Customer Reviews

The Jesus Paradigm

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I finally finished David Black's new book, The Jesus Paradigm. It took me way longer than I expected through no fault of the book. Many of the thoughts Dr. Black expressed required some mulling over and honestly more than a few got me riled up, in good ways and in not so good ways!

I appreciate that Dr. Black, in spite of his advanced education and grasp of the Biblical languages, did not fall into the trap that many academics do of "writing to impress". His writing style is very lucid and concise and is at the same time intellectually challenging while remaining accessible. In other words, a person with a theological background and advanced training in Biblical languages is not going to be bored reading this book nor is someone with minimal formal education going to be intimidated in trying to wade through it.

Another thing I appreciated was that Dr. Black is bold and humble in his assertions. He certainly challenged me while I was reading The Jesus Paradigm and yet it never came across as him scolding me for my failings. The church could certainly use a dose of humility, and I put myself first in line for that. The idea of Christian discipleship is a "downward path" as described by Dr. Black. As we carve away the world and the organized religiosity that pervades the church, we find service and self-denial lead to satisfaction and joy. I thought of the words of John the Baptist when I was reading The Jesus Paradigm: He must increase, but I must decrease. (Joh 3:30) I found that as I examined myself in light of the truths Dr. Black was describing that I was wanting in many, many places. Dr. Black exhibits a Christ-centeredness that is refreshing. Lots of people talk about being Christ-centered but often that is a mask for denominational pride, theological particularism or self-exaltation.

I also liked the focus on the Anabaptists. Often forgotten and even more often misrepresented, the Anabaptists can still teach us a lot about the Christian life and about the church. Even in areas where I don't agree with them entirely, we still have much to learn. I enjoyed Dr. Black's comment that being peaceful doesn't equate to being a pacifist but that we should all seek to be peacemakers. There wasn't much mention of the aberrant theology that is often associated as a blanket accusation against Anabaptism. There were lots of perfectly orthodox Anabaptists. There were also a number of men in that camp who taught damnable heresies. However The Jesus Paradigm is not nor does it seek to be a comprehensive history of Anabaptism but he does show us quite persuasively that the Anabaptists are still quite valuable to the church today. I agree with him that we should seek a rediscovery of the writings and beliefs of those misunderstood and oft forgotten saints.

I guess I would say that Dr. Black "gets it". The "it" in question is a proper view of the Christian life, of discipleship. This book and the thoughts he shares are clearly the product of great study and prayer from a man who has the academic chops to be respected. Instead of pumping out popular books that reinforce the status quo, books like this challenge people and make us uncomfortable. In a church that is all too often far too comfortable, that is something we desperately need. We need to be shaken up.

However, no book is perfect and the big issue I had with The Jesus Paradigm had to do with the running political commentary. Right out of the gate I was a little put off by some of the political commentary. I understand, and would agree, that the church in America has far too often been too intertwined in politics. More often than not, the church has been linked to the Republican party, conservative politics, the "Religious Right" which is not healthy for the church or for the Republican party. But for a book that is not about politics, I found the frequent political commentary to be distracting. In condemning political entanglement, Dr. Black became so specific (even naming names like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity) that in his clamor for us to be apolitical I am afraid he did just the opposite. I think the book would have been healthier and more effective if he had skipped the strident political dogma, in large part because I am sure that many people who would benefit from this book will set it aside after a few chapters precisely because of the political undercurrents. I am not even saying he is wrong, although there are some places I would disagree strongly with him. What I am saying is that his argument in some places crosses over into anger (and as a connoisseur of angry rhetoric, I know of what I speak!) and frankly in some places exhibits naivete (for example, on page 122 he speaks approvingly of the view that peace in Iraq is dependent on reconciliation with Tehran, a view which seems somewhat silly given the recent events that demonstrate for us again that Tehran is not a place where good faith negotiations can take place). Again, it is not that he is entirely wrong but the tone and tenor are kind of jarring compared to the humble tone of the rest of the book.

All in all, this is an excellent book. Well written, accessible, challenging, reasonable for the most part. There is no higher compliment that I can give a book than to say it was challenging to me, made me want to read the Scriptures more diligently and that I marked pages and quotes liberally. This book did all three. It is a book that should and will challenge people to look at the assumptions we have about our walk as Christians, our view of the church and our status as redeemed sheep. Most importantly, this is a book that, as Alan Knox puts it, is strictly about discipleship and being a disciple of Christ involves a lot more than Sunday school, membership in a local church and dropping some money in the offering plate. It is a whole-life commitment. I hope that many Christians pick up this book, read it and examine themselves. I think the church will be far healthier if we focus on a life that is mission minded and Gospel centered, a life of discipleship that goes beyond theological camps and doctrinal triumphalism, that sets aside public displays of religious piety for quiet service.

