Customer Reviews

Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All?

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Steele has done an excellent job in this book of presenting a strong message in a fun way. Simply put, he shows how good deeds and the right words don't make you a true Christian. He presents a detailed and honest look at the life and teachings of Jesus in a way that moves beyond the tradition or popular myth of what makes a person a true Christian. Instead, he shows you what a person truly must do to be a follower of Christ.

Going to church, knowing the proper catch phrases, and even carrying a Bible isn't what makes you a Christian. Unfortunately, the majority of people who call themselves "Christian" are just going through the motions of what they believe they should do rather than allowing a true relationship with Christ to motivate them and change them. This is the message of Mark's book, and it's presented well. Mark is humorous when need be and deep when the moment calls for it.

Be ready to question your motivations for your actions. Get ready for a deeper walk as a true Christ follower.

Mark Steele puts his finger on a problem that has plagued me for some time. In our attempt to be "correct" with the culture of church, we lose sight of Christ's message for a hurting world. Our efforts to appear flawless, to look like we have every answer and never stumble, wall us off from those who most need Christ's grace. Steele says that we Christians are our own worst enemies: we know what we ought to do, but we don't do it. Worse, we do what we know we ought not to do. And when the world watches, it doesn't judge just us. The world judges Christ.

Nobody has to look far to find people who call themselves Christian, but act in ways that oppose Christ. Steele looks to his own life and finds himself at fault. He recalls times he had to win, regardless of cost; times he diluted the message in the false hope that it would be more palatable; times he let his wants get in the way of other people's needs. He links each of these to Christ, showing how so many of us make these same mistakes, getting in the way of the message we are called to serve.

Steele makes his uncomfortable point with friendly language, using earthy humor and punchy cultural references to stress that Christians don't have to be stuffy and no-fun. Some of Steele's anecdotes run long, feel shapeless, and don't always precisely support the point he hopes to make. A little judicious editing could have shortened this book by eighty pages without losing his gist. But the book is thought-provoking and fun at the same time. Of course, a tough message goes down more easily when the audience is laughing.

Reading Mark Steele, I saw many points that I've seen recently when reading Jacques Ellul or Dietrich Bonheoffer, only written in non-seminarian language. Steel challenges Christians to question what motivates our actions. Are we trying to be "Christ-like," as Scripture calls us, or are we trying to be good in church? Only you can answer that for yourself, but Mark Steele calls you to think hard about these questions, because when people hear you call yourself Christian, they use you to judge Christ.

Instead of bashing and browbeating the Church, Mark Steele encourages and challenges believers to move away from lukewarm spirituality--to make their lives out-and-out ministry and not just "Christianish."

Using funny and deeply personal stories from his own spiritual journey and by examining the way Christ lived and spoke during his time on earth, Mark shares that a Christian life is "a healthy life, a life worth observing. A life that is truly ministry. A life that is empowered to carefully locate the cancer of sin in those around it--in order to gently love the cancer out."

A great read that inspires readers to open their hearts for God's radical, life-changing transformation and to be agents of change in the world around us by loving others.

I completely agree with the general premise of this book: Christianity has become less about God and more about political, social and personal agendas. While I applaud Mark Steele for daring to point out that the average Christian is far from Christ-like, I really didn't care for his writing style.

The book is oversaturated with pop culture references, many of which have no bearing on the point being made. There are far too many rambling anecdotes for my liking--the one about spanking his kids really turned me off.

In the end, there's nothing really revolutionary here--it's basically just the old "try harder to do what Jesus would do" message.

Now this is a book that is all too timely in today's culture... Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All? by Mark Steele. Based on the behavior of far too many who call themselves "Christian", we've allowed the term to be turned into something negative, something it was never intended to be and stand for. The aspect of a relationship with Christ has been replaced with a set of rules and regulations (applied with little love or care) that isn't appealing to anyone. And it's all due to too many people trying to live a "Christianish" life...

Contents:
i am Christianish; scandalous - revealing the rough stuff; wholiness - it is also written; phariseesaw - perhaps I am my nemesis; shut up already - righteousness is not the change agent; God said no - standing in my own way; losers for Jesus - the painful give; vanilla me - going without; upside is a downside - becoming unhuman; the grace discount - ministry is surgery - the Jesus show - love is a muscle; in Jesus' name, amends - willing to transform; i am Christian

In each chapter, Steele relates a story from his own life and then weaves it into the topic at hand. The stories are quite funny, but painfully real to many who read it. One of my favorite chapters is Shut Up Already. He talks about an event in his life when he went to a Christian school. There was a contest called the Academic Bowl, where Christian schools met up to compete on biblical knowledge and other such stuff. Steele was *very* knowledgable about all the questions being asked, but there was just one problem... he was in the audience, not on the team. He constantly berated his schoolmates for not knowing the answers to such "simple" stuff, and otherwise made a nuisance of himself showing off his knowledge. A few days later, he was picked to do the same type of competition in a school assembly. But little did he know that the contest had been rigged, with impossible questions designed to knock him down a few pegs on the ego scale. And that it did...

