Seeing rightly, says Mark Labberton, is the beginning of how our hearts are changed. Through careful self-examination in the Spirit, we begin to bear the fruit of love toward others that can make a difference. Here is a chance to reflect on why our ordinary hearts can be complacent about the evils in the world and how we can begin to see the world like Jesus.
The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Labberton’s latest sports a provocative title, much on the order of his earlier work, The Dangerous Act of Worship (2007). But this one seems to deviate from its suggested intent, offering only a few anecdotes involving personal encounters with immediate neighbors. Many more examples relate to oppression and injustice being done to “neighbors” in a much larger global community, and in some ways, this makes the act of loving seem somewhat remote. At points, the book also veers away from its suggested Jesus-specific vision, citing several passages from the Old Testament. Even so, each chapter provides specific exercises containing truly insightful questions. It is these structured inquiries that are most likely to provoke readers to examine personal perceptions as well as behaviors and passive indifference that can lead to oppression and injustice. Operating as a workbook for personal growth, this may very well help promote change for a better world. --Susan DeGrane
Review
"Mark Labberton draws us to understand the reality of injustice in our world--a reality that we can all too easily turn into vague abstractions--by beginning first with a raw, honest examination of our own hearts. Mark's manner with his reader is at the same time gracious and incisive, invoking careful consideration of the assumptions and broken perceptions that lead us away from the heart of God--and above all, compelling us to a restored perception of the image of God in every human being. This is a book you will want to spend considerable time ingesting, and as you do so, you are sure to be changed. Let this book lead you to encounter the gospel from a renewed perspective, bringing you into a transformed relationship with the broken world that God has called his people to love with justice." (Gary A. Haugen, president and CEO, International Justice Mission and author of The Good News About Injustice)
"Reading Mark Labberton's book . . . has rekindled my faith in the gospel of Jesus--the good news of God, who sees, names and acts truly, in love; a gospel that frees me to act, without deception or pressure to change anyone. The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor has also rekindled my resolve to continue on the path of seeking God, who alone is just and changes the human heart--my heart, which, except for his grace, is prone to misperceiving, misnaming and misacting! . . . I thank God for Mark Labberton and the gift of this book. I commend it wholeheartedly to all those whose work (as all work should be) is devoted to bringing hope to those on the margins of society and to all who desire to be true to the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. I commend it to all in the pastoral vocation, and I commend it to disciples of Jesus who serve in the realm of politics and the judiciary. It is groundbreaking in its elucidation of how the roots of injustice are embedded in the shaping of the human heart through the most ordinary stuff of daily human interaction." (Dr. David Zac Niringiye, bishop in the Church of Uganda (Anglican))
"Mark Labberton's new book, The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor, is an intensely human and courageously confessional reflection on radical loving. His pastoral approach is inviting, drawing the reader into the urgent conversation that thoughtful Christians need as they desperately attempt to reclaim an embodied love in a world that longs to experience it. Provocative, prophetic, pastoral and passionate about living into a reality of love, Mark's book is captivating and compelling." (Chris Heuertz, international director of Word Made Flesh, author of Simple Spirituality and coauthor of Friendship at the Margins)
"The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor is a book that I've been waiting for! It is a practical and thought-provoking guide that shows us how to cultivate lives of justice, mercy and faith in a world that is in desperate need of compassion and reconciliation. I highly recommend this book to everyone who really wants to make a difference in the world. It is an outstanding sequel to The Dangerous Act of Worship!" (Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, president of Salter McNeil & Associates and author of The Heart of Racial Justice)
"For too long we have divorced the quest for 'being spiritual' from a commitment to 'doing justice.' In this powerfully inspiring book, Mark Labberton provides wise insights--and some wonderful stories!--about how to connect inside with outside in the Christian life. A must-read for all who care about faithful discipleship!" (Richard J. Mouw, president and professor of Christian philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary and author of Uncommon Decency)
"Here is a book to heal the demonic split between private religion and public action. Eloquent and subversive, intelligent and passionate, these reflections are designed to move you toward a true worship of God that involves loving him in and through every sphere and domain of life." (Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways and coauthor (with Debra Hirsch) of Untamed)
"The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor asks important questions, deeper questions we may not have thought to ask yet in our pursuit of justice, and ones that will take a lifetime to answer. We say we want justice, but our self-centric hearts betray us. So how do we override our hearts? This book opened my eyes to the difference between doing something and becoming someone--a person of justice, reoriented to the heart of Jesus." (Sara Groves, singer/songwriter)
