book review #3: jesus wants to save christians

book review #3: Jesus wants to save Christians, by rob bell & don golden

overall, this book seemed to be a collection of thoughts and ideas, linking together many parts of the old testament and the new testament, sort of in parallel, which was kind of cool. it was a new perspective for me. it's written in almost a fragmented sentence form, which i didn't mind, but i found through reading it that won't impact you much unless you actually look up all the verses footnoted in the back of the book as you are reading. that changes it from being a quick read to more of a study, but i learned a lot more from it that way.

i don't really know how to summarize the book since it covers a lot of topics, so here's an excerpt off the back cover that i think is the best 1 sentence summary. "it's about what it means to be a part of the church of Jesus in a world where some people fly planes into buildings while others pick up groceries in Hummers."

i grew frustrated while reading this book because rob bell and don golden don't make a point until the last chapter and the epilogue. if it had been a longer read, i probably wouldn't have finished the book because they take the first 5 chapters to set the stage for their final point, but i think it was definitely worth it. it got me thinking, which is the point of reading. since the buildup is so long, i can't give the final point they made, because you wouldn't get it without all the background info, so here are just a few topics/quotes i found to be clever/new ideas to me:

-in Exodus, God hears the cry of the people in slavery and oppression and delivers them from their slavery through Passover. He instructs all the Jewish men to sacrifice a lamb, eat it and spread its blood on the doorposts so that the firstborn sons of each household of the Jews will be spared (while those of the rest of Egypt would be killed). the lamb redeemed the firstborn, saving him (and thus the rest of the family, as the firstborn in the culture at this time served as a representative of the family).

-"And what does Jesus do on the night he's betrayed and arrested? He has a Passover meal with his disciples. And it's at this meal, the Passover meal, that he takes the bread and says, "This is my body," and then he takes the cup and says, "This is my blood." Jesus takes the ritual remembrance of that night unlike any other and he makes it about himself...Paul describes Jesus as "the firstborn over all creation." (colossians 1:15)" so the point they're making, is that Jesus is the lamb of the old testament, freeing us from our oppression and slavery through the Eucharist, which is his body. but other parts of the book go on to talk about how Jesus is the church (the church is the body of Christ), thus the church should be a living Eucharist, freeing people from oppression.

-"the church is a living Eucharist, because followers of Christ are living Eucharists. A Christian is a living Eucharist, allowing her body to be broken and her blood to be poured out for the healing of the world." meaning, for someone to benefit somewhere, someone somewhere else is paying something. the same goes for us as Christians. if we want others to benefit and to see Christ through us, we must pay a cost for that, allowing ourselves to be broken, sacrificing for others.

-"Paul understands that the power of the Eucharist comes from its weaknesses, not its strength...At the heart of the church, the soul of the Eucharist, is identification with the suffering of another human being." (1 corinthians 9)

-(2 corinthians 10:4) "A church's authority comes from somewhere else-it comes from how we've been broken open and poured out, not from how well we've pursued power and lobbied and organized ourselves to triumph."

-"The Eucharist is about people with power empowering the powerless to make a better life for themselves."

finally, my favorite part:

-"This is a God who is defined by action on behalf of the oppressed. God is about giving the good gift. Jesus is God's good gift for the healing of the world. The church is Jesus' body, a good gift for the healing of the world...A church is an organization that exists for the benefits of nonmembers. This blessing extends even to our enemies. This truth about the Eucharist raises profound questions that a church must ask itself. If our church was taken away-from our city, our neighborhood, our region-who would protest? Only the people who are members? Only those who are a part of it? Only those who attend its services? Single mothers? Refugees? Atheists?...We are all our brothers' and our sisters' keepers...The church is the good gift. For the world."

(my emphasis added) i thought it was a good read. thought provoking, honest and inspired me to take action.