the rest of it.” While I disagree that unconditional love excludes nudging people toward Christ, getting stressed out about results doesn’t bring anyone closer to the kingdom.

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are rarely this much fun. If I ever get to invite seven people to a dinner party, Shore might make it onto my guest list.

And I’ll make sure he’s seated next to an unbeliever. ■ Heidi Unruh is director of the Congregations, Community Outreach and Leadership Development Project and staff associate with ESA, specializing in faith-based initiatives and equipping churches for external ministry.

THE SCANDALOUS GOSPEL OF JESUS

by Peter Gomes HarperOne Reviewed by Harold Dean Trulear Peter Gomes is a doctor of the church in the true sense of the term. The Harvard University chaplain and professor delights in his role of diagnostician of the church’s ills and is never short of prescription. Evangelical readers will not always agree with the details of his prescribed medication, but Gomes’ diagnoses give thoughtful Christians of all theological persuasions cause to reflect on their own ecclesiastical malaise and prayerfully consider immediate remedy.

The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What’s So Good About the Good News? represents his most daring diagnosis to date.

Gomes argues that the church has abandoned the preaching of the gospel of Jesus for the preaching of the person of Jesus.The danger lies in the church’s persistence in fashioning the Jesus it preaches in its own cultural image, the sort of “Christ of culture” that H. Richard Niebuhr warned of half a century ago.

Some will cheer when Gomes criticizes liberal churches for re-imaging Jesus, but

we may be less ready to accept his criticism of evangelicals whose focus on personal transformation falls far short of the actual transformation that is evidence of a true encounter with the radical Jesus.

In either case, the culprit is the same: a “culturally conservative religion” that preaches social and political assurance rather than the scandalous gospel of Jesus, which reflects risk and offense to the common culture.

Evangelicals will cringe when Gomes suggests that we have to “look beyond the Bible to the gospel.” His brand of biblical criticism will not sit well with most of us. Yet socially conscious evangelicals will share his concern for the cultural captivity of the church and our failure to take Jesus’ message seriously, from loving/praying for our enemies (including Osama bin Laden, an idea he cites from our friend Tony Campolo) to resisting temptations to power and the prayer breakfasts that embody them.The gospel is inherently offensive, challenges all pretense to human prerogative (and preemptive strikes), and risks rejection of the person who preaches it or who lives it.

Gomes proposes some delicious shifts in consciousness, such as moving from “What Would Jesus Do?” to “What Would Jesus Have Me to Do?” Also, he chides our faithfulness to revivalism as a false representation of a glorious past and offers a theology of renewal that focuses on the change necessary to live in the future. Future-oriented living is a key theme for Gomes. He believes it to be a real test of the early church’s faithfulness, in that the hoped-for second coming of Jesus did not materialize. As a result, the church found itself in a struggle for which it was not prepared.

Today’s church is similarly not ready for prime time.

Gomes’ rehearsal of Jesus’ concern for the marginalized, including the poor, women, and persons of differing sexual orientation, will give the thoughtful

terms such as “mission” or “crusade” on a regular basis. A second tactic is to conflate God and country, to see the United States as the “chosen nation.” Presidents conclude speeches with “God bless America,” invoke the nation, declare that the United States is exceptional, and issue a call for national renewal which has spiritual overtones and resonates with religious conservatives.

Presidential candidates and presidents also attempt to create a politically advantageous relationship with the faithful through “acts of communion” such as traveling to a certain place revered by a segment of the faithful, e.g., the Vatican.

Other acts of communion include issuing Harold Dean Trulear is associate professor of a presidential proclamation emphasizapplied theology at Howard University School ing some religious practice, for example of Divinity in Washington, DC, and a con- calling for a day of prayer and delivering a Christmas message which explicitly tributing editor to PRISM. refers to Christ.

The last tactic is “morality politics.”

Analyzing party platforms, Domke and THE GOD STRATEGY Coe note how issues such as abortion and same-sex relationships have been transBy David Domke and Kevin Coe formed into “national, religious, and moral Oxford University Press symbols.” Calls for constitutional amendments and conservative judicial appointReviewed by Kathy Lee ments accompany this morally-laden In The God Strategy language.

The authors conclude that discourse authors David Domke and Kevin Coe con- in American politics is no longer shaped tend that, even though by a wall of separation between religion it has been evident in and politics; instead, public discourse the public communi- reflects “an integration of church and cations of American state,” a fact which harms both American presidents and candi- politics and faith.

