The Jesus of Suburbia: Have We Tamed the Son of God to Fit Our Lifestyle?

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 224 pages
• Published by: Thomas Nelson October 10, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 084990059X
• ASIN: B0013L2EY0
• Book Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 7.2 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
Expect no sugar-coated sweetness about "felt needs" and in-church coffee bars from Erre, pastor of teaching at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, Calif. Expect, instead, compelling discussion of how the Christian church has lost sight of the revolutionary teaching and love of Jesus. "Much of the message of American Christianity presents Jesus as the purveyor of the American Dream," he says. American Christians, he claims, have reduced Jesus to a study of risk management; we want him to be "predictable and safe." Erre also uses the adjectives "insecure, threatened, naive, simplistic, mean and shortsighted" to describe many of today's churches. He lambastes our love of theology instead of Jesus, our contentment with "simply knowing about him instead of knowing him." While this protest continues in the vein of other recent books that take a hard look at Jesus and the church (Jesus Mean and Wild; Out of Your Comfort Zone), it offers a fresh look at how the American church must begin "demonstrating the message of Christ," not merely explaining it. After all, says Erre, "if you follow Jesus, you follow the most radical man who ever existed." (Oct. 10)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Review
"a compelling discussion of how the Christian church has lost sight of the revolutionary teaching and love of Jesus." -- Publishers Weekly, August 14th, 2006 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Jesus of Suburbia: Have We Tamed the Son of God to Fit Our Lifestyle? (Paperback) An excellent perspective on how we often sell out the true call of our faith for a consumer substitute. A challenge to guard against being so lulled by the comforts and trappings of suburban-American life that we literally begin to mix values that don't belong in our faith. That's called syncretism and as The Jesus of Suburbia makes clear, it's a big mistake. To take the vision of this book seriously would lead to a beautiful living out of our faith as followers of Christ in the midst of our culture. This is excellent and accessible material that you can easily use in a small-group setting or to inform your teaching. As a pastor myself, I highly recommend it. You may also be interested in learning more about ROCKHARBOR Church in Costa Mesa, CA where Mike Erre is the Teaching Pastor. It is a community of faith striving to live it's values in impressively unique ways despite it's location in the plush sun-drenched mall-topia of Orange County. If anyone has authority to speak of the challenges of truly being the Church in suburbia, it is Mike Erre with ROCKHARBOR as a living example.