Jared Wilson is a pastor, writer and blogger whose first book Your Jesus is Too Safe, was just released from Kregel. As the subtitle says the book aims to help us outgrowing "a drive-thru, feel-good savior."

I was glad to write the foreword for the book, and recently had the chance to ask Jared a few questions about the book. Read the interview and jump into the comments below. Jared will be around today answering questions on the blog.

Ed Stetzer: There's inspirational stuff in the book, some devotional stuff, some academic stuff, some apologetics stuff, some discipleship type stuff, lots of humor and sarcasm, and lots of gospel. Who is Your Jesus is Too Safe for? Who's your intended reader?

JW: It's for people who need to hear about Jesus and the gospel, which I think is everyone, Christian and non. But I know you're not supposed to market a book that broadly.

The book does assume a certain working level of Christianity, and it does sort of assume that the reader is interested in deepening his or her understanding of what Jesus said and did. It assumes the reader has "a Jesus" that may or may not need clarifying.

And, yeah, given the pop cultural references, the humorous footnotes and the sarcasm and what-not, it is probably most in the language of Christians 18-40 or so.

ES: You cite N.T. Wright and John Piper pretty much equally. There has obviously been tension there. Fill us in.

JW: I know, I know. I'm supposed to pick a team.

And honestly, if I'm picking a team for the atonement wars, I'm probably with Piper. I talk about that a bit in the book, but I am a fan of a symphonic view of the different biblical emphases on the atonement with penal substitution as sort of the sharp, leading edge of gospel understanding and proclamation.

I love both men and their work. They are the two most formative influences on my understanding of Jesus. And the book is sort of a literary mashup of Wright's (and others') historical Jesus scholarship and Piper's (and others') passionate proclamation of the glories of Christ.

ES: I know Element bills itself a missional community, and I know you've blogged extensively on the missional church. How does the book fit in or apply to the missional conversation? Or does it?

JW: I think it's human nature to favor one extreme over another. We like life on the pendulum. So in the missional church movement, if we can call it that, we find big bold preachers of Jesus' awesomeness who are very little action and we find folks who are big on action but downplay gospel proclamation. (And there's great folks who do both.) This isn't new and it isn't limited to missional Christianity. It's fundamentalist reductionism versus social gospel all over again.

I think what the book could do - and I don't talk about the missional church in the book; it's just not in the book's view - is push us to ponder if maybe we have a Preacher Jesus on one hand or a Activist Jesus on the other, and the corrective is not to trade one for the other but to look at who Jesus was and what he did. He preached and taught that the kingdom revolved around himself, and he healed, fed, clothed, raised, exorcised, etc. as if that were true. The closer we get to the biblical Jesus, the better our missiology and ecclesiology will be. I think that's a fairly obvious point nobody really needs me to point out. But the book, I hope, will help people get closer to the biblical Jesus.

ES: You survey quite a few false Jesuses from contemporary culture in the Introduction--Grammy Award Speech Jesus, Hippie Jesus, ATM Jesus, etc. Which one do you think is most prevalent in the church right now? And what is the book's response to it?

JW: I don't have the research resources that you do, so I can't put a figure on this, but I can tell you that my biggest concern is actually about an Invisible Jesus. Jesus, the Best Supporting Actor. Cameo Appearance Jesus. The "Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain" Jesus.

In way too many churches - just one would be too many, but I know this is a larger problem than that because I have experienced it myself and I hear from many others across the country who have as well - Jesus barely or rarely shows up. He may make an appearance in an illustration or something, but he is not the point of the message. Sometimes his name is never mentioned. Perusing church websites or pastor's blogs or Twitter feeds, they hardly ever mention him.

It's bizarre. It's distressing. But it makes sense given the current state of evangelicalism.

ES: Run with that and explain your title. How is evangelicalism's Jesus is too safe?

