Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel Good Savior

by Jared C. Wilson

Book Overview

A provocative new book that calls Christians to stop making Jesus so "convenient"

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0825439310
• ISBN13: 9780825439315
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Kregel Publications
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Good book

I like the book so far, not finished with it yet. How true are the words that are written, good book to open the eyes of those who are stuck in a dead Church or lost in religion.

A Dangerous Jesus for Comfortable Times

If you were to put the books of John Piper, N.T. Wright, and Mark Driscoll in a blender, what would you get? Jared C. Wilson's new book, Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel Good Savior (Kregel, 2009). Jared has combined the best qualities from each of these pastors and given us a solid book on Jesus. Full disclosure. Jared Wilson is a fellow blogger friend of mine. As a blogger myself, I am cheering him on, glad to see that the blogosphere is becoming a place for aspiring writers to hone their skills and try out new ideas. But don't think that I am recommending his book simply because he is a friend. Your Jesus Is Too Safe is a great book on Jesus for a number of reasons. First, Jared brings together the passion of John Piper, the historical sensibilities of N.T. Wright and the irreverent humor of Mark Driscoll (without the crudeness). Early on in the book, it becomes clear that Jared reads widely and is willing to glean insights from the different streams of Christianity, and yet maintain a firm grasp on the gospel and the core doctrines of the faith. Second, Jared relentlessly exposes the ways in which we try to tame Jesus: 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. (13) Jared sees the scholarly world as seeking to tame Jesus in more subtle ways: In the world of biblical academia, the "Jesus of history" and the "Jesus of faith" are set against each other, as if never the two shall meet. The two shall meet here - in this book. The purpose of Your Jesus Is Too Safe is to remind us, for the glory of God and the hope of the world, of the original message of the historical person Jesus Christ, who was, in fact, God in the flesh. We're going to remove the gloss. We're going to venture beyond the hype and beneath the misconceptions to see the real, historical figure of Jesus Christ in his biblical and cultural context - and in this way to know God more fully, to see what God wants us to know about the revelation of himself is his son. Jared offers a portrait of Jesus that is historically rooted. His Jesus is a flesh-and-blood man you could actually see walking on Galilean shores preaching to people about the kingdom. But Jared doesn't let the humanness of Jesus detract from Jesus' divinity. (One

A Refreshing Look At The Biblical Jesus

Jesus is hard to ignore. You can find Him in literature, art, television and movies, and even in curse words. Without a doubt Jesus is the most controversial person to ever live (and some even doubt that He did live despite evidence otherwise). Some love Jesus and others hate Jesus but no one can ignore Jesus. And yet the Church of Jesus Christ, the one place that you would expect to find Jesus is often lacking in teaching the biblical Jesus. Instead we have created a Jesus who fits every need, fills every gap, and is a creation of our imagination rather than a true picture of who Jesus is. This Jesus of the modern American Church is a drive-thru, feel-good Jesus. Jared Wilson's book attacks all those misconceptions about Jesus. Wilson writes, "Jesus is more than a generic brand, a logo, or a pick-me-up. He has been fictionalized, humanized, satirized, and romanticized. And yet He still isn't recognized." Wilson writes a book to take a look at the true Jesus and to cut through all the various Jesus' you find in modern pop culture and sadly in the modern Church. Overall this is a great book. The chapters are easy reading and you will get caught up in the book. Wilson writes with a serious tone but he adds humor here and there to spice up the book. But the best part of this book is that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly exalted and you can read this book and end it by seeing the true Jesus of both history and the Bible.