Through their careful and detailed dates since FDR’s 1933 inaugural address, the use of religion for analysis of presidential rhetoric, the authors partisan advantage came to the forefront leave no doubt that presidential candiwith the Reagan campaign of 1980. dates and presidents have since 1980 This calculated religiosity, which turns increasingly employed religious language religion into a political weapon, has been and ritual. However, the book’s subtitle, in widespread use by both Republicans How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America, is misleading.They provide scarceand Democrats ever since.

The strategy has four tactics or “sig- ly any discussion of how speechwriters, nals,” the first being the presidential use campaign strategists, and presidential aides of religious language, either invoking came to decide to employ religious lanGod or using names for God or spiritual guage.That the religious language is there Christian pause—especially as he presses beyond charitable responses toward what he calls an “inclusive church.” Not all of us will find it biblical to include everything and everyone Gomes believes should be included—but again, the doctor’s diagnosis forces us to examine the nature of our exclusivity to see if it reflects the message of Jesus or the refashioning of the person of Jesus into one who spiritually baptizes existing prejudice and social location. Worth reading slowly, in prayerful doses, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus offers content which gives pause, but in a spirit one can and should embrace. ■

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and that it can be used for partisan advantage is clear; what is not clear is that the strategy was actually articulated as such.

Also, the authors make assertions which beg the question, “How do they know?”

For example, they state that the Texas Republican Party is a “bellweather for relations” between religious conservatives and the national Republican Party, but the notes reveal no source for this claim.

Additional documentation would have been helpful; however, in the end, the authors’ comprehensive analysis of presidential communication leaves no doubt that, at least at that level of American politics, there is “an integration of church [Christianity] and state” in public discourse. The rhetoric of the presidential campaigns of 2008 bears witness to this conclusion. ■ Kathy Lee is associate professor and chair of the political science department at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa.

WHY JESUS MAKES ME NERVOUS

By Joy Jordan-Lake Paraclete Press Reviewed by Scott Noble “I drowned my sorrows in perm solution.” For most of us, this phrase would have no discernible spiritual content, but for Joy Jordan-Lake it is a prelude to an essay on sulking vs. the significance of worship (or worthship).

In her latest frank, funny, and challenging book, Why Jesus Makes Me Nervous, Jordan-Lake examines “10 alarming words of faith.”The most compelling contemplations occur with the words resurrection, community, holiness, and wor-

ship, although all 10 can speak to any Christian in his or her particular faith journey.

Holiness is pretty much a lost concept in our postmodern world unless you grew up in a fundamentalist or holiness church community, in which case the word most likely conjures up images of rules, regulations, rites, and, most notably, failure. But Jordan-Lake argues that “real holiness, the kind Jesus presents, is not about chains or checklists but hunger.

And longing. Finding ourselves desperate for meaning, for purpose, for something bigger and richer and beyond the tawdry this-world that we let define us.”

I imagine that many who still wear the chains of the holiness strictures of their youth will find release and encouragement in her words.

Those looking for in-depth theological treatment of these concepts will not be satisfied by Why Jesus Makes Me Nervous. But those looking for a conversation on faith, struggle, disappointment, and hope will. And the best place for this conversation to take place is in the context of community, a term we hear often but rarely understand. Why is Jordan-Lake so taken with community?

“It’s just that Christ,” she writes, “on the night he was betrayed, made it nonnegotiable.”

In our highly individualistic culture, the idea of community can seem scary and threatening, even for those within the church. Why would I want to share my grief and wounds with others? JordanLake acknowledges it isn’t easy: “In a thousand ways, taking Jesus seriously makes life harder, tougher, uglier.” It’s so much easier to flee community, snuff out the hunger for holiness, and ignore our desire for wisdom. This is where Jordan-Lake is at her best—pointing out the potential disappointments in our walk with Christ yet persuading us to stay the course, illuminating what is gained by true obedience to the Savior.

In her final contemplation, JordanPRISM 2008

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Lake turns to hope, presenting several gripping examples of hope borne out of tragedy. Those of us who daily travel the joy-and-pain-filled roads of life can agree with Jordan-Lake when she concludes that hope perhaps “draws its very strength from having stood toe to toe with despair, and come out on top.” ■ Scott Noble is a freelance writer and book reviewer living in St. Paul, Minn.

CONSUMING JESUS

By Paul Louis Metzger Eerdmans Reviewed by Mae Elise Cannon I recently talked with Dr. John Perkins about the future of the evangelical church and its ability to share the message of Christ while also responding to the needs of the poor and marginalized. Perkins recommended that I read Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church by Paul Louis Metzger, calling it a prophetic book that acknowledges the influence of the evangelical church while challenging it to become consumers of Christ rather than consumers of contemporary culture.

