Customer Reviews

Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

It seems in too many Christian circles we have this idea of a warm and cuddly Jesus -- a Jesus who would never say anything stern, a Jesus who would never make people mad. Too many Christians have embraced Christianity as a religion of being nice -- and if, heaven forbid, you ever say something that's not nice, then you're a wretched sinner.

Galli challenges this idea. He takes 17 passages from the gospel of Mark and shows how Jesus often acted in ways we might not expect -- or even in ways that maybe some think he shouldn't.

For example, he starts with Mark 1:11-12, which says that after Jesus was baptized, "the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness." Why did God do this? Isn't God supposed to be loving? Surely he wouldn't deliberately bring suffering into our lives. But that's exactly what God the Father did to Jesus in this passage. Galli uses this example to argue that difficulties and sufferings are often God's ways of fashioning the character of men and women.

Other examples Galli draws upon from the life of Jesus include his stern warning to the leper who was healed, his rebuke of Peter, his driving the money changers out of the temple, etc.

Galli's book is a refreshing perspective on who Jesus really is. Concise and readable, each chapter is about 8-10 pages long and can stand alone as its own unit -- meaning it's a book that you can read over a long period of time and not feel like you're missing the big picture.

Ultimately, Galli challenges the reader to get to know the real Jesus, not the one we've conjured up and not the one with whom we want to be comfortable -- because God will not allow us the luxury of being comfortable with him.

Mark Galli reveals a Jesus who prowls the pages of scripture, yet is rarely seen in our play it safe, praise and worship churches. This Jesus is more Lion of Judah than Lamb of God -- a man's man who never backed down from a fight. The delicious irony is that this Jesus would be expelled from many a church -- for being too "UnChristlike."

My only beef with this book: Galli has a real bias against large, successful churches, dismissing them as prideful. He says that Christ prefers to work through small, humble churches. He ignores the fact that wherever Christ went, large crowds followed. I have no doubt that Jesus can work through churches large AND small, but in my experience large churches are much more likely to embody Christ's wildness, risk-taking and mission focus.

This book is definitely worth a read. I highly recommend it.

Enough of the sweet, innocent Jesus "meek and mild." Mark Galli reminds us of the less lovable side of Jesus Christ - the sayings that sound mean, the untamable wildness of Christ's goodness. The sweet, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly Jesus is "an idol," Galli says, in a book that's sure to ruffle a few feathers.

Jesus Mean and Wild is partly a response to the "sissified" Jesus in much of today's evangelicalism. Galli's Jesus makes demands. He causes commotion. He says hard things. He overturns tables. According to Galli, God loves you and has a difficult plan for your life.

Jesus Mean and Wild is commendable in many ways. Galli takes us back to the Gospels for a convincing exposition of Jesus in his context, showing how the biblical Jesus is not as tame and domesticated as we sometimes make him out to be. He is unpredictable, feisty, prepared for battle, and calling for repentance. But Galli convincingly argues that this is the Jesus that ultimately satisfies, not the impotent version presented as a panacea for all of your problems.

(My favorite story in the book is Galli's description of a Bible study he hosted for Laotians. When he got to the story about Jesus calming the sea, he launched into the typical "Jesus can calm the storms of your life" spiritualization, but found to his amazement that the Laotians were much more excited and amazed that Jesus actually calmed the storm. "The power of Christ frightens us -as well it should," he writes.)

There are moments where Galli overstates his case. Yes, Jesus could be fiery and "wild," but he also showed gentleness, self-control, and remarkable patience. But overall, Galli rightfully exposes the "nice" Jesus and replaces him with the much richer biblical portrait.

This remarkable little book (with only 207 hardback pages) reminds that Jesus wasn't always nice. Using texts from the Gospel of Mark author Mark Galli presents the "shock and awe" moments from Christ's ministry and life. "Jesus Mean and Wild" (2006) completes its study with six pages of endnotes and 18 pages of small group discussion questions.

Galli's study is provocative and occasionally uncomfortable. He explains that his point is to "explore this unnerving texture by working through seventeen passages of the Gospel" (page 19). The book is simply astonishing! Each time I wanted to disagree with his analysis, the author presented me with a direct quote from Jesus. (I've begun to re-tool my thinking.)

As if to unnerve the stayed and stodgy believer even more, Galli uses the new English Standard Version of Scripture (2001). This translation presents novel, often challenging, words to the biblical text. His use of the ESV greatly assists in his presentation and surprising Jesus recount.

The best parts of this book are chapters 11 and 12 as Galli explains that contemporary western Christianity has given into the gospel of relevance and success. He says that in order for the church to continue to be faithful and effective this pursuit of numbers "must die" (page 128). If there is a downside to this book it is that the author tends to be preachy (he is verbose). Working through his sermons is a small price to pay to discover his pearls of wisdom.

