A personal reflection of the author and her experiences with Christianity, strongly critiquing American White Evangelical Christianity, and making a contrast with what the author takes to be a more authentic faith in Jesus.

The author has done significant non-profit work in the Middle East and this informs much of her critique and perspective.

In theory, this would be the kind of book one might imagine I would like, based on the critique and point of comparison. Beyond the incredibly informal presentation, the reaction to which I will own for myself and my own intellectual taste (ok, fine, snobbery), my main challenge is how woodenly strawmanned "White Jesus Christianity" is made out to be in this work. There's love, grace, patience, and kindness for everyone else.

I won't argue about the harm and difficulties presented by American White Evangelicalism these days. But this book isn't going to convince any but the convinced. Jesus did love the Pharisees, too. Jesus did want the older brother to relent of his pride. Showing nothing of the Christ to those whom you are critiquing as not well reflecting the Christ is not glorifying Christ.

This book had potential. But I ended up being extremely disappointed.

This book is much more political science or social justice than a Christian living book.

It’s very hard to find the truths when you’re having wade through so much vitriol. The red letters of the Bible are important but there’s is much more to the Bible than that, but like many others she takes much out of context.

I’ll be sure to steer away from this author in the future.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Westminster John Knox Press for this reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

The title. It's the title that caught my attention first. Not Your White Jesus. Sign me up for that discussion because I 100% am down for talking about how Jesus wasn't white, he's not American, and he doesn't tote an AR around. At least I assumed that's what this book by Rosendahl would address. I assumed correctly. Turns out Sheri and I have a lot of the same thoughts floating around in our heads and hearts about Jesus.

In case *you* didn't know - Jesus wasn't white, isn't American, doesn't conceal and carry, and well, basically whatever American White Church says Jesus is...he's the opposite. Rosendahl's book started as a blog piece and grew from there. A few of its beginning pages were penned in the aftermath of the 2016 election in which a misogynistic, racist, entitled, angry person was put in charge of the country of America. It was a dark, dark day that turned into a dark, dark four years. But I digress. Rosendahl's incredulity at evangelicals led her to jot some thoughts down and those thoughts became this book.

In Part 1 of her book, she lays out the case for Jesus NOT being white, American, etc etc. She discusses how the red letters of our Bibles, which usually notate the words of Jesus, are ignored in favor of consumerism, creature comforts, patriarchy, war, nationalism, exclusion, etc etc. In Part 2 she tackles the red letter behaviors and makes the case for being a true disciple of Jesus.

If you are a believer of Jesus and have done your work in regards to white Jesus and the American church then this book will be confirmation of the work you have done and are doing. If you are a believer of Jesus and are still within the bubble of evangelicalism then this book has the potential to be both offensive and compelling all at once. Sheri's writing style is breezy, casual, down to earth. I followed it through a good 50% of the book but then it started to wear on me. It felt like the casual words and phrases she uses to make Jesus relatable got amped up and her use of y'all definitely increased. I mean, I suppose there are people who speak so casually all of the time but it has the feeling of trying too hard to be approachable. It can feel like you are being talked down to, from the proverbial soapbox, rather than being talked with. Rosendahl's book feels right on the edge of the proverbial soapbox and so I think it has the potential to turn some people off who might otherwise listen a little more carefully. However, she makes a great case for the not white Jesus, and I couldn't agree more than I do with what she is proposing.

This book is bold and brass and does not hold back. It really caused me to reflect on how American Christian thinkings have influenced my perception of who Jesus is.

Too often in American culture people bristle the minute they are confronted with the fact that Jesus is not a typical American man , and America is not Israel. This is a topic that needs to be talked about and this is one book that does it. Due to the tone the author takes I'm not sure people who have only had white men teaching them theology and are very strongly in the America chosen nation camp may be turned off from the title and the passion that Rosendahl brings. However they could probably gain a lot of needed perspective from taking the time to read the book.

I could not finish this book. I was offended by many things that the author was claiming about groups of people. I agree that the church has moved away from a lot of Jesus' teachings, but some of her other claims were insane. I actually had to DNF this book.

This was good. It’s a long read for me as I’m quicker with fiction but this was well-done and I appreciated the hearkening back to my christianity days and PK life. I really appreciated a new view on it all and how different christianity COULD be.

