Your Jesus Is Too American

I hope that a lot of pastors and congregations in American churches can all read this book. This is a prophetic voice to warn all of us not to make Jesus by our own image but by Jesus true image.

You could easily be forgiven if, when opening the pages of Steve Bezner's "Your Jesus Is Too American: Calling the Church to Reclaim Kingdom Values Over the American Dream," you found yourself expecting yet another political diatribe or even an anti-Trump manifesto.

I wasn't sure what to expect from "Your Jesus Is Too American." However, I'm quite sure it's not what I received.

"Your Jesus Is Too American" addresses politics for sure, however, politics is only one area addressed by Bezner's passionate yet tender call for the American church to return to following the values of Jesus instead of what we see so frequently these days - Christians chasing after the things valued by our culture like power, money, and political influence.

Gently yet pointedly, Baptist pastor Bezner encourages Christians to rediscover what Jesus treasured and to re-incorporate kingdom values into the church's witness.

While I expected Bezner to discuss the political realm, I didn't quite expect his pastoral ourney through addressing such topics as what the world defines as success, healing relationships across religious and ethnic divides, repairing harm against marginalized groups, generous giving, sexuality and, yes, being a political witness guided by Jesus's vision of discipleship.

I'm at an unusual point in my life. After being raised as a Jehovah's Witness and spending my adult years mostly in cultish "prosperity theology" guided churches, I began a years-long journey into church plants, grassroots local churches, small denominations (including several years as a Church of the Brethren minister), and urban ministry. To this day, I live in one of Indianapolis's more economically challenged areas. However, a couple years ago I joined, quite happily, one of Indy's larger churches and a more affluent church than I'd ever experienced.

It has been culture shock.

Yet, as a Christian with significant disabilities it is a place I call home. It is a place where I was embraced when I had nothing else to offer. I had always been geared toward service, however, I went through a period of significant health challenges where serving and giving and donating and even showing up every Sunday was no longer realistic. For reasons I'm still not sure I can identify, this church gave witness to kingdom values in a way I'd not really experienced.

Perfect? Of course not. No church is perfect. We're human and despite our best intentions our humanity tends to show. It's that humanity that shines most throughout "Your Jesus is too American," a humility with Bezner that is refreshing and a willingness to acknowledge the quirks, foibles, and weaknesses of what it means to be Christian and human and trying to get it right but still getting it wrong and then working to get back on track.

Did I agree with everything here? Nah, not a chance. However, Bezner's pastoral approach to these topics become less preachy and more teachy. Bezner invites contemplation, prayer, discussion, and yet makes his points incredibly well. Bezner's discussions around sexuality, for example, were unlike nearly any other discussions I've experienced as he emphasized kingdom values over cultural touchpoints. It's difficult to describe this section without giving too much away (which I won't do), but I found myself rather engaged and appreciative for Bezner's points around intimacy.

There's much to love about "Your Jesus is Too American," a call for the American church to reclaim kingdom values over the American dream. With pastoral wisdom and insight, Bezner has crafted a meaningful and engaging call to return to the way of Jesus.

Steve Bezner offers a compelling critique of white evangelical Christianity in the United States, contrasting the common depictions of Jesus with what the Bible actually says about his teachings. It is a call not only to repentance, but a call to fall in love with a gracious and loving God who is so much more than a tribal deity.

Despite its title, this is (mostly) not a book about Christian nationalism. Instead, it is a call for Christians to return to the values of God’s Kingdom that are at the heart of our faith. As someone who can get WAY too caught up in earthly distractions, I found this book to be a much-needed gentle corrective and a reminder to reorient myself.

The author cannot easily be fit into a “conservative” or “liberal” box. This means that there will likely be sections of this book that readers disagree with. As a member of an LGBTQ+ affirming church, I strongly disagree with the author’s views that every queer Christian is called to be celibate. However, I absolutely support his view that Christians who are single or called to celibacy (of any sexual orientation!) need much more support from our churches. More conservative Christians will certainly have their own points of disagreement with the author. But at its core, this book shows such a love for God and neighbour that few will disagree with its main thesis.

A standout part was the chapter of racial justice, in which the author boldly admits to his own past racist attitudes. He talks about the ways his church has intentionally charted a path to multiculturalism and the ways it still falls short of this goal. His reminder that Revelation depicts a joyful, multi-ethnic Heaven is an effective corrective to flawed ideas of “colourblindness” that are still prevalent in many churches.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot, and I think Christians across the theological and political spectrum would benefit from reading it.