My free advance copy of "The Jesus Paradigm" by David Alan Black, was found lying in my mail box about two weeks ago. I am not sure if you have heard of David, but as a writer, scholar, teacher, and missionary, he has taught New Testament and Greek for over 30 years. For this alone, I am truly appreciative of having another NT Greek expert weighing in on the issue surrounding ekklesiology and other topics in the book, including the issues on authority and the priesthood of all believers.

It is not a secret that something is brewing underground in the western churches today which can be described as either Churchianity, Christendom or Christless Christianity if you like. Whether one labels it as restoration, renewal, revival, reformation or even revolution, no one will disagree that something needs to be done if we are to continue following Christ. For the local churches that are westernized at the east side of the world, it will probably take some time before the wave can be felt. I suspect some may probably be caught by surprise.

In his latest book, David discussed briefly his view on the various issues including power, politics, christian nationalism, ekklesiology and radical discipleship with reference to the Anabaptist tradition. In my opinion, the latter seems to be the main theme of the book which aims to change our entire paradigm to the Jesus Paradigm, in order to be true servants of Jesus Christ again. Interestingly, there seems to be a growing trend of interests in the tradition of the Anabaptists, as the multitude seeks to follow Christ in a simpler way with deep intensity. Actually, it will be an exhilarating milestone if we can fully live out what we already do know.

An overview of "The Jesus Paradigm" is as follow:

Chapter 1: Introduction - The Jesus Paradigm
Chapter 2: The Liberated Church - Recasting Our Vision of Discipleship
Chapter 3: The Radical Reformation - The Anabaptists and Suffering Servanthood
Chapter 4: The Priestly Kingdom - Communal Ekklesiology and Every-Member Ministry
Chapter 5: The Community of the Spirit - Leadership Jesus' Style
Chapter 6: The Politics of Jesus - Disarming the Principalities and Powers
Chapter 7: The Future of Christianity - Habits of the Upside-Down Community
Afterwords: A New Paradigm for Theological Education?

David sees serious flaws in the very structure on which the western churches and denominations were built on, and how the unbiblical foundation prevents us from following the Lord. The solution proposed, thus is to seek restoration of the church organized as Jesus intended it and according to the example provided by the earliest church sources in the NT. That's three cheers for a NT and Greek teacher! You don't manufacture a product which doesn't match the original specifications, do you?

Overall, I find The Jesus Paradigm a fresh reading especially those portions on politics, power and the Anabaptist tradition, many points which I can agree with. As David put it, "This book is written for anyone who is dissatisfied with cultural Christianity and who longs for a greater reality in the whole Body of Christ. Its plea is that we get serious about following Jesus. It is written for anyone who is ready to build unity around the essentials of Christianity and get on with the top priorities."

However, I think this book serves more like a tantalizing appetizer than the sumptuous main course, as David did not elaborate further on the detailed practical outworking of the ekklesia and her functions. How does an emphasis on the priesthood of all believers transform the sacred cow of modern worship service with a three-point sermon, good entertainment programs and other church practices which warrant closer examination? It may leave readers to wonder, so what now? Perhaps David is thinking of authoring a future title on this topic? I hope he will not stop here.

If you wish to explore more on ekklesiology, I will suggest the three titles "The Church Comes Home", "Paul's Idea of Community" and "Going to Church in the First Century" by Robert Banks, and another three titles "Pagan Christianity", "Reimagining Church" and "From Eternity to Here" by Frank Viola, besides Wolfgang Simson's "Houses that Change the World", Chip Brogden's "The Irresistible Kingdom", Manfred Haller's "God's Goal: Christ As All in All" and many other more, just to give a flavour.

This review is based on the free advance copy graciously given by Energion Publications (http://energionpubs.com).

Everyone of has a paradigm. It may have been shaped by our parents, our culture, our friends, our environment, and even more importantly our "religion". A paradigm is a pattern or an example serving as a model. For example many people have a paradigm for love. This paradigm could be shaped by numerous things. Our parents relationship, television, maybe some steamy romance model, or again it could have been shaped by one's religion. Dave Black sets out in this work to talk about the "Jesus Paradigm" and as disciples of Christ what other paradigm should we have?

In the introduction Dave Black sets forward this paradigm very clearly. You don't have to think about, wonder about it, it isn't top secret, it isn't elusive it is simply the "radical and sacrificial love" that Jesus put on display during His earthly ministry. Here is how he puts it on page 7.