This is a very good book. It shows that sometimes Jesus was direct and confrontational. It is recommended to everyone.

I found the book to be refreshing from the usual "Meek and Mild" Jesus approach to Biblical interpretation. The love of our Lord is still there just not so "mushy."

Galli's book is a refreshing counterbalance to the watered-down pseudo-Jesus of our narcissistic, overly therapeutic culture. This is a "must-read' item for anyone who takes Jesus seriously!

Awesome book. This work is "simply profound". It is full of truth and gives a view of Jesus that is truely lacking in the American church today. Everyone needs to meet this Jesus. Prepare to be stirred, challenged, and perhaps a bit frightened. After reading this, introduce this Jesus to your congregations, your families, your friends and most of all "the lost".

I just finished reading this book, and while I would agree with most of the things the author says, they don't seem surprising to me, nor do they challenge my picture of Jesus. I wonder if this is because my background has been different from the author's. Perhaps in the author's world, Jesus has been presented in a more "cleaned-up" manner. For example, the idea that the miracles of Jesus should be seen as illustrations of spiritual things He can do in our lives rather than actual demonstrations of His raw power in the physical world is entirely foreign to my thinking.

I have been working on my own perception of Jesus because I had a problem seeing Him as kind of a weak character due more, I think, to the prevailing art that has been created depicting Him rather than any sermons or teachings I heard. I bought this book in the hope that it would help me on this journey, but maybe I've already passed the point that this work would have brought me up to.

To sum up, it was an interesting read. I was surprised that the author had, in his past, seen the miracles of Jesus as allegorical rather than actual, but if you're in that boat, the whole book will likely come as a needed jolt. If you're very familiar with the Bible and have a habit of taking it literally wherever possible, you may find it a bit of an anti-climax.

Jesus is often portrayed as meek and mild, but a thorough reading of the gospels reveals that the Son of God was anything but passive. Mark Galli, managing editor of Christianity Today and a former Presbyterian minister, takes a hard look at the real Jesus --- one whose actions, words and wisdom are anything but gumbylike.

In 17 short chapters, JESUS MEAN AND WILD walks readers the book of Mark, digging deep into bite-size portions of scripture. Galli writes:

"For those who truly want to know and love God as he is, the warm and friendly Jesus, although an attractive idea, is but an idol. And the fascist God will simply not do. To enjoy a full-orbed faith will require that our idea of God gain some unnerving texture, some dynamic energy, some subtlety and depth. It will require that we live into the love of God as manifested in the mean and wild Christ. This Jesus reveals not a one-dimensional, sentimental love --- a love that merely makes us feel good --- but a love capable of saving a desperate world."

Galli's writing is poised, thought-provoking, and at times tastes like Godiva. Not only does he manage to weave stories of himself and his experiences into the text, he also draws on a rich well of insights from theologians, writers and Christians from all ages who have displayed the mean and wild side of Christ. Stories of well-known believers such as Hudson Taylor and St. Francis of Assisi run alongside tales of saints scarcely heard of. The result is a compelling book that brings you deeper into the heart of God.

Tucked within the pages of this book, you'll find Galli exploring, explaining and tackling some of the pendulum swings of the modern church. He delicately raises hot-button issues and offers a balanced response to some of the more excessive trends in the church.

In his chapter "Love That Makes Enemies," he writes:

"To be sure, there is risk especially in loving the theologically or morally wayward. Out of mere sympathy, we may become tempted to compromise our values to be nice to them. But true love is robust. It includes compassion and confrontation, empathy and truth-telling, kindness and sternness. When we enter such relationships, we must enter them not with sentimentality but with full-orbed love. This takes not only compassion but courage. Yet it is that very combination that so often gets us in trouble."

Overall, JESUS MEAN AND WILD is one of the best books I've read this year. I had planned on a quick read, but instead I found myself savoring each chapter like fine chocolate --- enjoying a single piece a day in the hopes that the sweetness would last. Eventually the book came to a close, and I found myself wanting to read it again. With chapters short enough to read like a devotional, JESUS MEAN AND WILD is a book you won't want to miss --- and really, you can't afford to.

--- Reviewed by Margaret Feinberg

The concept of the book was great but it wasn't done as well as it could have been. Jesus could be mean and act wild but I felt this book tamed some of the wildness of Jesus and didn't explore as much or as far as it could have. The book could and should have been shortened into a article or series of articles.

The author gave it a try and I respect him for that but the book left me feeling like I wasted time. Nothing new was really gleamed from it for me.

Worth a read through if you can borrow it.

It maybe that this is a book for people with too rosy a picture of Jesus. I wasn't raised on a weak and hippie like Jesus but the Jesus that drove people out of the temple with a discount whip and spared no words for the Pharisees.