28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Contemporary, Urgent Message, February 21, 2002
This review is from: Fearless Faith: Living Beyond the Walls of Safe Christianity (Paperback)
Every once in awhile a book comes along that can change everything. It challenges the core assumptions and conclusions of its audience, presents a well-supported case, and offers up a new perspective and ideal. Regarding the proper place of a Christ follower in the world, John Fischer's FEARLESS FAITH is one such book.
There are few people better equipped to talk about this subject than Fischer. Not only has he been recording and writing Christian music for over two decades but he has been grappling with this as the back page columnist for CCM Magazine for almost as long. It's one thing to discuss from the outside, or to arrive at the party so late in the game that the majority of the dances have already been danced. It's quite another to have been there from the start, as Fischer has been -- observing, participating, considering, critiquing, and challenging in this musical genre that, perhaps more than any other part of the church, has been at the forefront of this ongoing dialogue.
In FEARLESS FAITH, Fischer presents his thoughts on a wide variety of topics, but all of them have the same core assumption: John 17:15. In this verse, Jesus prays to the Father not for us (the church) to be taken out of the world, but that He would protect us from the evil one as we are in the world. The implications are clear: the church is not to remove itself from the world, the church is to be in the world, as we are in the world we will face dangers, and through it all God will be with us.
However, the past couple of decades have seen the church engage in actions that fly completely in the face of Jesus' intentions for us. Not only are we not engaging the world as we are commanded to, we have purposely created an entire subculture to protect us from the evils of that world. This subculture -- and there can be no denying that one exists -- was developed with good intentions, but history has now shown that it has ultimately failed in almost every way imaginable. However, contrary to what some might think, Fischer is not calling for the complete destruction of the Christian bubble. He recognizes that the safety of that bubble is an important step for the lives of most new Christians. They need that protection from the world while they are discipled and nurtured. The problem arises when we stay put in that bubble, even as our faith grows, and wallow in its protection, safe from the outside, evil world. Appealing as that safety may seem, it is not where Christ intended for us to reside.
No, Christ intended for us to be in the world, engaging those around, living His love in real and accessible ways. And the bulk of FEARLESS FAITH is a discussion of why/how we are not doing that, along with Fischer's ideas on what it will take to make the change. He discusses the issue of business and ministry, negative Christian stigmas and stereotypes, and shallow faith. He confronts the tendency of the church to be offended by the immorality around them, and why this is non-productive. He discusses what it means to be a witness, and why we are not doing so when we say we "witnessed." And he offers up his thoughts on ways that we truly can interact with and contribute to our society in eternally meaningful ways.
I normally give an overview of the arguments that an author is making when I discuss their work. But I am not going to do that this time (and, to be sure, I really haven't). Fischer hits so many right notes here and does it so eloquently and forcefully that I feel that I would be doing his thesis a disservice by summarizing in such a short amount of space. Simply put, this is a book that deserves to be read by all. For those who already are sympathetic to Fischer's ideas, FEARLESS FAITH will be a battle cry and a manual to help you better take that faith into the world. If you are skeptical or even antagonistic to Fischer's viewpoint, FEARLESS FAITH will be a fair and loving challenge for you to reconsider your position. Its arguments are well backed by both experience and scripture, and because of the urgency of the message they deserve to be heard and understood completely before being rejected in whole or in part. Challenge your pre-conceived notions and see if they stand up to the test that is offered.
For the Christian music artist, executive, retailer, webmaster, dj, and fan, FEARLESS FAITH is a must-read. But even more so, for the Christian desiring to impact his or her world in the greatest possible way this is one book that you cannot afford to miss. I give it my highest recommendation, in hopes that we all can work to develop a more fearless faith. FIVE STARS
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Faith-full Workout!, June 10, 2002
This review is from: Fearless Faith: Living Beyond the Walls of Safe Christianity (Paperback)
In Fearless Faith, John Fischer delivers another commentary on the ever expanding gap between the 'world' at large and the Christian sub-culture. The Christian community has now safely protected itself from the contamination of the world, and it seems, need not venture out. John seems to beg the question, with a Christian version of everything, why go out into "the world".
I greatly appreciate how John takes us outside the sterile bubble of our protected faith into a world that is increasingly becoming foreign to us. This book is frank and honest with real life examples (interviews of sort) of Christians who are struggling to make a difference in the world but are fearful of being exposed that they are even rubbing shoulders with the world at all. These are Christians who listen to popular music, drink beer with non-Christians, watch current films,are interested in politics, and engage in business. These are Christians who have real life relationships with real life people, in the real world.
Today, too many Christians venture out of their protected enviornemnt and "into the world" only to evangelize. And then, as John so appropriately uses the descriptive analogy from the film, "The Big Kahuna", the evangelism becomes more like recruiting or selling than transforming a life by grappling with a person's real life issues "in the world".
Fearless Faith is a challange to exercise your faith-muscles not by gritting your teeth or powering your way through, but by being salt and light "in the world". It can be fearless precisely because Jesus prayed to the Father not to take us out of the world, but to protect us "in" it.
Fearless Faith is a must read and will provide you with a faith-full workout!
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Go where no man has gone before!, July 16, 2002
This review is from: Fearless Faith: Living Beyond the Walls of Safe Christianity (Paperback)
John Fischer addresses with clarity, precision, and brutal honesty the issues which have been niggling at the corners of my own Christian walk for many years. He calls into question and accountability the current "exclusionist, safe, non-threatening Christian subculture" of which the vast majority of Christians partake to an extreme level. Faith on trial for being fearful? You bet...and found, in this writing, GUILTY AS CHARGED!
Hats off to Mr. Fischer for having the gumption to buck the current "Christian establishment"! I have often wondered where Christians get off thinking that just because a song is labeled "Christian" that it makes it any better than a song "outside" the Christian genre.
As one who cringes at "fish" displayed on business cards or scripture on checks, it is good to know I am not only not alone, but that there is a whole Christian Underground out there that believes Christianity is more than "witnessing"....Christians who aren't afraid to live their lives with the idea that living one's life as a Christian has more to do with our relationship with God, integrity, honesty, compassion, caring, and loving and respecting other people ...that is...HOW WE LIVE OUR LIVES...than it does looking down our noses at someone else just because they aren't Christian...
THANK YOU MR. FISCHER!
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