There is, I am convinced, a better way. It is what I calling the "Jesus Paradigm". The expresion alludes to the way Jesus concluded his earthly ministry. he washed his disciples' feet and then said, "I have given you an example (paradigm) so that you may copy what I have done" (John 13:15). This is the way Jesus sought to glorify his Father. It is the exact opposite of our human way. We seek glory by moving upward. Jesus chose the way of downward mobility, through suffering for us. Whenever he speaks about being glorified-being "lifted up"- he always refers to his death. it was through the cross that Jesus glorified his Father and made know God's glory to us.

The rest of the book is simply this paragraph flushed out. On page 10, Dave coins a term that I really enjoy but rarely do I obey it. It is called the "cruciform lifestyle". He defines it as:

By "cruciform" I mean that the cross is the hermeneutical key to understanding the revelation of God in Christ. It is the cross that we find so offensive today . The "crucified God" stands in judgement on America's theologia gloriae - "theology of glory".....

In chapter 2 Dave moves into the effect of the Jesus Paradigm on the Church. He says on page 18:

Our image of a successful church is one that incorporates a hard-working paid staff, a large and expanding membership, a growing budget, and a multiplicity of programs...... The patterns we are led to in the book of Acts indicate a vastly different focus, form, and function. The church is simply a group of radical Jesus-followers ministering to each other sacrificially and reaching the community about them with the Gospel in word and deed.

Also in chapter 2 he contrasts Christendom with Christ. Most think these two are synonymous but they are not. Christendom is a toxic retardation of what the Chrsitian Faith really is about. It as far from Chrsitianity as Racism is to Love. He does a great job of recapturing the heart of the Anabaptist and their simple commitment to the priesthood of believers, disciple making through the Gospel and Good Works even in the face of martyrdom. He moves into Chapter 3 quite fluidly again expounding upon the "Radical Reformation" of the Anabaptist. The Anabaptist did not just promote correct theology or a.k.a. "Orthodoxy", their "Orthodoxy" was proven by their radical commitment to all things Christ. This meant instead of joining the State, the Anabaptist allowed the State to do what it did but they were to proclaim the Gospel, instead of picking up a sword to promote and perpetuate Christianity they took on the "form of a servant" and instead of making a Christian caste system they believed that all believers were brothers with a Senior Pastor named "Jesus Christ".

In Chapters 4-5 Mr. Black continues to show how radical discipleship and the priesthood of believers will mature the church and make committed disciples of Christ and that this was the heartbeat of Jesus. Matthew 23 is to be taken quite literally "you are all brothers". Mr. Black moves into chapter 6 to discuss America's love with politics and how this antithetical to the "Jesus Paradigm". We are not to be caught up in the worldly affairs, attempting to bring the kingdom through our political alignment! No! We are to disarm the powers to be with loving, self-sacrificial, servant-hood, this was the way of Jesus and the early disciples and they turned the greatest empire upside down by modeling the Lord Jesus.

Chapter 7 deserves its own paragraph, here is the practical outworking of the Jesus Paradigm. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book, because here is the Jesus Paradigm put in motion. The Kingdom is upside-down, whatever the world clings to Jesus tells us to let go of it, whatever the world loves pursues and die for, we are to die for the exact opposite. In this chapter Mr. Black talks about unity and cooperative work between denominations and churches and how this is the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17. He talks about hospitality as a way to serve and build the kingdom of God and finally he asks "How is Your Serve". Here he talks about our willingness to sacrifice for others both are time and treasure and this is the most challenging chapter for me as an individual Christian, especially when we see the lack of equity amongst Christians and the exact opposite in the Book of Acts.

I highly recommend this work. Dave Black sets out to show us that Jesus' Paradigm isn't what the world deems valuable. For us Christians (disciples/followers) we have to sit down with our ledger and attempt to reconcile it with Jesus' commands, wherever there is a variance we are to fix it. Much of what Dr. Black talks about will have to come through the grace of Jesus; however, Jesus himself says "whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you". That is when we ask with His heartbeat, mostly I have asked with my own. Thanks Dave for a wonderful challenge.