His message in that chapter is that knowing all the facts, or being "righteous", didn't change anything. In fact, it was a relationship with Jesus that led to being righteous. Beating people over the head with facts and "holier than thou" messages did the exact opposite of what was intended... it drove people away. And how often do we see that in churches and in the news these days? Christianish people are demanding righteousness before you're allowed to join their "exclusive" club... when in reality, we're all broken and getting to righteousness is the end goal, not the entry price for admission.

Hopefully, those who read Christianish will come away with an understanding that it's not all about following some rules to be perfect... it's all about a relationship.

Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publicist
Payment: Free

Have we slowly morphed into being nearly Christian, just about Christian, somewhat Christian, almost Christian, loosely Christian, roughly Christian or just plain old everyday Christianish? Mark Steele's new book is asking each of us that question.

Like most people I find that there is not enough time to read all the books I would like to read during the course of a year. This naturally forces me to become a selective reader. That being said I must admit to being dubious of many Christian books. Why? Because like so many main stream secular self help books it's often the same old slightly jazzed up menu with higher prices each year. Ditto most Christian books that anesthetize me with their denominational dogma, exhaust me with the pep rally rah-rah zeal of a Tupperware sales convention, or try to wring out my emotions with all the sincerity of the smile produced by a pair of candy store red wax lips. It takes a big splash in the pool of new books to make me turn around and take notice. Christianish got my attention because it's a culturally relevant, well-written book told with a humor that both teaches and entertains. Mark Steele has labored to mine bible truths for successful Christian living and has refined this knowledge and blended it with his own life experiences into potent sage advice for the times in which we live.

"Real life does not skip the rough stuff." "Life following Christ is not supposed to be a ride. It's supposed to be a fight because there is a very specific villain - and if we don't fight he wins." Mark Steele - Christianish.

Christianish reminds us that we may need to move the bubble on the cross shaped level in our heart back to center and adjust our individual walks of faith from blurry believers to well defined disciples so the world can see us clearly. Each chapter of Christianish gives the reader new spiritual prescriptions filled with strong, insightful narration meant to help us take a compass reading back toward righteous living and the true north of heaven.

In the sixties they used to say, "he/she is just way to plastic". In effect they were saying that the person in question was not being real, but behaving in an artificial, manufactured way, or just hiding behind a mask. Christianish tells us to quit being so opaque and start being more transparent with one another. Mark Steele's words reveal that he is as transparent as glass. He uses his own personal family history, combined with pop culture, to produce modern day parables to help us all better understand the need to become more real with one another and refocus more of our energy on our daily walk with Jesus. His teaching style is delivered with the honesty throttle stuck wide open giving us hope that we too can move from stuck-ish to starting over.

"We say we live in pursuit of holiness, but we only pursue it in the areas of our lives that our circle of community frowns upon. If those we esteem don't check our level of selfishness, then we don't see any need to put ourselves through the wringer. Because of this, we have developed a Christianish culture that labels as "acceptable" many attitudes and approaches that are actually sin." "...sin...separates us from joy."
Mark Steele - Christianish

Mark Steele's first two books showed up at just the right times in my life. The first, Flashbang: How I Got Over Myself" arrived just as I was heading out the door on a winter vacation. I had already packed my briefcase with work, study material and serious devotionals, but what I really needed was to laugh. Mark's hilarious stories, mostly told at his own expense, was just what I needed that weekend to get over myself. It made me hungry for more.

The second book came during a time of personal and relational pain. I looked forward to another set of Steele stories to numb the throbbing, but "Half-Life/Die Already" was not what I hoped for--I don't think it was what Mark set out to write either. His life was interrupted by a series of hard knocks. And although the telling of these tragedies is triumphant in his humorous style, the tribulations his family faced were real and relevant. Half-Life served as a good processing tool for my own trials.

So I've been anticipating "Christianish" wondering what connection I would find, if the streak would continue, if this new book would deliver a timely message at this stage of my journey. It didn't fail.

