Judah Smith

This book is edgy and slick, oriented towards the young, the new Christian and the unchurched. Having said that there’s some great gems in here for all believers. The book sets out to define Jesus in a number of different ways and is laced with personal stories, bible stories and testimonies. It therefore reads a bit like a sermon, and I found myself skipping through some of these to glean the main points. Having said that, I’m probably not the audience it’s written for, and these aspects could be very helpful to someone new to the faith or curious about it.

The message focuses very much on God’s unswerving love and grace and redemptive nature as being alluring and transformative and seductive. It asserts there is nothing we can do to upset God—all sin has been already paid for and he’s not really interested in it any longer (in a believer- some of this seemed a bit of a stretch to me...) God is relentlessly pursing you for who you are, not for what you have or haven’t done (agree!).

For the church-goer it challenges us to think about how we do church and what we are really there for. He draws a good contrast between religion and relationship and also challenges us to take the message out into the community where it’s needed, like Jesus did. He challenges us to focus on the joy of knowing Jesus; to shift the focus from ourselves to him, and positions this as the key to dealing with sin and living right with God.

Smith skirted around issues to do with hell in a deliberate attempt to focus on the positive, and mocked pastors who preach on this, saying “if you say you preach the gospel but there is no great joy, I’d say there’s a problem with your gospel.” I’m not so sure about this. My gut feeling is that it’s a little shallow, and as preachers we can still present this topic in terms of grace and love, and to deliberately omit it to “stay positive” is dishonest and misleading. I have to say though, his view is definitely thought provoking and has led me to consider it differently—which is always a good thing.

Overall; I really do recommend this book. The pages contain a contagious joy for Jesus which makes it a great read, and I would highly recommend if you are curious about the faith, or wanting to develop a seeker-friendly ministry, or just wanting a fresh look at the grace and love of God. He advises: “Religion says, behave, believe and you will belong. The gospel says: belong, believe and you will behave.” A great quote to encourage believers in their faith—new and old alike!

This book is about grace, grace and grace.… (mer)