"Reading Mark Labberton's book . . . has rekindled my faith in the gospel of Jesus--the good news of God, who sees, names and acts truly, in love; a gospel that frees me to act, without deception or pressure to change anyone. The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor has also rekindled my resolve to continue on the path of seeking God, who alone is just and changes the human heart--my heart, which, except for his grace, is prone to misperceiving, misnaming and misacting! . . . I thank God for Mark Labberton and the gift of this book. I commend it wholeheartedly to all those whose work (as all work should be) is devoted to bringing hope to those on the margins of society and to all who desire to be true to the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. I commend it to all in the pastoral vocation, and I commend it to disciples of Jesus who serve in the realm of politics and the judiciary. It is groundbreaking in its elucidation of how the roots of injustice are embedded in the shaping of the human heart through the most ordinary stuff of daily human interaction." (Dr. David Zac Niringiye, bishop in the Church of Uganda (Anglican))
"Mark Labberton's new book, The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor, is an intensely human and courageously confessional reflection on radical loving. His pastoral approach is inviting, drawing the reader into the urgent conversation that thoughtful Christians need as they desperately attempt to reclaim an embodied love in a world that longs to experience it. Provocative, prophetic, pastoral and passionate about living into a reality of love, Mark's book is captivating and compelling." (Chris Heuertz, international director of Word Made Flesh, author of Simple Spirituality and coauthor of Friendship at the Margins)
"The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor is a book that I've been waiting for! It is a practical and thought-provoking guide that shows us how to cultivate lives of justice, mercy and faith in a world that is in desperate need of compassion and reconciliation. I highly recommend this book to everyone who really wants to make a difference in the world. It is an outstanding sequel to The Dangerous Act of Worship!" (Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, president of Salter McNeil & Associates and author of The Heart of Racial Justice)
"For too long we have divorced the quest for 'being spiritual' from a commitment to 'doing justice.' In this powerfully inspiring book, Mark Labberton provides wise insights--and some wonderful stories!--about how to connect inside with outside in the Christian life. A must-read for all who care about faithful discipleship!" (Richard J. Mouw, president and professor of Christian philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary and author of Uncommon Decency)
"Here is a book to heal the demonic split between private religion and public action. Eloquent and subversive, intelligent and passionate, these reflections are designed to move you toward a true worship of God that involves loving him in and through every sphere and domain of life." (Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways and coauthor (with Debra Hirsch) of Untamed)
"The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor asks important questions, deeper questions we may not have thought to ask yet in our pursuit of justice, and ones that will take a lifetime to answer. We say we want justice, but our self-centric hearts betray us. So how do we override our hearts? This book opened my eyes to the difference between doing something and becoming someone--a person of justice, reoriented to the heart of Jesus." (Sara Groves, singer/songwriter)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Andrew
Format:Hardcover
This book cuts right to the heart of what I consider to be the biggest dilemmas of the Christian faith--why don't Christians live like Christ, and more specifically, why don't I?
Labberton's pastoral background is abundantly clear in the book, as he gently cuts not just to the heart of this question writ large, but also cuts away the veils that I put up in an attempt to convince myself that God's heart looks just like mine. He is sure-handed as he performs this delicate surgery to uncover God's heart, buried deep under a variety of half truths that culture has provided, and gracious in his invitation to reflect on this process/space. He acknowledges the discomforting, disquieting nature of remaining in this place, and helps to engage heart, soul, and mind in the transformation that it brings.
In short, I would highly recommend it to any one who is seeking to better understand what it means to truly love your neighbor. I found this book transformational; it is not an overstatement to say that it restored my soul. It helped me to reaffirm the things in my life that I strive to value, while exposing all the ways that I keep myself from living out God's call to love my neighbor. As the title suggests, it is a dangerous call, and one that I suspect we will need to hear again and again. It is a book that I plan to read frequently.
I should note that I swore off reading Christian books some time ago for the sake of my sanity. I am a rather vigorous reader, and simply found myself incredibly frustrated by intellectually lazy arguments and faulty logic, even when people are making points that I ultimately agree with. While I can be gracious in conversation, I have a hard time being charitable when reading, as I expect ideas and arguments to be mature, developed, and well-reasoned. It's to the point now where I warn friends before agreeing to read books in a small group setting. So I was duly apprehensive when a good friend gave me a copy and asked for my thoughts. I shouldn't have worried--I found this book incredibly refreshing in every way imaginable. The stories were poignant, the illustrations vivid, the pacing remarkable in its ability to both draw me in and yet invite me to pause and reflect, and even the questions, which so often read like hastily tacked on appendages, were incredibly thoughtful and thought-provoking. There are a few books that I keep multiple copies of, so that I can give a copy to any friend who hasn't read it yet, and I plan on making this one of them.
