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Practicing The Way Of Jesus: Life Together In The Kingdom Of Love (2011)

by Mark Scandrette(Favorite Author)

4.03 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0830836349 (ISBN13: 9780830836345)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

IVP Books

review 1: Practicing the Way of Jesus has some creative and wonderful ideas in it about living the kingdom life together as community and creating new practices to change lives and the wider world. It is easy enough to read, though not always well organized. It's tone at the beginning was offputting to me - a kind of hipper-than-thou can-do attitude, that seemed to dismiss intellectual and internal spiritual pursuits and even the church for the author's "tribal" and physical activities. It dissipated as the book went on (and he explained himself better), but really made it difficult for me to appreciate the work at first (and made it easy to dismiss his ideas as well). As the book progressed Scandrette's humility (or work on humility) did come out, and I heard the deep challenge... more of his questions and the radical, communal, and Christ-centered nature of the practices he suggested. Hopefully the author's writing will continue to develop and he can corral his thoughts to better organize them. His questions are already greatly challenging. Now to find a community to put some of these ideas into practice.
review 2: This book by Mark Scandrette is a dangerous read and I suspect that Scandrette is a dangerous man for this very reason: he dares to take the teachings of Jesus at their word. What follows is an invitation to "experiments in truth" where a community of individuals make a vow to discern together how to live out the teachings of Jesus in the midst of their lives. The book describes the process and narrates the story of how Scandrette and others have tried to enter into communal practice together in a spirit of mutual support and accountability. He is open in insisting that these are experiments and that there is as much to be learned from failure as there is from success. As an author, he also is vulnerable and honest about the difficulties entailed in a life of discipleship and thus avoids the "five steps to a transformed life" formula. This book can be read individually but is also structured to be entered into as a group journey experimenting together on the way of Jesus. This is a book about transformation. It is a dangerous threat to the watered down versions of Christianity that domesticate Jesus of Nazareth into a comforting supporter of the status quo. Pick up this book. You will be challenged...but you won't be sorry. less

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