Out of the Question...Into the Mystery: Getting Lost in the GodLife Relationship [Hardcover]

Leonard Sweet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2004

How did we get the point, but miss the Person?

Christianity wasn’t founded on a proposition. God sent Jesus to deliver a proposal: “Will you love me? Will you let me love you?”

In fact, Jesus not only got on his knees to deliver this proposal. Jesus was nailed to a cross to deliver God’s proposal. Because of Jesus, we can reach for God himself, not simply for more precise statements about God.
Propositions inform us, but God’s proposal of love in Jesus transforms us. God doesn’t answer every question, God invites us into a mystery. God’s proposal of love is truly Out of the Question…Into the Mystery.

“Faith is not simply a decision that is made or a commitment that is promised… Rather, faith is a new life that we practice. And that life is practiced in the context of relationship.” –Leonard Sweet


God made us for relationship. For up-close engagement. For the give-and-take that unfolds when two beings interact on a deeper level.

God wants to be known, not just known about. Jesus invites you to follow him, not simply study him. God reaches out to you, tirelessly pursuing you–not because God is fact or doctrine or proposition, but because God is Love.

And when you discover the authentic life of trusting God and living in love–the GodLife relationship, as Leonard Sweet calls it–your priorities will shift from trying to nail down just the right doctrine to following the living Jesus every moment of every day.

When you follow Jesus, you will learn how to love your enemies, care for the earth, relate to one another, and understand the invisible spiritual realm. In following Jesus, you will appreciate the bigger picture of God’s truth and you’ll be able to witness to your faith more powerfully. The daily practice of faith–versus the settledness of mere belief–will open your life to unimagined possibilities.

God’s chief desire is to enjoy an honest, open-access relationship with you. In this fresh and provocative book, you will be introduced to the mystery and adventure of this GodLife relationship.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sweet (SoulTsunami, SoulSalsa) argues that Christendom overemphasizes doctrine and reason at the expense of a relationship with God, and that it's time to "replant the faith in the rich biblical soil from which it has been uprooted." To shift from right thinking to right living, Christians must restore various relationships—with God, His revelation, other people of faith, those outside the faith and creation. Sweet might surprise some readers when he says that Abraham should have questioned God about the command to sacrifice Isaac, and that in not doing so, Abraham failed part of God's test by leaving his community. The author borrows from Eastern mysticism, especially in a section about creation that echoes the modern environmental movement's criticisms of airplane travel, the fishing industry and Freon. Sweet's political orientation also surfaces in a general accusation that the world's richest nations are to blame for the plight of the poor. In trying to swing believers from rationalism to relationalism, Sweet challenges evangelicals by saying that the text of the Bible does not become the Truth until it is lived out. Sweet's existential approach will not fit with many formal, historic understandings of the Christian faith, but then, that's the point. Extensive questions for discussion are included.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Len Sweet has really done it this time! In true midrash form, Len exposes the beauty of a relationship with our Creator. He asks all the hard questions and leads us to a place of grace beyond the formulaic answers. Throw all your self-help books in the trash and immerse yourself in a book that will help you see your faith journey in a whole new way.”
–Chris Seay, author of The Gospel According to Tony Soprano

"No charts, no boxes, no to-do lists. Just everything we thought we knew about faith but didn't. This is the book we should be reading in our small groups."
—Sally Morgenthaler, author of Worship Evangelism, founder of Sacramentis.com and Digital Glass Videos

"Here is a panoramic view of what a relational theology can mean for Christians today. Whether you're a spiritual seeker trying to get the lay of the land, or a seasoned traveler trying to make sense of what you've experienced, or even a disillusioned leader who feels it's all gone stale—this book will help you see in a fresh, inspiring, profound, and invigorating way."
—Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian and The Church on the Other Side

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (September 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578566479
• ISBN-13: 978-1578566471
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #354,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Len Sweet was born of a mixed marriage: his mother was a fiery Pilgrim Holiness-ordained preacher from the mountains of West Virginia and his quiet father a Free Methodist lay leader from the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York. After a deconversion at 17, when Len set about less sowing wild oats than planting prairies, he became an atheist intellectual and scholar dedicated to exposing the nincompoopery and poppycockery, if not tomfoolery and skullduggery of all religions. After this seven-year period of liminality, Len came back to the faith of his ancestors, where he has been ever since, exploring the "insterstices" and "semiotics" of religion, culture and history. He uses two words to describe himself: semiotician and interstitial. In other words, he is obsessed with two questions: "Where have you been?" and "Where are you going?"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars going beyond the gimmicks... into God, October 26, 2004

By 

Bob Hyatt (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Out of the Question...Into the Mystery: Getting Lost in the GodLife Relationship (Hardcover)

Len Sweet has written a good book here. He's known for creative thinking about future ways of doing and being church... and here he doesn't disappoint.

But this is different than his other books... more personal and confessional. In "Out of the Question" Sweet challenges us to get back to what really matters- not powerpoint and multimedia, not propositions and mission statements... but relationships; with God and with each other.

Sweet challenges how we look at everything from treasured Bible characters to our own ideas of faith and belief. It's a wild ride, but worth it.

If you have any of his other books (or even if you don't) pick this one up too. It represents an important contribution to the emergent conversation and a subtle refocusing away from methodologies and propositional belief and back to relationship.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Primer to Relational Theology, October 10, 2004

By 

Dwight Friesen "living connectively" (Bellevue, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Out of the Question...Into the Mystery: Getting Lost in the GodLife Relationship (Hardcover)

I have come to respect Dr. Leonard I. Sweet as something of a "postmodern Tertullian," in the sense that Len offers his readers fresh and clarifying language for the complex challenges of the day. The language Len offers in this text enables the "relationality conversation" to make a quantum leap. By looking at the central relationships of life, he subtly crafts a relational hermeneutic. This is book which dares its readers to make the main thing, the main thing. It dares us to see relationship as more than the means of fulfilling the gospel but as the gospel.

When the history of relational theology is written, this book may be seen as the movement's Primer. I highly recommend it.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Relational!, June 16, 2005

By 

Michael Kear (Enid, Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Out of the Question...Into the Mystery: Getting Lost in the GodLife Relationship (Hardcover)

I met and visited with Leonard Sweet in New Mexico about 10 years ago and was impressed with his take on things then. I have since read much of what he has written and always gained insight.

Out of the Question... Into the Mystery is a deliciously Jesus-centered maxim on relationships for the emerging Christian. I say "emerging Christian" rather than "emerging Church" because this book is written on a personal level. How do I think and relate to God, God's story, my faith community, those outside my faith community, and God's creation? This book could also be used as a good introduction for older paradigm believers to the relational and dialogical thinking that is so important to emergents. Written in a friendly and approachable fashion (as are all of Len Sweet's books), Out of the Question opens doors to paradoxes and insights that we consciously or unconsciously bypass. Sweet's penetrating observations on the Abraham - Isaac story are disturbing and yet eye-opening. We get a whole new view on Abraham's success and his failure.

As is common in all Sweet's books, Out of the Question is interspersed with great quotations from various thinkers (such as John Howard Yoder, Brian McLaren, Emily Dickinson, Charles Spurgeon, and even William S. Burroughs) that add wisdom and understanding to the text.

Allow me to conclude with a quote from Sweet himself.

"God is present, and God is relational. This means that truth is relational, found in the give-and-take of honest engagement with God. Faith and obedience are not reflex actions, or blind and mindless conformity to rules and regulations. Faith and obedience are instead played out in a life in full pursuit of God, knowing that at the same time we are being fully pursued by God. Faith and obedience are found in listening to God, questioning God, being challenged by God, and challenging God."