Consuming Jesus recounts Metzger’s personal quest to cope with consumer religion and its impact on race and class divisions in the American evangelical church. His thoughtful critique begins by laying out the theological history of evangelicalism: from the time when evangelism and social action were inextricably linked, through the rise of fundamentalism, through shifts in eschatological perspectives, on through the megachurch movement (including Saddleback and

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE PLANET

of our nation’s population that attends at least once a month, Grist misses an opportunity to encourage Americans to

by Grist.org (Brangien Davis green up their houses of worship. and Katharine Wroth, eds.)

Wake Up covers the cloth/disposable Mountaineer Books diaper debate (either), the paper vs. plastic question (neither—try cloth), and the Reviewed by Carol R. Cool turn-off-and-restart vs. leave-on computer/car/lights concerns (turn off, Grist.org is an envi- always). It cites various studies, managing ronmental website to make even these interesting, but profamous for offering vides no footnotes for those who would “green” news in a like to look more closely at the research. lighthearted way. Like Although many resources are listed the website, Grist’s throughout the book, a comprehensive new book, Wake Up appendix would have been helpful. and Smell the Planet: The Non-Pompous, Wake Up is an excellent book to offer Non-Preachy Grist Guide to Greening Your reluctant friends and family who feel Day, promises “solid advice with a few that being green is just too difficult. If unexpected laughs.” you can get them to read a page or two, And it delivers. Pun-filled headlines they’ll be hooked—at least on the book, (“So Lawn, Farewell,” “Commute-icable if not on a green lifestyle. Better yet, Diseases”) may keep you groaning, but read a few pages aloud and engage your they’ll also keep you reading. Ditto with circle in a lively discussion. “Recycle the quirky humor. An article on micro- Your Shame,” which covers old forms wave use includes this tip: “Don’t sit on, of electronic media, and “Compost in straddle, or lick your microwave while Peace,” on green burials, are two good it’s operating.” A discussion of the most places to start. efficient driving speed explains the kind Living up to its promise to be neither of drag “a car experiences as it pushes pompous nor preachy, the book pokes forward on the road—it fights the air, it fun at some more militant green ideas fights the friction of the road, it fights the while still managing to tell you where urge to pull off and get a Big Mac.” to get information if it’s an idea you Structured along the schedule of a actually wish to consider. Hardcore envitypical day, the book begins with your ronmentalists may find few new ideas morning wake-up call, explaining how here, but it’s an entertaining read for a to make grooming, breakfast, dressing, broad audience, reminding us that “green” and pet care all more environmentally doesn’t have to mean “boring.” ■ friendly.Your commute, workplace, lunch, dinner, chores, and free time follow, each Based in Bear, Del., Carol R. Cool (carolcool. with tips to maximize your greenness com) is a writer and speaker encouraging and minimize your carbon footprint. people to share Jesus through lives of service The book concludes with bedtime, and and love. here’s the section that will keep this title out of your church library: A full five Do you find our reviews Mae Elise Cannon is executive pastor of pages are devoted to sex toys. And while helpful? What kind of books Hillside Covenant Church in Walnut Creek, the book covers weekend activities, it would you like to see on these Calif. She formerly led the social justice min- never mentions attending worship serpages? Send your feedback istry at Willow Creek Community Church vices of any kind. That’s a shame: By to kristyn@esa-online.org. ignoring the approximately 60 percent in Barrington, Ill. Willow Creek) and up to today’s evangelical churches, many of which are largely isolated from social issues due to their homogeneity of race, socioeconomic status, and class.

Metzger employs a biblical paradigm to challenge evangelicals to restructure their values/worldview in order to overcome consumerism and be consumed by Jesus. He argues that evangelicalism has lost much of its influence because of the rise of fundamentalism and three of its primary contributions: (1) the privatization of spirituality, (2) the dissolution of public faith, and (3) the loss of an overarching public conscience.

Consuming Jesus admonishes the evangelical church for failing to understand social context and structures and calls the church to move away from isolationism and homogeneity.

Beyond critique, Metzger calls the church to experience and uphold the commonality and centrality of the Lord’s Supper as a symbol of the power of Christ’s blood to unify believers. In order for the church to move toward shalom, says Metzger, we must examine need, responsibility and blame, resources (money, talents, and goods), and ownership. Both reconciliation and redistribution are necessary, but so is glory—and the author reminds us that Christ displayed his glory so that the church may be one (John 17:22).

This richly considered book provides a broad understanding of the evangelical church from both a historical and theological perspective while offering a practical response. And it leaves readers feeling both convicted and encouraged to live within Christ’s passion and love for the poor without falling prey to our consumerist culture. ■

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