Joyful Moments in Christ

The things that disturb me most about average Christians are how divided we are, how angry we act, and how little we resemble Jesus. I recently read Andy Stanley’s wonderful book Not in It to Win It: Why Choosing Sides Sidelines the Church and feel like this is a book that every Christian needs to read! Our priorities, particularly where politics are concerned, are all mixed up and the result is that we are turning Jesus into a really nice guy and ourselves into saviors.

Book Review

This particular book focuses on politics, but really, it can be applied to any area of life where we place a point of opinion over our love of Jesus. Christianity Today has an interesting article about Angry Theologians that highlights this problem.

In Not in It to Win It, the first section of the book talks about Andy Stanley’s personal experience as an influential pastor in Atlanta trying to navigate all the different political minefields in 2020: think Covid and Trump. The next section highlights the way that Jesus and other people in history – e.g. Paul, the Crusaders, etc. – handled different political situations and what that can teach us about our own situations. The final section makes some logical conclusions about some changes that people in the church need to make to start acting like Jesus and not like the rest of the world.

The key question is whether our actions are reflecting Jesus? As we try to win the world for Jesus, do we really want to be remembered like the Crusaders and leaders of the Spanish Inquisition? Why are we so confused about how to behave when we disagree with other Christians? It’s no wonder that non-Christians don’t like us and want to cancel us!

Jesus won the world through love! How can we change our tone from one of battle to one of love?

While I will try not to spoil the book, here are a few questions and topics from the book that I found most interesting:

1. We don’t really act any differently from non-Christians. Shouldn’t there be some observable differences between Christian Republicans and non-Christian Republicans? What about between Christian Democrats and non-Christian Democrats? In the end, it appears that we value the same things that non-Christians value. Is this the same pattern that we see in the New Testament?
2. We often see Jesus as our Savior, but not as our King. What is different about these two roles? How can we make Jesus both our Savior and our King?
3. Jesus was very clear that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand (Luke 11:17). What does this say about all of the division that we see in the church? How does today’s church compare to the church found in Acts? How can we fill a room with Christians who disagree politically and still have each person be unified spiritually?
4. When we consider the idea that Jesus commissioned us to make disciples of all nations, how is it possible to do this when we “demonize people and publicly label other Christians as enemies of the faith or the state.” (Chapter 2)
5. Can people say this about us: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 ESV) Do we love other Christians only in our hearts, or do we also love them in our words and actions? In Chapter 9, Andy Stanley says, “Believing has become a substitute for following.” There appears to be a lot of truth to this.
6. What do we fear? The disciples of Jesus feared being ignored, but they stayed strong through all manner of persecution. Do churches today have this same priority?
7. There is a poignant quote from Russell Moore in Andy’s book, “If people reject the church because they reject Jesus and the gospel, we should be saddened but not surprised. But what happens when people reject the church because they think we reject Jesus and the gospel?” Is this the appearance the church gives to non-Christians? How can we change this?

If these problems strike a chord in your heart, and you want to learn some ways to have a positive impact on the church, seriously consider reading this book! As we approach another political season that is bound to be filled with anger, strife, and disagreements, let’s show the world how Christians who disagree can come together and be unified in Christ! Wouldn’t that story be lovely to read about in the news?

Respond

If you have read Not in It to Win It: Why Choosing Sides Sidelines the Church, consider posting your thoughts in the comments! Please be kind and remember that if you are a Christian, the goal is to be a church united and not a church divided!

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