I found “Not Your White Jesus” to be very thought provoking. The author uses a lot of personal stories as she relates different experiences and compares them to what Jesus actually taught and said. One of the quotes that I think represents the book is, “...the version of Christianity dominating the US religious landscape has failed to fulfill its basic self proclaimed purpose. It has white washed Jesus...” American Christianity has, in many respects,, lost it’s way in putting into practice the words of Jesus. There are discussion questions at the end of the book that provide opportunities for meaningful conversation and discussion. As people read this book it is my hope that it will be with an open mind, willing to engage in ideas and ideology that may be at odds with what their own beliefs are, and conversations can begin without defensiveness getting in the way. #netgalley #NotyourwhiteJesus #amazon #goodreads

Not Your White Jesus echoes my own recent shift in what and how I think of the Christ. Instead of focusing on living as He taught, we've reduced Jesus to an idea that mainly benefits those who don't need Him as much as others they marginalize. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. In my own writing, I champion changing our attitudes toward addicts and homeless--Not Tough Love, JUST Love. Rosendahl gets it right. Read this book!

Not impressed and DNR'd it. Sorely disappointed on the skewed points of view and how horrible people are portrayed in general. I am sure the author truly did have something wonderful to say, I just couldn't find it in the parts that I did finish. I felt like the author was looking down on everyone because they aren't following being a true "Christian".

This book is hard to get through, not because it is bad, but because it shares so many painful truths. My faith has changed a lot over my life and I love seeing books written by people who are stepping away from what the church has become in North America.

There are many people who won't like this book because of the language and tone that Sheri uses, but I feel like it is somewhat necessary to prove her point. Sadly that probably won't help many people who disagree with her to change their minds, but I didn't think it was disrespectful.

I enjoyed how she used biblical scriptures to back up her opinion and always tried to bring the reader back to love and acceptance over anything else.

If you are already a liberal, progressive Christian, you will find much to like in this book. Rosendahl has a clear rebuke for the White Evangelical movement and a strong desire to refocus attention on who Jesus was and what his commands mean in our day. Rosendahl has a particular passion for Palestinians and Syrian refugees. That informs the first part of the book, which centers on who Jesus was. The second part focuses on specific issues in America today (racism, nationalism, consumerism, etc) and the direction the "Radical Refugee Messiah" offers on each topic. In my opinion, this is the stronger of the two sections, though both hold value.

Some readers may take issue with the author's tone. She writes with plenty of snark and employs sarcasm liberally. She is NOT a fan of Donald Trump and does not hold back with her opinions. Frankly, I don't disagree with much that she says, but I found myself feeling a little bit defensive, even as a reader who is largely on her side! A reader who is not already firmly in her targeted audience is unlikely to stick around long enough to read what otherwise are very good points.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion, which I am always happy to offer. :) #NotYourWhiteJesus #NetGalley

This one was on my TBR forever and I'm so glad I finally got to it because it was as worthwhile as everyone said. Necessary and ground-breaking, a must for every believer.

This gave me so much to think about. This is a challenging read but also engrossing and easy to understand. If you're religious but find yourself constantly challenging the status quo, give this one a read.

This is a book that speaks to the issues of American Christianity in contemporary times that brings into stark contrast what Jesus ACTUALLY was and who He is portrayed to be in current American culture. To be a Christian in the mold of Christ we have to understand that Jesus in his time was a rebel, a radical, He broke ALL the rules. He spoke to "undesirables," He stood for the outcasts in fact He stood up for all marginalized people. What Jesus was runs counter to the current mega church and their pastors with their private jets, expensive cars, clothes and lifestyles. "Christian America" and "White Jesus" are contemporary Pharisees standing in the way of radical love that Jesus taught and wants us to follow. Contemporary American Christians need to lift their heads from the path that the "White Jesus" that America has canonized and find their way to radical Jesus. Jesus was a Palestinian Jew who spent His time on earth healing the sick, teaching, bringing the good news of salvation for the outcasts: tax collectors, working people, women. The comfortable lives of the elites in the time of Jesus left them unable to hear His good news. This book brings to the fore many of these issues and contextualizes them in ways that demonstrate that we aren't so very different than the people that lived in the times that Jesus was here preaching, teaching and wanting people to find salvation. Would modern Americans recognize Jesus today if he came to ask us to live as Christians. The answer is no because Jesus wants to save EVERYONE, the wonderful thing about Him is that salvation was for everyone our jobs as Jesus taught was to love, love G-d, love everyone and to properly love G-d what we need to do is show love in what we do. Love is a verb it's actions, it's how we treat the poor, the widowed, the refugee.

