Dismissing Jesus: How We Evade the Way of the Cross

What is the way of the cross? Why does it create resistance? How do we answer objections to it? The revival of interest in Christs 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 Jesuss call. When we do that well 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. 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. Dougs 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 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.