Bezner asks questions that I have heard before in other contexts. Having the questions in one book helps to place the answers in a context - a context that provides a framework that takes an honest look at our culture and its impact on how we react to situations like racism, economic inequity and sexual purity.
I did not have substantial changes to my precious reactions to the topics that were brought up. Looking at the issues in the context of each other and in the context of my religious subculture provides a nuance that I had been missing. I enjoyed the book and look forward to suggesting the title and author to others.

Your Jesus is Too American
by Steve Bezner
Pub Date: October 8, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
The American church faces a discipleship crisis. Instead of following the values of Jesus, many Christians are chasing after what our culture prizes: power, money, and political influence.

In Your Jesus Is Too American, Baptist pastor Steve Bezner invites Christians to rediscover what Jesus treasured and incorporate those kingdom values into the church's witness.
I found this book to be a good reminder to myself to stay focused in my faith, it is a call for Christians to return to the values of God’s Kingdom that are at the heart of our faith

"Your Jesus is Too American" by Steve Bezner
4🌟/5🌟

I think this book would be a helpful read for someone who is still considers themself an evangelical but is uncomfortable with the state of evangelicalism today. This is a good book for someone who is open to considering things from a new perspective and wants to imagine what living a Jesus kingdom focused life might look like. That being said, whether it was his chapter on politics, human sexuality, poverty, generosity, or hospitality, I found myself somewhat disappointed at the end of each chapter. In every chapter, I'd think, "Okay, yes, he is almost there, advocating for the flourishing of others," and then go "Oh..."

I really appreciate these quotes:

"If Jesus has one thing that he values, it is the kingdom. It is the thing he considers supremely valuable, the thing he treasures. If we want to know what Jesus' values are, we should start with the thing he values most--the kingdom. Jesus's values are found in the kingdom. This is why he commands us to seek the kingdom first (Matt. 6:33). It is the treasure that we should abandon all else to find."

"In cultivating a kingdom garden, loving service is the sharpest of trowels"

No Matter Your Thinking About 'Christianity', This Will Challenge You. This is one of those excellent books that truly no matter what you think of Christianity or any given Christian-type theology, Bezner is going to find ways to challenge you - in the manner of the classic pastor joke as follows:

Man comes up to the Pastor after the service. "Preacher, you were stepping on my toes in there!"
Pastor replies: "I apologize. I was aiming about 3 feet higher." (For his heart, in case that is unclear.)

In other words, yes, Bezner is a pastor and yes, this is written in that general style - but it also isn't a book seeking to destroy everything you hold dear so much as gently goad you in areas where maybe you're wrong - or maybe Bezner is.

And I'm not joking when I say no matter your thoughts on Christianity here. Bezner goads the conservatives with his talk of their lily white - or coal black - churches and the need for churches to be more multicultural. Bezner goads the liberals with his insistence that sex is only for straight married couples - and goads everyone with his insistence that more needs to be done to support single adults, no matter their sexual choices. He even manages to goad the Anarchists by *actively citing 1 Samuel* - the very passage where YAHWEH decrees that obedience to an earthly king as a rejection of Himself! - and arguing that earthly kings are necessary, but that a "prophet" is needed to stand outside their court and hold them to account.

If you're looking for a book "taking down" "Christian Nationalism".... this isn't your book, and Bezner never intended it to be. If you're looking for a book that decries *all* politics in the American Church and instead calls for complete separation between the Church and politics... this isn't your book, and Bezner never intended it to be. It is quite clear that he sought to write exactly the kind of book he did - calling Americans of *all* political persuasions and telling them that according to his own beliefs, they're wrong. As with anything else, at that point your mileage absolutely varies. I do believe that we can all gain something from reading this book, but I do NOT believe that Bezner is as correct as he clearly thinks he is.

Ultimately two stars were deducted here. One for the prooftexting, even though it only *blatantly* happened as quotes to begin chapters - I don't really recall seeing it anywhere else. (For those unaware, "prooftexting" is the practice of citing Bible verses out of context in support of some claim or another.) So while not as bad as some others in this space, it is a practice that is an automatic star deduction from me *any* time I see it.

The other star deducted was for the near absolute dearth of any bibliography. While this book was indeed more pastoral in tone, it was still a nonfiction book and should have been cited much more thoroughly than it was - 20-30% bibliography is my general expectation based on my experiences overall, though I'm a bit more willing to come down to 15% as the lower number with more recent (2021 and forward or so) texts seeming to indicate this is a general shift in nonfiction books of this era.

Still, despite the two star deduction here largely on technical matters, this really is a solid book that every American needs to read - perhaps particularly during election seasons.

Very much recommended.