Mark's perspective is broader and more serious with this book; he turns his attention to Christendom and does so with a bite. He portends that much of popular church culture doesn't really come across as Christ-like at all. But his harshness isn't reserved for others; Mark stays true to the vulnerability of the first two books and comes clean with his own dysfunctions and hypocrisy. It is from that stance of humility that he suggests Christians need to make some radical changes to the way they are living, especially the way they are coming across to others.

Each chapter opens with a humorous story from Mark's background. The strength of Mark's writing, even portraying the chapter's point, is best often described in these sections. The narrative is followed by a short essay and the chapters are wrapped up with a series of questions meant for personal reflection and group study. Although Mark's analysis isn't new, it is told in a refreshing, yet stirring way.

If you are a new reader of Mark Steele be warned you will find yourself a student of 70's and 80's pop culture. It will help if you were paying attention during those years. If you frequent Mark's "Steelehouse" podcast or have read his other books, you will already be used to his cadence and his jangle.

In summary, reading "Christianish" is like going to get a penicillin shot and finding the doctor is dressed as a clown. The medicine is no less real, but you may have a few laughs on your way to recovery.

****
In this book, the author develops the idea that many in American Christianity have gotten off-track and are not really following Jesus at all. He does it in a humorous and entertaining way, woven with stories primarily from his childhood that illustrate chapter themes. He also explores and illuminates what it would mean if Christians in America did really begin to follow Jesus.

What I liked best about this book is that the author was very authentic and sincere and personal; also he was charitable in his criticism (in other words this is not an anti-church rant at all).

At the end of each chapter there is a drawing that sums up the chapter (I really liked that part, finding it very original) along with questions for discussion. This would be a great book for church groups to read and discuss. Although there are plenty of laughs throughout this is a book about a serious subject, and the humorous tone never minimizes that.

Recommended.
****

ISBN 1434766926 - I am not Christian, or religious, in any way, but I've always had a fascination with religion and read a lot on the topic. When I read The Purpose Driven Life a few years ago, I knew just what I hoped for in that book. It wasn't there - but it IS here.

Author Mark Steele looks at some of the behaviors that are passing for Christian these days, and the excuses people create to pardon these lapses. Then Steele explains, clearly and concisely, why the excuses don't stand up to honest scrutiny. The entire book is filled with personal stories from the author's life, most of them humorous and all of them full of admissions of his own failings along his religious path. Each chapter ends with a set of questions that can help the reader to ferret out their own failings and put aside their excuses.

Mark Steele has written a book that just blows me away, as a non-Christian, non-religious heathen and the reason is very, very simple. What I learned of Christianity as a child was that it was, at its most basic, good, loving, charitable, and open. As an adult, I've learned that Christianity is judgmental, mean-spirited, spiteful and closed. That Steele seems to understand this outsider's view of his religion and believes it can and should be overcome is fantastic. I've lost friends over the course of my life because their version of Christianity taught them, basically, to "stick with their own kind" and avoid non-Christians. This shift in attitude seems to correspond to about the time that the "religious right" began to tinker overtly in politics - something that has done far more harm than good to Christianity. Steele reminds Christians of their role as I remember it - to "love people to Christ", not to lecture or bully or berate, as Rick Warren's book does; Steele's book has a place for the non-Christian, while Warren's excluded them. The author makes himself out to be a normal, flawed, person - just like the reader! - where Warren had positioned himself as stern parent. That small thing turns the author from a teacher to a preacher.

The author writes "I'm not condemning the people of the world. I love that God stuck us on this beautiful planet, and I love the people in it - even the ones who don't understand the truth about Jesus." I disagree with Steele's religious beliefs and probably always will, but I would love to see his version of Christianity make a comeback. The Christian church, and the world at large, would benefit from sitting down with this book and finding out, again, what makes "That's very Christian of you" a compliment to aspire to, even for a heathen.

Small gripe, something that is in my ARC that (I can hope) they might clean up before publication. Steele tells a story about seeing Cannonball Run II. Then he talks about the General Lee, Lulu Hogg, Daisy Duke and Enos. Then he talks more about Cannonball Run II. The phrase "The Dukes of Hazzard" doesn't come up in this story. Bad. Bad, bad, bad. You'd think the guy was maybe just of the wrong decade, right? It's worse! In a later story, Steele proclaims his status as a mildly obsessed fan of... wait for it... The Dukes of Hazzard!

- AnnaLovesBooks

This book challenged me to re-think how I live out my faith while making me laugh quite hard. The humor softens the blow of the hard-hitting discussions.