Labberton's pastoral background is abundantly clear in the book, as he gently cuts not just to the heart of this question writ large, but also cuts away the veils that I put up in an attempt to convince myself that God's heart looks just like mine. He is sure-handed as he performs this delicate surgery to uncover God's heart, buried deep under a variety of half truths that culture has provided, and gracious in his invitation to reflect on this process/space. He acknowledges the discomforting, disquieting nature of remaining in this place, and helps to engage heart, soul, and mind in the transformation that it brings.
In short, I would highly recommend it to any one who is seeking to better understand what it means to truly love your neighbor. I found this book transformational; it is not an overstatement to say that it restored my soul. It helped me to reaffirm the things in my life that I strive to value, while exposing all the ways that I keep myself from living out God's call to love my neighbor. As the title suggests, it is a dangerous call, and one that I suspect we will need to hear again and again. It is a book that I plan to read frequently.
I should note that I swore off reading Christian books some time ago for the sake of my sanity. I am a rather vigorous reader, and simply found myself incredibly frustrated by intellectually lazy arguments and faulty logic, even when people are making points that I ultimately agree with. While I can be gracious in conversation, I have a hard time being charitable when reading, as I expect ideas and arguments to be mature, developed, and well-reasoned. It's to the point now where I warn friends before agreeing to read books in a small group setting. So I was duly apprehensive when a good friend gave me a copy and asked for my thoughts. I shouldn't have worried--I found this book incredibly refreshing in every way imaginable. The stories were poignant, the illustrations vivid, the pacing remarkable in its ability to both draw me in and yet invite me to pause and reflect, and even the questions, which so often read like hastily tacked on appendages, were incredibly thoughtful and thought-provoking. There are a few books that I keep multiple copies of, so that I can give a copy to any friend who hasn't read it yet, and I plan on making this one of them.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Bruce Huber
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is sheer gift. It is not easy, it is not quick, it is not the sort of book that one reads in an armchair with nachos nearby. It is more like an honest conversation with a longtime friend, someone who knows you perhaps as well as you know yourself.
The book works on two levels. It is on its face an extended reflection on the link between the individual human heart and social injustice. It draws a straight line between the casual contempt we harbor towards others and the unheralded tragedies that characterize life for the global underclass. The author is a gifted and unflinching observer of the human psyche, gently guiding us into the recesses of our hearts, revealing the mechanisms and maneuvers we employ to declare "Not My Problem!" in the face of injustice. The numerous personal stories and vignettes, drawn from Labberton's own pastoral ministry, do more than make his arguments accessible; they are essential to his enterprise, connecting us with real people on both the giving and receiving ends of distorted human vision.
Of course this terrain has been explored by other Christian writers, but this book is refreshingly different. It is thoroughly pastoral and gracious in its tone. It is deeply personal. You will find no finger-pointing here, no manipulation, no inducements to guilt. It simply presents a fair and honest discussion about how our misperceptions of others--our inability to see people as God sees them--produces the soil in which injustice grows. Nor is there a call to arms, for Labberton shows that if our hearts are the source of injustice, they too are where God seeds hope. The book's primary exhortation, then, is to right and whole worship of God--for worship is "life in the name of Jesus;" it is that which "heals us from the tragic myopia of our misperception and then sends us out into the world to love God, our neighbors and ourselves with lives that show we have seen God and therefore we see all else differently." Through worship we come to share "the taxonomy of God's heart," the right-seeing of His creatures.
This emphasis on worship points towards the second level at which this book operates: it is so powerful because just behind its devotional and reflective tone are rich evocations of an entire theology. The author's vision of worship and of justice spring from his understanding of God's character and God's action in the world. Make no mistake; his understanding of the Gospel is orthodox and reformed, his vision of justice premised on the real Jesus who lived, died and rose on the third day. Yet he pushes us far beyond the self-serving omissions and rationalizations and apathy that all too often characterize the operative theologies of contemporary American Christianity.
I hope you read this book; I hope many read this book. It invited me to a renewed worship of God, one which has peeled back a few layers of my heart and allowed His grace further within.
The book works on two levels. It is on its face an extended reflection on the link between the individual human heart and social injustice. It draws a straight line between the casual contempt we harbor towards others and the unheralded tragedies that characterize life for the global underclass. The author is a gifted and unflinching observer of the human psyche, gently guiding us into the recesses of our hearts, revealing the mechanisms and maneuvers we employ to declare "Not My Problem!" in the face of injustice. The numerous personal stories and vignettes, drawn from Labberton's own pastoral ministry, do more than make his arguments accessible; they are essential to his enterprise, connecting us with real people on both the giving and receiving ends of distorted human vision.
