Customer Reviews

The Fine Line: Re-envisioning the Gap between Christ and Culture

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kary Oberbrunner was my pastor for most of my senior year in high school. I remember him being a passionate guy and, oddly enough, basically the same age I am now. He is a gifted pastor, speaker and author and he recently wrote a book called The Fine Line.

It's a book about relevancy. How can we live in the world and not be of the world. The book covers a lot of ground in a very short space. He writes quick and to the point. For you visual learners out there, he makes use of several good diagrams of the information he's presenting. (I remember him doing that years ago, too.)

I'm always nervous when I hear about a book on relevancy. Most of what is out there is about how to be culturally savvy. How to watch movies, TV, use the internet, listen to music and do everything the world does in order to "reach" them. Kary doesn't do this. He says this is the polar opposite of how we should strive to be relevant to the world. It is not about doing what is hip at the time it is about two simple things: Love for God and love for man.

He does this by first giving us some basic groups within Christianity, people he calls Separatists and Conformists. Separatists are law-following and world-hating people who become irrelevant because they refuse to speak to others where they are. Conformists are world-loving and law-abusing people who become irrelevant because they refuse to stand on truth. He calls the middle ground people, the fine line people, Transformists.

By using those groups he is able to speak to people on both sides of the fence. People like me who lean on the Separatist side and others who lean on the Conformist side. He breaks it down for both of us by telling us what it means to be relevant is to simply follow Christ.

Two quotes from the book:

This is (in my opinion) a great summary of the whole book. He's talking about Paul and how relevant Paul was (all things to all people):

"After his conversion, Paul didn't pursue relevance. Instead, he pursued Jesus. But by pursuing Jesus, he naturally became relevant. And as long as he kept following Jesus, he was relevant."

And, one of my personal favorites out of the book because it speaks to me and my reluctance to be humble and honest before God:

"But when it comes down to it, we don't feel safe opening our hearts to a God who killed his own Son. We'd rather have a God we can manage and control."

Kary really did a great job with this book. It is an easy read and, at the same time, extremely convicting and challenging. If you don't believe me just read the chapter called "The Girl Bashers." You'll hang your head in shame.

-joe (http://barefootpastor.blogspot.com)

Once I started this book, it was hard to put it down. The writing flows so smoothly that it is easier to turn the pages and keep reading than it is to stop. It seems like you are having a conversation with the author over a cup of coffee rather than reading a book. Furthermore, Kary Oberbrunner does a good job of combining theory with practice. He outlines his view of remaining relevant as a Christ follower in today's culture and then provides concrete examples of others who have done so. Though many of us may never have the impact that those individuals have had, all of us can learn how to make our faith more relevant in our everyday lives by practicing the principles outlined in this book.
This book applies to all ages, but is especially relevant for readers in high school to those just a few years out of college and would make a great gift for someone in those stages of life.

I've read all three of Kary's books now. Kary is about discipleship, but not in a traditional kind of way, more so in a biblical sort of way. Kary gets that discipleship is NOT about being more and more "heavenly minded". He understands and communicates brilliantly that discipleship is lived out in a real world, with real people, with real questions. He gets that in order for the kingdom to be transformative in culture, kingdom-bearers must relate to culture AS they connect to Christ.

If you're looking for a paradigm from which to develop a healthy culture of kingdom-bearers in your church or life, this book is a must read.

Lasting Impressions: From Visiting to Belonging

This is a must read book for anyone trying to work through the "in the world but not of the world" discussion. Loved every chapter.

Some principles are born and then die with each cultural shift. Some principles have remained through the ages, yet take on different monikers as each culture either embraces or rejects it. In this book, Kary Oberbrunner has taken a principle as old as Genesis and shown how relevant it is today. In our journey with Christ, we have, at times, ventured into one of the three "personnas" Kary describes. And he talks about it as if he is sitting across the room in an easy chair. Non-threatening, non-judgmental, non-preaching - Kary transparently illustrates the case for how we should interact with the culture we live in according to how Jesus did in His. A truly excellent read.

It's been great to see Kary grow as an author and writer over the years. That growth is showcased in The Fine Line, as Kary presents a healthy balance between being culturally relevant, while living a life sold-out to Jesus and His gospel. This book will challenge both the isolationist who finds comfort in separation from the world and at the same time call out the conformist that enjoys friendship with it. Kary does an excellent job of taking these big ideas and illustrating them with his only personal journey. The Fine Line will help you grow in your pursuit of what loving God and loving people is all about.

The American church sees culture in one of two ways: a hostile influence to be avoided or a role model to be followed. Kary Oberbrunner examines the strengths and weaknesses of both viewpoints in his latest book. "The Fine Line" seeks to forge a path by which Christians can approach culture between the Scylla of alarmist paranoia and the Charybdis of slavish imitation.

one of my favorite parts of the book (granted, he uses proper capitalization) says,

"i'm not afraid to admit it: the sermon on the mount contains some startling commands. like matthew 5:40: `if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.' or matthew 5:42: `give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.' or matthew 5:48: `be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.'

no wonder we look for ways to get ourselves off the hook of following these difficult sayings. we toss out rationalizations. `maybe they're metaphors.' `maybe they're about some future time.' `maybe they're just suggestions.'

i think it's christians who live like they're `off the hook' who cause people like mahatma gandhi to become critical of our religion. he saw a disconnection between the way jesus lived and the way christians live. because of this gandhi said, `if it weren't for christians, i'd be a christian.' gandhi didn't disagree with jesus' teachings. he went on record to say, `i like your christ, but i don't like your christians.' and those of us who know gandhi's story understand the sobering reality that he embodied the ethics described by jesus on the mount better than most christians."

it is here where i wrestle. why do people who understand, yet officially don't associate with christianity live more transformed lives than we do? why do those of us who say we believe fail to live like we are transformed by what we believe?

i wrestle with these questions and am so glad kary wrote a book that so graciously and intelligently addreseses these thoughts. it's like he's walking with me as i seek the answers in such a grey culture.

Ok - so I started reading "The Fine Line" today - and can't put it down! I realize now why my life is so difficult at times, and why I feel like a Christian failure, and why I feel such joy and abandon at other times. It doesn't get any more about bringing culture into alignment with Christianity than when you share your life and home with a child... teen or young adult. Sometimes it feels like we have failed, but I see how God is using our obedience to walk that line...and I want to continue, no matter how hard it is to stay balanced. Can't wait for more encouragement and vision through the rest of the pages of this text! Thanks Kary....please continue writing.

As Christians we try to live a life of "in the world but not of it." The problem lies in the idea that our lives are drawn to either live a life that is fully in the world or completely separate from it. So much of our time is spent stressing out, should I do this, can I go here, can I wear that, is this ok, what would Jesus do, how much, how often, when.... We spend our time worrying about whether or not we can really relate to the world as a Christian. We often try to separate ourselves from the world. We live a life that is characterized by rules and regulations, not much different than the Pharisees of Jesus' day. The other side of the spectrum is to become so much like the world that we forget what being a Christian even looks like. Eventually we "exchange the truth of God for a lie" and become engulfed with "culture" and being in the world. But where is the difference, what marks the changed life, the "metamorphosis" of a Christian. Christ calls us to be salt and light. What good is salt if it never touches food?!?

Kary through the power of Christ captures this essence in this book it is a must read!!!!