Dismissing Jesus: How We Evade the Way of the Cross

Description: What is the way of the cross? Why does it create resistance? How do we answer objections to it? The revival of interest in Christ's kingdom and radical discipleship has produced a wave of discussions, but sometimes those discussions are scattered. This book aims to pull together in one place the core claims of the way of the cross. It aims to examine the deeply cherished assumptions that hinder us from hearing Jesus's call. When we do that, we'll see that the gospel of Christ is not primarily about getting into heaven or about living a comfortable, individually pious, middle-class life. It is about being free from the ancient, pervasive, and delightful oppression of Mammon in order to create a very different community, the church, an alternative city-kingdom here and now on earth by means of living and celebrating the way of the cross--the reign of joyful weakness, renunciation, self-denial, sharing, foolishness, community, and love overcoming evil. Endorsements: "This provocative book asks hard questions of contemporary expressions of Christianity, especially [its] deep embeddedness in contemporary societal and cultural values, practices, and structures. Engaging a wide range of biblical texts, this book wrestles with and sketches some alternative ecclesial practices that are variously challenging, disruptive, scary, inviting, and freeing." --Warren Carter, Professor of New Testament, Brite Divinity School "Dismiss this book! Reading it will make a holy mess of your life. But if you want to enter into the pain of the world and see the Jesus revolution ignite, [then] pick up this fuel. Jones explains Jesus' gospel of renunciation, enemy-love, weakness, deliverance, and sharing in practical terms. His book gives us the tools to form a revolutionary community of people who practice the way of Jesus." --Tim Otto, Teaching and Preaching Pastor, The Church of the Sojourners "Dismissing Jesus identifies and invites us to remove the blinders that seduce us from the way of our crucified and risen Lord. Ultimately, Jones calls the church to be more fully herself. . . . His book is unsettling; frequently, it is unsettling in just the way Jesus is. Doug's barbs sink deep, and, persuaded or not, every reader will profit from a slow, receptive engagement with this book." --Peter J. Leithart, from the foreword About the Contributor(s): Douglas Jones is an ordained minister in the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) and a former senior fellow of humanities of New St. Andrews College, Moscow, Idaho. He helps oversee CREC Myanmar.