Your Jesus Is Too American
Calling the Church to Reclaim Kingdom Values over the American Dream
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About
"An invigorating look at the current state of the American church and what might be done to move it forward."--Publishers Weekly
The American church faces a discipleship crisis. Instead of following the values of Jesus, many Christians are chasing after what our culture prizes: power, money, and political influence.
In Your Jesus Is Too American, Baptist pastor Steve Bezner invites Christians to rediscover what Jesus treasured and incorporate those kingdom values into the church's witness.
With a pastoral voice, Bezner shares the lessons he has been teaching in his church community for 11 years--humble service rather than worldly success, healing relationships across religious and ethnic divides, repairing harm against marginalized groups, giving generously, and providing a political witness rooted in the local church. Bezner shows that Jesus's vision of discipleship points toward a different way of being in the world.
The book offers a welcome perspective for church leaders and congregants alike who are frustrated with the way many churches pursue values that are not in line with Jesus's teachings and are worried about the American church's credibility crisis. It includes a foreword by Beth Moore.
Contents
Foreword by Beth Moore
1. Hidden Treasure: (Re)Discovering Jesus Values
2. Heaven Help Us: Imagination and Kingdom Practice
3. Power Hungry: Jesus on Humility and Service
4. There Is No Them: Jesus on Enemy Love
5. Money Talks: Jesus on Possessions and the Poor
6. With Pleasure: Jesus on Sexuality
7. God and Country: Jesus on Politics
8. Black and White: Jesus on Race
9. Royal Pain: Jesus on Suffering
10. Get Busy Dying: Jesus on Finding Life in Death
Endorsements
"This book looks to a bright future for the American church, with Jesus as the beating heart at the center. Steve Bezner's life and ministry provide a model of what this can look like, a foretaste of the great possibilities we have should we take part in Jesus's life, with him as our Lord and teacher and friend. Steve has put his heart into this book, and I hope Christians will read it, consider it, and take up his call to 'obedience to the way of Jesus.'"
Michael Wear, founder, president, and CEO, Center for Christianity and Public Life; author of The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life
"This is an altar call for the American church. With his wise, skillful, and learned pastoral voice, Steve Bezner calls us to come to Jesus just as we are--leaving behind the trappings of our power and privilege. He reminds us, drawing from his experience as a Texas pastor, that the kingdom Jesus calls us to is diverse, loving, and more focused on people than on material wealth and power. This is a book I will give to my friends, family, and fellow ministry leaders. It is a book to which I fervently pray we will listen."
Beth Allison Barr, James Vardaman Professor of History, Baylor University; bestselling author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood
"Not many would want to be a prophetic voice today. There can be a cost to speaking out, but doing so means that you are unbought. That is what you will sense in these pages by my brother Steve Bezner. You may get rattled or even triggered at times, but that is not a bad thing. The American church has become too politics-centered rather than Christ-centered. We need a biblical worldview more than ever today. Read this work and experience the growth and implementation of such a vision."
Eric Mason, senior pastor, Epiphany Fellowship
"Your Jesus Is Too American tackles the most pressing issues causing tension among Americans today. The reasons behind why Steve is a good pastor are the reasons why this book is timely: they are informed, intuitive, intelligent, intimate, and invested. During this divided and fragmented time, Steve calls us to hold fast to the Jesus of the Bible."
Daniel Yang, national director of Churches of Welcome
"Rarely does a book jump off the page like this one. Steve's ability to write in a way that can be absorbed and practiced by anyone is truly a gift. The kingdom of God is still coming; there is nothing more hopeful, revolutionary, or transformational to our current personal and societal context than this. It's odd how we've become masters of helping people accept Jesus without teaching much else. Steve takes us beyond accepting Christ to embracing what he taught."
Bob Roberts Jr., senior pastor, author, and president of Multi-Faith Neighbors Network and Institute for Global Engagement
"Offering pastoral words from a pastoral presence, Your Jesus Is Too American is a book we need today. With echoes of Bonhoeffer's prophetic call to Christians from nearly a century ago, Steve Bezner draws us with tenderness and strength to the One in whom we find our identity. A beautiful book."
Lore Ferguson Wilbert, author of The Understory, A Curious Faith, and Handle with Care
"Whatever you may think is at the root of our current cultural crisis, the only solution for the Christian must be a radical recommitment to the way of Jesus Christ. The beautiful--and challenging--brilliance of Steve Bezner's Your Jesus Is Too American is that it presses us to face the fullness of Christ's teaching, and it presses us to believe it."
Jared C. Wilson, assistant professor of pastoral ministry and author in residence, Midwestern Seminary; pastor for preaching, Liberty Baptist Church, Liberty, Missouri; author of Friendship with the Friend of Sinners
"What I have so deeply appreciated in [Bezner's] teaching is beautifully captured here in his writing. You will be taught, not talked down to. You will be served, not seduced by someone seeking celebrity. And if by chance you find yourself offended by something he says, hear him out. Hear the gospel he preaches, and thank God for people who are brave enough to speak truths that hurt, because only truth can heal."
Beth Moore (from the foreword)
The Author
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Melanie Beddow Steve Bezner
Steve Bezner (PhD, Baylor University) is senior pastor of Houston Northwest Church in Houston, Texas. He is a local leader and participant in Multi-Faith Neighbors Network, where he builds bridges with Muslims and Jews, and he serves on the board of the...
Continue reading about Steve Bezner
Reviews
"[A] forceful debut. . . . Bezner constructs a robust theology that seamlessly links biblical principles with lucid discussions of today's politics and interrogates the role of power and morality in the public sphere. It's an invigorating look at the current state of the American church and what might be done to move it forward."
Publishers Weekly