JW: It's this weird thing we do -- that we've got to wake up to - where Jesus cares about the exact same things we do, Jesus wants the same things we do, Jesus gives his stamp of approval on all our hopes and dreams. Who was it that said "God made man in his own image and ever since man has tried to return the favor"?

Our Jesus is too safe when it turns out he likes and dislikes the same people and things we do. For our church culture, it's things like success at work, prospering in our finances, achieving our dreams, etc. But every time I read the Sermon on the Mount, for instance, I am immediately comforted and challenged at the same time. It totally freaks me out. If Jesus in the Gospels doesn't challenge your idols, your worship of them is more entrenched than you realize.

My friend Ray Ortlund says making Jesus the chaplain of the American dream is blasphemous. I think he's touched on the prevailing sin of Western evangelical culture.

ES: What's the takeaway? What one idea or thought do you want to resonate with people when they close the book at the end of their reading?

JW: Well, I hope we don't make it sound as if the book is constantly critical, constantly corrective. Michael Spencer did me a favor in pointing that out in his review, when he says the title sort of belies the real thrust of the book. I sort of set up the problems with some critical surveys in the Introduction, just as you sort of do in the Foreword, but the text of the book is overwhelmingly pro-Christ, not anti- anything. There are corrections as necessary and plenty of arguments for certain things, but the book is more "for" Jesus than it is "against" anything else. I think anyone who's read it can testify to that.

But the takeaway I hope it offers is what I like to call the all-surpassing awesomeness of Jesus.

If it renews or deepens or even just helps someone's relationship with the risen Lord, I'm happy.

Jared will be around to interact with us right here on the blog. So jump into the comments if you have any questions or issues you want to discuss.

I thought I'd share a few thoughts on Easter and some photos taken during our five worship services that morning. We had a great service and tried to make much of Jesus and his mission.

I have been at the church for over a year and a half now. And, I really like the folks at First and have greatly enjoyed being there. We are coming up on two years together, but I am thinking that they will have a pastor soon so I am excited for them, but in many ways not looking forward to that day.

As an "interim" pastor, that means I am the "fill in," while they look for a new pastor. This has been a unique experience for me-- I have never been a regular attended at a large traditional megachurch, let alone served one as pastor. My background has been in contemporary churches, church planting, and innovative ministry and mission. But, God is working in all kinds of biblically faithful churches, traditional, contemporary, and emerging, and I have been thrilled and blessed to be there on journey with my friends at First in a well-done blended church setting. And, we just had a great time of worship at Easter. It made me miss being a "real" pastor!

Anyway, these interwebs were buzzing last week as we all talked about their upcoming Easter worship services. Seemed like we were all excited. I know I was. It's not that this one day is more important than any other Sunday, but that many nominal Christians and relatively unchurched individuals show up at our worship on Easter. Some are coming for the right reasons, some for the wrong, but for a variety of cultural and spiritual reasons most of our churches have higher attendance numbers on Easter than most other Sundays. And this is exciting.

But I think we can easily get confused. It's not exciting simply because attendance is higher. And it shouldn't be exciting because we put on a big show (In fact, I'd like us to take a step back from the big show, and instead make a big show of the gospel itself by clearly communicating the good news in ways people can understand). It isn't about the big band, the cool music, great choir, or whatever else we are tempted to exalt for a big show.

It's exciting because worshipping our risen Savior is exciting. It's exciting because as we make much of Christ, many more have the opportunity to hear his story and his words, and by God's grace many will believe! And, it is in many ways just like any other Sunday-- the gospel is preached and people need to live a cross-centered life in the power of the resurrection.

Let's not lose focus of this: no show, stage dressing, egg drop, or speaker should eclipse the one who conquered sin and death. We want people walking out of our worship remembering, talking about, wondering and marveling over Jesus, not a show.

We had a wonderful God-honoring service at First Baptist Church of Hendersonville and, I hope we make that our focus.

Jesus is the point. On Easter, today, and every day.

