Jesus Manifesto

Ok, so with everything that has been going on, this has been a long time coming. However, I'm finally writing my first review for BookSneeze. Here goes...

So, JESUS MANIFESTO, by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, is based on the authors’ concern that Christians have made the Gospel something that is no longer centered on Jesus Christ. To quote the back cover, “It is a prophetic call to restore the supremacy and sovereignty of Christ in a world--and a church--that has lost sight of Him.” They say that many have fallen into a religion instead of a relationship with Christ. It is their belief that there is nothing more about Christianity than Christ, and that the most important question for any believer is one He asked His disciples all those years ago, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

In many ways, I agree with their opinion that Christ should be the center of our faith. I would also say that I go along with the idea that that is often not the case in churches today, with it being easy and even common to find people preaching a religion based more on the question, “What can God do for me?” However, I found this book lacking. It seemed to me`to be a simplistic view, one that merely covers the basics. Yes, our faith should be about Jesus, but there is more. Not more than Jesus, but more to living the kind of life to which each of us as a believer has been called. I think this book is good for someone who is young in his faith, but in a way it seems very much like spiritual milk instead of solid food, as mentioned in Hebrews 5:12-14.

On a different note, my personal preference is to have what I call the “address” of a verse listed in the text when a verse is quoted instead of having an endnote for the citation. This book has everything listed in the back, something I must admit is just a pet peeve of mine, not something bad.

*Disclosure: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. The opinions expressed, however, are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”