For the last few months, I have been following Jared Wilson’s blog the Gospel-Driven Church and have been immensely blessed by his writings. Jared’s first book ‘Your Jesus is too safe’ is by far the best book that I have read this year. Let me tell you why…
We live in a world of imposters. A world full of Elvis impersonators and cheap Nike knock offs from Thailand. There is little in the way of ‘genuineness’ and it’s unfortunate that this has affected our understanding of Jesus. So many portraits but what is real? In this book, Wilson exposes the fakes and takes us back to the real Jesus…the real historical and divine Jesus. He does this by presenting twelve different biblical perspectives of Christ – the Promise, Prophet, Forgiver, Man, Shepherd, Judge, Redeemer, King, Sacrifice, Provision, Lord, and Saviour.
This book provides an excellent overview of the life and work of Christ in a way that is easy to understand while providing a level of scholarship that one would expect from reading John Piper. It will be a blessing to a new believer, the more seasoned Christian and even someone investigating the faith for the first time.
Here is a taste of what you will find in the book (one of my favourite quotes):
“Even the church itself is guilty when it comes to the marketing of Jesus. We’ve put our own gloss on him, our own spin. It’s no wonder the world doesn’t get Jesus, because we’ve spent decades selling a Jesus cast in our own image. Even our religious ancestors feared the stern taskmaster Jesus. This quasi-Puritan Jesus liked to smack you on the knuckles with a ruler when you got out of line. Later, we received Postcard Jesus – the Coppertoned, blond-haired, blank-stare Jesus of the gold-framed portrait, a bland, two-dimensional figure occupying moral tales that help us to be better people. This flat portrait evolved in the Get-Out-of-Hell-Free Jesus, and this Jesus has inspired millions to say a prayer to get his forgiveness – and then go on living lives devoid of his presence.”
Page 13
An added bonus are the footnotes. Don’t skip them. Wilson is so hilarious – I haven’t laughed so hard in my life.
Get a copy of ‘Your Jesus is too Safe’… you won’t be disappointed!