By the way, if you are interested in listening to my weekly messages, you can do so here. I have been preaching through Ephesians and three of those messages are on the site in addition to a new series I have started this week on Easter called "Lies We Believe." They are all here and you can also subscribe on iTunes. Finally, thanks to David Walley for the pictures.

This Sunday at my church I talked about sharing Christ. As always, you can listen to my Sunday messages here.

I included a video clip that went around a while ago. In this case, it was from Penn (of Penn and Teller) talking about proselytizing. I told the church I would post it here today so, if you have not already seen it, check it out:

Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost have written a new book, Rejesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church, in which they call the church to "reconfigure itself," and "recalibrate its mission, around the example and teaching of the radical rabbi from Nazareth."

Alan is a good friend and I am grateful he took the time to answer some questions here and come around the blog today to interact.

Here is our interview:

In simple terms, what problem(s) is ReJesus addressing?

We are addressing what we call 'the subversion of Christianity'; the process by which we remove the defining presence and influence of Jesus for His church, our discipleship, and mission. reJesus is about exactly that...re-Jesus-ing the church! Putting Jesus back into the most basic equation and seeing what happens!

In the past the church has sought and experienced "reformation" (the church's work to bring itself more in line with the expressed will and ways of God) and "revival" (God's work in leading his people to live more in line with his expressed will and ways). How does you call to "ReJesus" the church look similar to and/or different from what has happened throughout the history of the church?

In many ways we believe that both the renewal, as well as revival, of the church and its mission are directly related to the more elemental task of reJesusing the church. Instead of simply reforming the church and its theology, we prefer to use the term 'refounding' the church: and we suggest that we must do this by recovering the definitive role that Jesus plays in shaping church, discipleship, and mission. The fact is Ed, that we so easily remove the influence and role of Jesus from our midst. We do find it hard to live with a Lord, humans tend to prefer our own ways and agendas to that of a demanding Lord/King.

So in ReJesus, are you saying something new, or something old?

Well, actually it is ancient...primal really. Whatever we can say about Christianity, it has everything to do with Christ. Jesus is the Founder and the Gospels are our most foundational stories. We are simply renovating ancient truths. H. Richard Niebuhr was right to note that "The great Christian revolutions came not by the discovery of something that was not known before. They happen when someone takes radically something that was always there."

All of this will sound risky to many readers. Is it? How? Can you tell them why it's worth it?

Oh too right. it is risky! Particularly if we insist on clinging to our middleclass penchant for safety and security, and consumerist addiction to comfort and convenience. I believe that the closer we get to Jesus, the more 'dangerous' he is to us. We prefer to keep him at arms length and engage him from the relative safety of objective theology. Why is it worth it? Because without Jesus we have no legitimacy, or in fact do we actually have Christianity, because Christianity minus Christ equals Religion. And hey! Who wants a religion? Is it worth it? It is our eternal destiny to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom.8:29.) We cannot escape it. It is our joy, our salvation, our freedom. All else is just messing with the fringes of the faith.

Why is it that keeping Christ at the center of our confessional identity can be so much easier than remaining Christocentric in our person, practices and piety?

Because simple confession, like theology, as important as it is to our integrity, is not enough for us to truly 'know' God. I would argue that to truly know God we must supplement intellectual knowledge with that type of knowledge that can only come from engaging our hearts (our passion, feelings, our capacity for love) as well as our actions (obedience and action). We spend the good part of a chapter on this aspect of what we call "Hebraic epistemology". This is what it means to take the Shema seriously. And Jesus himself puts this at the center of a missional discipleship. "One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one" answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 'The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28-31 NIV) The mind is simply not enough to know and love God as we must.

In the book you make a biblical argument for experiencing and living under the Lordship of a sent and sending God. A God that is immanent, close and accessible through Jesus Christ. Is there a place for seeing and worshipping the God who is also seen as transcendent, holy and "other?"