A Reminder for the Religious and the Lukewarm

He's without doubt the most influential man who ever lived. Millions of people claim to follow his teachings. Some respect him as a philosopher, moral teacher, advocate for the poor, and even progressive revolutionary. So many writers and speakers have represented him in so many ways, it's difficult sometimes to separate truth from fiction when it comes to the person of Jesus Christ. Some even claim it's impossible to really know if Jesus existed, or, if he did, to really know any concrete truth about him. We all, though, must answer Jesus' own question to his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" To help with this, Jared C. Wilson's "Your Jesus Is Too Safe: Outgrowing a Drive-Thru, Feel-Good Savior" examines twelve different characteristics or roles of the person of Jesus. Like a diamond, each angle of perspective unveils another aspect of Christ's beauty, as Wilson unpacks the truth Jesus revealed about himself and who the early Church understood him to be. Jesus is shown to be the fulfillment of a promise, a prophet, a shepherd, a redeemer, a king, lord, and savior, among others. This is one of the better books I've read in a long time. Wilson is engaging and even humorous at times (his footnotes alone are almost worth the price and had me laughing out loud at times). He's theologically deep while remaining very accessible, and thoroughly Jesus- and Gospel-centered. Comparisons to Mark Driscoll are inevitable due to the humor and never-ending focus on Jesus and the gospel, but I think Wilson is a better writer and refrains from distracting readers with the occasional crass remark (I enjoy Driscoll a ton; I'm just saying). To be sure, there is very little in the book in terms of information I didn't already know, but Wilson's straightforward, conversational style opened up truths in familiar passages I had never seen simply by the way he paraphrased what was said or done. This is great exposition. Wilson's goal is to blow up the false versions of Jesus so ingrained in our culture, and he does so by presenting an orthodox view of Jesus with, at times, unorthodox descriptions. He deftly moves between theological meat and practical application and experience. For example, in the chapter on "Jesus The Redeemer," a story from Wilson's cousin serves to show not only that Jesus can redeem, but also to show that he does redemptive work in peoples' lives. When Wilson speaks of "Jesus The Shepherd" and shows Jesus' heart for the lost, he connects that to our experiences with lost people and the similar response we should have for them. The teachings of Jesus and the work he accomplished on the cross are not just theoretical here, they are life-giving and real. The effect of this encounter is equally damaging to the Jesus of both the "religious" and the "lukewarm." You can control the "religious" Jesus by being good, and the "lukewarm" Jesus doesn't demand anything from you. The true gospel doesn't allow for either response, and you will get a clear pictu

A Popular Introduction to the Biblical Christ

Jared is not your standard, everyday, run of the mill, grits and butter sort of preacher/teacher. He's the former pastor of Element, a missional church in Nashville, as well as a blogger over at The Gospel Driven Church. And now, with the publishing of his first book, Jared is a first-class author. How do I qualify this? I mean, come on, how many authors of what is essentially a systematic theology include references to Strong Bad, Die Hard, The Kid, My Buddy, and the Grateful Dead? I mean besides Mark Driscoll, of course. Or Todd Bentley. If he ever decided to write a systematic theology. Which would probably look pretty wild. The qualification for my above assertion comes in Jared's systematic presentation of the biblical claims about Christ. Unlike so many who have remade Christ to fit their message, Jared's innovation only extends as far as the presentation. The Christ of the Gospels is examined from twelve different perspectives (shepherd, promise, sacrifice, etc). As each is considered, a full picture of Christ's message and mission for His followers comes into view. Content The picture of Christ that Jared paints is robustly biblical with some hints of Reformed theology (which, in my view, makes it even more robustly biblical). NT Wright and George Ladd are definitely influences here, the former informing Jared's thoughts concerning Christ's mission and the latter shaping his view of the kingdom of God. In the intro, Jared sets us up by surveying Christianity in America. Each subsequent movement, whether it be the prosperity gospel, the altar call gospel, or the guru gospel, has rewritten Christ to fit their message. As such, Christians that wish to proclaim the true Christ must know Who they are serving in the midst of so many counterfeits. Enter this book. The book could be a mash-up of Driscoll's Death by Love and Phillip Yancey's The Jesus I Never Knew (you can guess which of those two I recommend). This is definitely theology leading application. I'll highlight what I enjoyed the most, and then talk about a couple potential misfires. Pros Jared is at home talking about Christ. Each chapter opens with an examination of the historical background surrounding that aspect of the Savior's ministry. Thus, the chapter on Christ as shepherd examines what it meant to be a shepherd, or the chapter on Jesus as the promise looks at the Messianic expectations of first century Judaism (Messiah was to come in the wilderness, etc.). After conducting this initial foray into the history behind the theology, Jared examines the text of the Gospels, showing just how radical this Jesus was. The conclusions he comes to, although not shocking to any orthodox believer, are still penetrating for us American Christians who have never known the kingdom life that Christ talked about in the Beatitudes: Jesus came to bring the reality of God's kingdom to earth. We're firmly in already/not yet territory here, which is refreshing to find serious theology at th