This book compares and contrasts what the author calls “White-Jesus Christianity" with “Red-Letter Jesus." She talks about Jesus's MO of bold love and how the hate and exclusion and self-centeredness of many "Christians" do not look anything like love. She covers a lot of topics including racism, nationalism, refugees, violence, consumerism, misogyny, and the marginalized.

I really appreciated what she had to say and the Biblical stories of Jesus's interactions with different people in the Bible. I have been thinking a lot about these issues and this has given me more to consider as I figure out what to do with what I know and have learned. Controversial but part of much needed conversations.

LOVED this! Rosendahl writes to my Christian (yet sarcastic) heart. If you're tired of the "holier -than-thou" religious books that glut the market, this is a GREAT alternative title to offer your library patrons/bookbuyers. Speaking with a natural voice, the author dives into the "white Jesus" that Western Christians have constructed for themselves and how this diverges greatly from the real, Red Letter Jesus found in the Gospels. Highly Recommended.

I really wanted to like this book, but it just wasn't for me.
I agree that Jesus is not white, but the author comes across with very radical and hateful tones.
Using profanity in any book automatically causes to me to lower my rating and/or not finish the book. In this case, I lowered my rating and didn't finish the book. I did read the first few chapter until the profanity began, read the last chapter, and then skimmed some of the chapter in between.
A book bringing personal thoughts and ideas across are better written with love, not hate. Whether you agree with our President or not, show love and pray for him. Politics and religion do not mix!

Written in an approachable, folksy style, Not Your White Jesus makes a compelling plea for taking back the Messiah from white conservative America. Rosendahl definitely knows her Bible and makes an argument for a compassionate, radical, diverse approach to modern Christianity.

This is a book that I nearly stopped reading after 3 chapters. It just didn't sit well with me. My spirit tugged at me that something was off. Aside from the profanity (which has no place anywhere in my opinion, much less a Christian book), the author was bashing the president. I am not a huge fan of Trump, but he was elected and is certainly not any worse than his rival would have been. (Having people killed, siphoning money away from a foundation meant to help marginalized people to fund her daughter's wedding, and helping establish rice embargoes in Haiti, which just put them further into poverty is not really a step up from a misogynist who refuses to ban assault rifles from the general public). And despite what many people choose to believe, comparing Trump to Hitler is not justified.

That said, I persevered and finished the book. I actually agreed with 85% of what she had to say, if not the way she chose to say it (swearing, referring to Jesus as "J" or calling him a "badass"). People need to love more, and show that love in tangible ways. Jesus did in fact stick to the lowly esteemed and lecture the religious leaders.

BUT...

I definitely differ from the author on 4 points.
First, the way that she clumps all of the "White American Christians" (which she and her husband would fall into) together into some sort of bigoted, racist, hypocritical group is on par with calling all middle eastern Muslims terrorists. It simply isn't true.

Second, her assertion that teaching teens in youth groups to remain pure until marriage is somehow misogynistic, baffles me. I could see if it was solely teen girls being taught this, but at least at the 25 or so churches I am familiar with, it is an equal-opportunity situation, involving both genders. And the boys are being taught to cherish the females in their lives (moms, sisters, friends, future wives).

Third. I find it interesting that people are always saying that Planned Parenthood is necessary. Why? To give girls birth control pills? or boys condoms? Strange since every study I have ever seen shows that abstinence is the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and avoid STDs. If people were taught to keep it in their pants until they were married or at least in a place where they capable of raising a child (ie: have a job, a stable place to live, a support system) we wouldn't need abortions. (Yes, I realize that there are rapes occurring which lead to unwanted pregnancy, but those can be stopped before they really start with the day after pill when the victim goes in to the hospital (prior to showering) to have a sexual assault nurse gather evidence, provide physical and emotional care and document everything so that the rapist can be prosecuted.)

And fourth, Although Jesus himself may not have directly stated that homosexuality is a sin, the Bible makes that point pretty clear. Both old testament prophets and new testament disciples clearly state that homosexuality, fornication, adultery and sexual immorality are all sins. And the author herself uses the passage of Jesus saying that even looking at a woman with lust is like committing adultery.
So not only was he saying to follow the 10 commandments, but that thinking about breaking one was just as bad as committing the act. FYI: homosexual relations falls into that adultery category along with any other sexual relationship outside of marriage.

On that note, I find this book to have some beneficial passages. It was clearly written with an intent to help minorities, women and refugees. I applaud here for that. However, I do not agree with her approach. Bashing serving government officials, stereotyping all white American Christians, using profanity and making this book way too political, all lead me away from recommending this book.