Of course! God's transcendence is vital to a Christian understanding of God. But you are right in noticing that we have chosen to focus on the primacy and centrality of God Jesus as He is revealed in and through the Incarnation. We believe strongly that whatever ideas of God we might entertain; they must first be interpreted through the lens of Jesus--whatever that might entail. We call this fact that Jesus reveals God to us, 'The Christlike God" because we know through his life that God is indeed like Jesus--he says if you have seen him you have seen the Father...he and the Father are one!! Sure we know God through Scripture as well as nature...but the most distilled, and central, knowledge of God must be gleaned from the life, teaching, ministry of Jesus as revealed in Scripture. This is what makes us distinctly Christ-ian. This has massive implications for us, especially for our understanding of God, but it does not exhaust the extent of the revelation we find in Jesus, because not only does Jesus redefine our concept of God but also he shows us the perfect expression of humanity as God intended it. In other words, he models for us what a true human being should be like. Therefore, focusing our discipleship on Jesus forces us to take seriously the implications of following him, of becoming like him. It sets the agenda for our spirituality. It acknowledges that Jesus as our model, our teacher, and our guide is normative for the Christian life. He is the standard by which we measure ourselves, the quality of our discipleship, and therefore our spirituality

You have done much to skewer cultural conditioned views of Jesus ("bearded lady Jesus" was my favorite). But, when I read the book I wanted to ask something that is both a question and a compliment-- the Jesus you described looked a lot like you, Alan-- a wandering teacher calling for change, a wild man with a powerful message, focused on the Kingdom of God, and with a Hebrew worldview. How culturally conditioned do you think your view of Jesus might be?

None of us is free from trying to make Jesus like us on a good day! Actually that's what we are trying to 'skewer' it debunking the stereotypes of Jesus. Actually I am a strong believer in ongoing validity of the second commandment--we should not make any images of God. Every time we attempt to image God, be it mental or metal, we limit him and thereby seek to control him. We must always allow Jesus to be beyond any stereotype that we might wish to make of him. As you say, a lot of the book is iconoclastic. It's a bit of fun at our own expense really. But hey, thanks for the compliment!

While everyone can benefit from reading this book, who needs to read it (for whom is it most critical)?

We hope that the book is accessible to all thoughtful Christians. It is certainly geared towards a missional audience. But I do think it will appeal mostly to people engaged leadership and formal ministry.

As pastors seek to bring about the change you call for in the book, what are the top areas they should focus on?

Recovering Jesus in thought, imagination, action of the church. Radicalizing the church by recovering the ethos, teachings, lifestyle of the Founder. And to do this they will have to take discipleship in the Way of Jesus seriously. I can't think of anything more foundational and important to the life and mission of the church.

What other books, resources would you recommend to those who are convicted that such things need to change?

You know, I love Soren Kierkegaard, but he is probably too complex for most people to read directly. A good introduction or two on his thinking is good medicine. For instance he saw it as his life's task Soren Kierkegaard, when he said, rather cheekily, "My mission is to introduce Christianity into Christendom." Dietrich Bonheoffer's work and thinking is timeless. I loved Stanley Hauerwas' commentary on Matthew (Brazos Theological Commentary) and Jacques Ellul's work in The Subversion of Christianity, and The Presence of the Kingdom, is really excellent. Also, Debs and I are working on a book on missional discipleship--published early '10. In many ways it will be a guide to outworking what it means to take Jesus seriously. And then of course there is your work on breaking the discipleship code.

Alan will be around today to dialogue about the book. Feel free to post questions and comments below.

I wrote an article for the Nov/Dec Issue of Outreach Magazine where I shared a few thoughts on preaching the gospel and living the gospel, particularly as it relates to the poor. (If you have not subscribed, click here to do so and you can read the whole issue.)