In all the spare time I don't have, I have managed to barrel through this new book that was slated for release yesterday. You can purchase it on Amazon few reviews out there that have already done it justice. Arthur, and Alan, have both posted theirs online and will provide you with two good perspectives on the whole of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the onset. I am hesitant to say that I affirmed all of what David Black has written, but found myself nodding in agreement often. From the onset of the book Black establishes his purpose, and quite remarkably remains true. Unfortunately, some of Black's assessments will be taken from the typical perspective that is adopted by those who are cautious and bold in their commentary of the modern Church. Its intriguing to see that those who have served as missionaries (like Black) develop a view of people that changes how we adhere and put into practice the commands of Christ. This 'Paradigm' that Black tries to illustrate is heavily described by his comparisons and descriptions of the ever unpopular Anabaptists. Like so many in the days of their persecutions, the Anabaptists, or those who would align to their teachings in our day, are marginalized and seen as antagonistic toward the established norm. Black does a fair job at assessing the current pragmatism we see today and challenges it not with reform, but restoration. As the book's title suggests, Black creates the 'Jesus Paradigm' by using scriptural practice as the standard and calls for an analysis of what we've become. The end surprised me with it's seemingly political commentary and spun the context of the previous chapters into a different direction than I had anticipated. The end brought it all to an amicable conclusion. To my pleasure I found this to be a fun read. It was smooth and hit the hard points fast and intelligently. By no means was it systematic or ever gave the impression as such, but what it did do was show the political nature of our current church practice, and why restoration is often rationalized away or ignored. The implications of such a paradigm shift would shake the fetters of nominal and institutional Christianity so much that the culture we know as 'Christendom' would give way to the true witness of those who hear the commands of our Lord, and obey.

Black's purpose in writing this book is to encourage his readers toward "radical discipleship". He is concerned (rightfully so, I would say) that many believers have forfeited following Jesus, and have instead placed their trust in their traditions, their leaders, or their politics.

This is not a book about the church. Nor is this a book about politics or leadership. However, Black touches on each of these subjects, and in some cases he grabs them with both hands. No, this book is strictly about discipleship - about following Jesus in the simple - yet extraordinarily radicaly - ways in which Scriptures describes and prescribes.

For much of the book, Black uses the radical reformers of the sixteenth century - the Anabaptists - as exemplars for our own discipleship. He explains how the Anabaptists refused to compromise their way of life:

"Above all, the Anabaptists believed in obeying Christ's call to abandon self and follow his example of humility, service, and suffering. The way of Jesus, they taught, is the way of suffering servanthood. It is the ultimate in downward mobility." (39)

Using the Anabaptists' way of life as an example, Black exhorts every believer to consider him or herself to be a minister (servant) and a missionary. Every believer is responsible to teach, admonish, serve, give, evangelize, disciple, etc. These responsibilities cannot be given to or taken by others, even those in leadership.

However, Black does not want his readers to follow the Anabaptists. Instead, he says, the Anabaptists were simply attempting to live according to the pattern that they found in Scripture. Were they perfect? Of course not. But, they lived their beliefs.

And, Black does not write only to those who follow in the footprints of the Anabaptists historically. In fact, I think any believer from any tradition can benefit from reading this book. Black even concludes by calling all believers to radical discipleship and unity in Christ:

"It's time to summarize and conclude. Are you in a mainstream congregation? In an emergent church? In a home meeting? It really doesn't matter. The paramount question to ask is this: Are you willing to wash the feet of others? Are you willing to use your gifts to enrich the Body of Christ? Are you willing to forego pyramids of power? Are you willing to surrender what is rightfully "yours"? In the end, it doesn't matter what evangelical church we belong to. What matters is that we faithfully pursue the Jesus paradigm regardless of the religious structures around us. What matters is that we work from the bottom up... And we are to do this whether or not we agree with our brother or sister in every area." (126)

On one hand, Black's book is an academic work. His years of study in Greek, New Testament, hermeneutics, and history are ably demonstrated in this work. On the other hand, this book stands apart from many works of academia, because Black is unable (and does not desire to) separate this work from his life. In fact, he uses examples from his own work in the seminary in North Carolina, at his home in Virginia, and in countless villages and cities around the world - especially in Ethiopia - to exhort his readers to consider their beliefs and live them out!

I have to admit that I did not first come across these lessons while reading this book. Instead, I've spent many hours discussing these concepts with Black. We've talked about being servants and ministers. We've talked about a church full of priests. We've talked about the church relying on the state.

This book is a great reminder of the many discussions that I've had with my PhD mentor, and the reason that I asked him to be my mentor in the first place. Everyone reading this book will quickly realize that Black is not writing from an ivory tower. Instead, he's writing with hands covered with Ethiopian dust.

This is a book that I would recommend to anyone. Read it... and share it with others... then live the pattern of life that you find in Scripture... the pattern of life in which only the Holy Spirit can direct you and empower you.