by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola
Who do you say that Jesus is? Where does He fit in your thinking, your life, your church? In Jesus Manifesto Sweet and Viola help the reader and thus the church flesh out freshness to our understanding of the Christ. Could it be that the church has become so occupied with Christianity that we miss Jesus? The authors believe it is so and so do I.
Who does the world say that Jesus is? More important, though, is this question: who do you say that Jesus is? This book very directly and simply gives us the answer. Do we really need another book about Jesus? Surely the Bible itself and the countless thousands upon thousands of books written about The Christ is sufficient? Well, yes and no. Yes, the Bible is all that we need for life and godliness. Certainly out of the countless books written about Christ there are no doubt more than enough that are worthy to be read and enjoyed. However, like anything else in this life, seeing and savoring the savior through another set of eyes is always wonderful. Can one have too many pictures over the years of our children going through stages of life? Another book, a good book that is true to Scripture, is always needed. I believe this is one of those books.
To start with, I like the premise behind this book even though the title threw me off and seemed a bit on a cultic twinge. However, the content is very much orthodox and helped me in my walk with God. I believe I need a constant freshness in my view of Christ and this book delivered that for me. This course correction for a modern church that is more interested in having a dialog about justice or going green than in the worship and exaltation of Christ is straightforward and long overdue. This book can reach into emergent, missional, moderate, conservative and even liberal churches in a way that some authors with great books about Christ might not reach. These two authors hand deliver and gift to our churches that is worthy of small group studies throughout Christendom.
Here is the cool content that draws me to and helps me easily recommend this book to my friends. These guys get the questions right and even more importantly they get the answers right. “Who do you say that I am?” “Do you love me?” In these questions lies the premise of the book. The answers are just as profound and fill the pages as they flow over our souls like gentle waves lapping at the shore of our need. Here are a few of these little nuggets to capture your interest. Every scripture and every biblical story points to and is about Christ. “He is the Rosetta Stone of the Bible.” Did you know that? Jesus, the son of man, is the human being, the way human beings were supposed to be before sin. He died the perfect death after He lived the perfect life and all this to please and magnify the Father as we reap the benefits. The book opens with this challenge and I will close this review with it. So what is your chief occupation in life and ministry? Here’s a hint: Whatever you are occupied with comes out of your mouth. It’s what you talk about most of the time.” Is it Christ or something else? That’s why you should read this book.
I was given this book as a free copy to review and blog. I was not told in any way what to say by Thomas Nelson publishers.