Jesus not only preached the gospel to the spiritually blind, hungry, oppressed and poor, he also demonstrated the gospel by acts of love that met the needs of those who were literally blind, hungry, oppressed and poor. There is much we can learn from Jesus here. His miracles were not simply testimonies to his divine power, but reflections of his divine love and compassion. I hope you will consider this issue with me as we enter into this holiday season. You can read the article below in its entirety.

Speaking of Jesus and Justice

Every church deals with "it." Some deal with it by referral to the agency down the street. Others find token ways to say they're dealing with it, when really they're not. Some send a few bucks overseas so someone else can deal with it. Most deal with it by not dealing with it at all. "It" is poverty. Some see it as the government's responsibility. Others hold to the historic and biblical precedent that family and the Church care for the poor. Yet, today's evangelical churches in America have often been unengaged in dealing with poverty. My own experience has underscored the truth that to be faithful to Scripture, churches must deal with it.

Out of Buffalo
My wife, Donna, and I planted our first church among the urban poor of Buffalo, N.Y. When I went there, Buffalo's population was declining by 3% per year. We bought a house for $70,000 in the middle of a crack epidemic. After spending an equivalent of $17,000 in renovations, we sold the house five years later for only$40,000 when we left Buffalo to plant another church. Our Buffalo experience showed us that it's not always easy to see people through God's eyes. The poor are poor for many reasons, not all of which are someone else's fault. Sometimes bad personal choices are involved. However, that fact doesn't give the Church license to tell people that if they really wanted to, they could get out of poverty. Instead, our job is to join Jesus on His mission to serve and care for the poor.

Talking the Walk
I must confess that I think churches talk more than they help. They brand themselves as caring for their communities through catchy slogans, yet they seem to talk more than they act. It kind of reminds me of that Brady Bunch episode in which Peter rescues a little girl from a falling shelf in Driscoll's Toy Store. The newspaper wrote about it and the TV station came out. And, you guessed it, the middle Brady son became obsessed with telling his heroic tale and couldn't stop talking about himself to his friends and family. It's no wonder no one wanted to be around the "hero." Self-congratulation is obnoxious and tiring. Likewise, I believe the world is growing tired of churches that occasionally helped the poor, took up an offering, or went on a mission trip and can't stop talking about those occasional experiences. People today find it odd that the Church founded by a Savior who came healing the sick and caring for the poor is now only marginally involved in His mission.

Jesus and Justice
In the initial thrust of His earthly ministry, Jesus announced, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19). That same Jesus, just a few chapters later, explained, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). If we are going to follow Jesus in His mission, we must see the biblical Jesus in both Luke 4 and Luke 19:10. When Jesus broke into history, He said He would serve the hurting. But He also came to seek and save the lost. If we are not serving the hurting, we are missing out on the Jesus of the Bible. If we are not sharing the Gospel with our lips, we are missing out on the Jesus of the Bible. Imagine the difference we could make in our communities if we not only told people that they must repent and be saved, but also loved them--talking about Jesus and acting in justice. That would be joining Jesus on His mission.

I am in Lynchburg, VA today spending time with the leadership of Thomas Road Baptist Church, so I won't be around to comment much. But, here are an unusually long Friday is for Friends update.

Dave Ramsey

Michael Edwards, a friend and my most recent commenter here on the blog, invited me to come speak to the staff of the Financial Peace University folks. I was surprised at just how many people they employ. I guess I knew Dave Ramsey was famous, but I did not know they had such a large ministry. I had the chance to talk with Dave and was impressed with his (and their) focus on using finances as a "bridge" to share the gospel. I think they are onto something-- and appreciate their ministry.

Mark Dever

I interviewed each of the speakers at the recent Whiteboard Conference. It was a good group with some interesting dialogue.

However, I have been (pleasantly) surprised by the response to my interview with Mark Dever. As of now, almost 2500 people have downloaded the video, more than all the other interviews from Whiteboard combined.

