Book Review: Sweet, Leonard and Frank Viola, Jesus Manifesto, Thomas Nelson, Nashville T.N. 2010
Reviewed by Ron Aguilera
I can summarize this book by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola in one phrase, “The Christian faith is all about Jesus. Jesus isn’t only at the center of the Christian faith, but along the “corners and on the edges” as well.”
Sweet and Viola believe we have created a “narcissistic” and a “best-seller” Christianity which is “self-centeredness wrapped up as ‘spirituality,’ which has become the latest fashion accessory for the person who has everything” (p. 100).
These days Christians are being separated by terns such as: the “defenders of orthodoxy,” the emerging church, the missional church, evangelicals, fundamentalists, the house church movement, etc…the danger being becoming preoccupied with some thing else other than Christ.
Sweet and Viola write about the importance of rediscovering of the “living Word,” or the Scriptures and its authority; focusing on Jesus and His supremacy; and being moved by the living Spirit and the Spirit’s gifts and power to manifest Christ in the context of that culture. (p. xvii)
We’re living in some tough times economically, politically, and socially. The world needs Jesus more than ever. Is this our mission? To bring Christ to a world that desperately needs him. And, what does the church look like when we are first seeking Christ and His Kingdom?
The authors call us to be “living epistles” or “Jesus Manifestos” in our world. What is Christianity? It is Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less. Christianity is not an ideology or a philosophy. Neither is it a new type of morality, social ethic, or worldview. Christianity is the ‘good news’ of Jesus.
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