Recently, I received a copy of Daniel Darling’s new book, The Original Jesus: Trading the Myths We Create for the Savior Who Is. (Available on Amazon.com) Published by Baker Books, Darling takes on an interesting subject–the Christian’s concept of Jesus.
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I have to admit, I was intrigued right away and unfortunately, in some ways, I could see myself plainly in the sampling I received.
Here’s the blurb from Amazon:
“From hit songs to bumper stickers to eye-black, Jesus is trending high wherever you look. But at the end of the day, many “try Jesus” and come away disappointed in the experience. That’s because the Jesus of popular culture looks much more like us than the God-man who appeared in the flesh two thousand years ago. We’ve got Guru Jesus, Braveheart Jesus, Dr. Phil Jesus, Free-Range Jesus, and plenty more imposters that feed into our selfish desires. The problem is, they don’t have the power to save us or transform us into new creations. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be that way.”
Russell Moore’s foreword was a nice introduction to the content. Here was a quote that really hit me,
“The truth is, in our flesh most of us don’t want to follow Jesus. We want Jesus to follow us–answering a prayer now and then, rescuing us here and there and helping us achieve the goals we’ve set for ourselves.”
Ouch, right?
Each chapter including Play Doh Jesus, Guru Jesus and American Jesus challenges the reader to look at their own ideas about the Lord and nudges you toward a greater understanding of who Jesus was and is.
I didn’t receive the whole book but what I did read was well-written and thought-provoking. As a children’s ministry leader, I can see the need for this book. We’re so busy trying to get Jesus to children (which is an excellent idea) that it is possible for our knowledge of him to get a bit skewed. I think it’s important that we keep our eyes on the true Jesus so that we can share him honestly with our kids. The book is 160 pages and you can order it in paperback or via Kindle. The release date is set for September 1, 2015 but you can preorder it on Amazon now.
After it’s release, I’ll give a more lengthy review. Until then I look forward to reading it and feel confident that you would too.
Follow Mimi’s blog at Tools for Kids Church.