The video shot up when the king-of-all-Reformed-bloggers, Justin Taylor posts it with commentary including:

This is a great interview of Mark Dever by Ed Stetzer, who asks great questions. They cover worship (Capitol Hill and Sovereign Grace), contextualization (MacArthur, Driscoll, Mahaney), the seeker-sensitive movement, partnership with those you disagree with, whether the gospel is too big (Dever admits he was being provocative at T4G, that some qualifications are needed, and that euangelion is semantically larger than the God-man-Christ-response scheme), and whether working for Habitat for Humanity is necessarily kingdom work.

In the spirit of keeping my humble, you will notice that Justin does not know how to spell my name (in the title). :-)

You can watch the interview in two parts: part one // part two

Let me also encourage you Reformed folks that it is OK to watch (and even glean some nuggets of wisdom from) the other interviews as well. Dever did not come to the conference just to talk, he also stayed and listed to the other speakers. And, watching his kind interaction and learning spirit with the other speakers would be a good example and something many could emulate. (Click here for the conference channel videos.)

And, one more thought. As one who speaks in a lot of different settings, I believe that conversations like these are essential. There is much we can learn from each other. There is only one body of Christ... and we need each other.

Michael Kelley and The Tough Sayings of Jesus II

Check out the interview with Michael Kelly, the author of a new curriculum through Lifeway called, The Tough Sayings of Jesus II. In the interview Kelly explains why he wrote the material.

We like a picture of Jesus where among other things, He's "nice.�? So we gravitate towards those passages. But that leaves us with an incomplete and mishapen view of Jesus and doesn't allow us to examine the fullness of what He taught and lived. So I wanted to write something that engaged people at a lot of levels - emotionally, intellectually, as well as spiritually.

Be sure to stop by the website to see all you get with the Leader's Kit and download a sample. Michael has become a friend at LifeWay and I think he has much to say.

OneMission.tv

A few years ago I was privileged to plant a new church north of Atlanta with some very good friends. One of those was Doug Keesey, a media guy I had worked with in the past. Doug and his team have just launched a new website that offers a unique variety of video resources for the local church. The website, www.OneMission.tv, is almost a "one-stop video shop�? for nearly every church video need. They have a growing library of high quality videos for worship, including a number of creative video sermon illustrations, countdowns and motion backgrounds. They also offer 55 downloadable TV & radio spots, something I've not seen anywhere else on the web. All of the spots are customizable and very affordable. And finally, the guys at OneMission.tv have partnered with several Southern Baptist entities to deliver downloadable missions videos free to the local church. Although the site is less than a month old, it's worth a bookmark to watch as the list of video resources grows.

Paul Chitwood and the International Mission Board

My friend Paul Chitwood is the Chairman of Trustees at the International Mission Board (the largest Protestant mission board in the history of the world with over 5000 missionaries). In a great article he recently reminded me and my fellow denominationalists that God is at work around the world. Yes, we may have slipped into decline in the states, but there is powerful news from around the world.

Paul shares:

The work of the IMB is the primary thing that brings us together. While the statistical analysis -- and the analysis of the analysis -- of the current state of the Southern Baptist Convention continues, I fear the most important statistics are escaping.

Is there any good news to tell concerning the work that brought us, and yet holds us, together? Indeed there is.

The number of Southern Baptist missionaries serving overseas is 5,359. Our most recent statistical analysis reveals overseas baptism totals at an all-time high of 609,968. The number of new believers being discipled overseas totaled 567,413, another all-time high. Last year's new churches overseas totaled 25,497. You guessed it -- an all-time high.

When it comes to missions, the sky is not falling. It is exploding -- with opportunity.

So get on a plane, take to the skies and help spread the Gospel among the nations. It's still a good day to be a Southern Baptist. In fact, analyzing the statistics, it's the best day to be a Southern Baptist.

Please note his important comment, "The work of the IMB is the primary thing that brings us together."

Let us not forget that our convention was once defined by missions... and I believe it is a uniting around missions and evangelism that will unite us again. I am Southern Baptist because of missions-- starting as a Home Mission Board Mission Service Corp church planter in the inner city of Buffalo. NY to today working part-time for the IMB.

Paul and I dialogued a bit about the article and he reminded me that the first thing the SBC did was found what is now called the International Mission Board. What a great idea. Perhaps the first thing we need to do this year at the SBC in Indy is to get excited about God's global mission.

Thanks, Paul, for that reminder.

David Dockery and The Future of the SBC

Over the last few years, David Dockery has become a friend. I have blogged on him before (link) and look forward to preaching in Union University's chapel this Fall.

David has a new and thoughtful book out with some solutions to get Southern Baptists to the "other side" of our denominational challenges. I read the book on the plane yesterday on my way to Lynchburg.

The book is a good read and points to a bright potential future for our convention. You might want to check out an interview with David via the InSight Podcast of the North Carolina Baptist State Association.

Denny Burk also gives a brief word about the book here.

David shared this with me via email:

My new book, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONSENSUS AND RENEWAL: A BIBLICAL, HISTORICAL, AND THEOLOGICAL PROPOSAL, will be released by B&H Publishing Group in May (2008). I am grateful that B&H will initially make the book available for $9.99 to help provide a wide circulation for the book. I am hopeful that the book might help move us forward as a Convention in our work, witness, as well as in our cooperative efforts.

SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONSENSUS AND RENEWAL does not attempt to deal with every issue or wrestle with every intramural squabble that can be named among us as Southern Baptists at this time. Instead, by reflecting on our history and our heritage, particularly our theological heritage, we call for renewed commitments to our shared cooperation around the truthfulness of Holy Scripture and the uniqueness of the Gospel message. We then look for avenues that point us toward a new consensus, with a focus on overarching issues like missions, worship, education, and leadership. Other key theological and ethical issues are addressed along the way, together with a reminder of our Baptist distinctives and identity. The proposal for a consensus is grounded in a biblical, historical, and theological framework.

Outline for SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONSENSUS AND RENEWAL

INTRODUCTION: Southern Baptists: Past, Present, and Future

CHAPTER ONE: Renewing Markers of Southern Baptist Identity: Scripture, Global Missions, and Cooperation

CHAPTER TWO: Focusing on the Gospel: Toward a Southern Baptist Consensus

CHAPTER THREE: Giving Glory to God: Baptist Worship Then and Now

CHAPTER FOUR: Serving Church and Society: A Vision for Baptist Education

CHAPTER FIVE: Rediscovering Our Theological Heritage: Learning from the Past as We Look to the Future

CHAPTER SIX: Praying for Church and Convention Leaders: Character, Conviction, and Cooperation

Just about everyone seems to have endorsed the book:

Last weekend, I was in Jackson, MS.

The people at Ridgecrest Baptist Church invited me to lead their church leadership retreat. I knew I was in trouble when Mike McCool picked me up and told me he had a sleeping bag for me. Turn out it really was a retreat, bunk beds and all!

We had a great retreat and they have a great church, seeking to engage their suburban community in fresh and mission-focused ways.

Two days before I arrived, my friend Stacey Andrews emailed a few of his friends and added another meeting to Saturday night. Between a camp and preaching at a blended SBC church Sunday morning, I spent the evening with some new friends talking Christ, culture, and transformation in the culturally diverse Fondren District of Jackson.

After I left, I thought to myself: why can't the church of Jesus Christ be like this weekend?... and like these churches? Both groups were seeking to reach their community for Jesus, both appreciated the distinctives of the other, and they were partners in the gospel.

The staff pages sure do look different: The Journey and Ridgecrest Baptist. But, Stacey is on both of them... and more importantly, both are seeking to engage their communities with the good news of Jesus Christ.

I wonder... could Jesus be at work in different kinds of scripturally sound churches? And, if He is, could God use us to build bridges across the divide?

Yes, I believe He could... on both counts.