Of course this terrain has been explored by other Christian writers, but this book is refreshingly different. It is thoroughly pastoral and gracious in its tone. It is deeply personal. You will find no finger-pointing here, no manipulation, no inducements to guilt. It simply presents a fair and honest discussion about how our misperceptions of others--our inability to see people as God sees them--produces the soil in which injustice grows. Nor is there a call to arms, for Labberton shows that if our hearts are the source of injustice, they too are where God seeds hope. The book's primary exhortation, then, is to right and whole worship of God--for worship is "life in the name of Jesus;" it is that which "heals us from the tragic myopia of our misperception and then sends us out into the world to love God, our neighbors and ourselves with lives that show we have seen God and therefore we see all else differently." Through worship we come to share "the taxonomy of God's heart," the right-seeing of His creatures.
This emphasis on worship points towards the second level at which this book operates: it is so powerful because just behind its devotional and reflective tone are rich evocations of an entire theology. The author's vision of worship and of justice spring from his understanding of God's character and God's action in the world. Make no mistake; his understanding of the Gospel is orthodox and reformed, his vision of justice premised on the real Jesus who lived, died and rose on the third day. Yet he pushes us far beyond the self-serving omissions and rationalizations and apathy that all too often characterize the operative theologies of contemporary American Christianity.
I hope you read this book; I hope many read this book. It invited me to a renewed worship of God, one which has peeled back a few layers of my heart and allowed His grace further within.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By LCootsona
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Labberton doesn't take long to establish his voice and capture his reader. I'm here to stay. The opening story about one average elderly lady and her encounter with a mugger is eloquently told with little asides from the author's own incredulous mind. In that first story we learn that Mark is pastor, storyteller, observer of humans, a man with perspective and a sense of humor. He honors average people and is a keen commentator. We so easily can talk about the world's mother Theresas, but Labberton throws us into a story of someone like us. I was forced or rather compelled to listen. And listen I am. I've hesitated in writing my review because I'm not done with the book yet (simultaneously reading it on my Kindle). In fact I'm taking it real slow. I think this is my 2011 book. I'm reading it with an 80 plus friend of mine, two mothers, and a group of empty nesters. I gave the book as my only gift this Christmas to friends, family, and clients. It just speaks to us all.
Mark is prophetic with the right amount of gentleness. His own journey is forward in the book and he successfully convinces us that he's not "there" yet. Yet he is the perfect guide: he has lived for years in the urban complexity of Oakland, traveled extensively to the front line, and has made his vocational commitment to justice. Mark is leading us where we need to go...to the heart of the poor. He's convinced me; there's no better place.
Mark is prophetic with the right amount of gentleness. His own journey is forward in the book and he successfully convinces us that he's not "there" yet. Yet he is the perfect guide: he has lived for years in the urban complexity of Oakland, traveled extensively to the front line, and has made his vocational commitment to justice. Mark is leading us where we need to go...to the heart of the poor. He's convinced me; there's no better place.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought-provoking and insightful
I really appreciate Mark Labberton's thoughts on how to get outside of ourselves and see other people the way God sees them. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Jonathan Beilfuss
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow!
I ordered this book after hearing my pastor preach a sermon on seeing people from God's perspective and how quick we Christians often are to label, judge, and make assumptions... Read more
Published 21 months ago by LMS
5.0 out of 5 stars
Justice through the Eyes of Christ
Mark Labberton's sophmore offering bears the evocative title The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor. The title seems preposterous at first. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Matthew R. Kuiper
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Importance of Seeing
This book surprised me. The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor sat on my shelf for a few months before I finally picked it up early this year. Read more
Published on February 7, 2011 by David Swanson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Profoundly Challenging
Although we have heard it many times and it may even sound a little trite, what would happen to us if we began to look at people as Jesus looks at them? Read more
Published on February 3, 2011 by A. Morgan
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rare combination of personal and social transformation
For far too long, Christianity in the United States has been divided between churches that focus on personal transformation and those that are primarily concerned with social... Read more
Published on January 29, 2011 by JBR
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thoughtful read for Christian readers, very highly recommended
It's one thing to say you'll act as Jesus does, it's another to actually do so. "The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor: Seeing Others Through the Eyes of Jesus" is a guide to... Read more
Published on January 16, 2011 by Midwest Book Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Whose media campaign?
Noting that 7 of the 8 reviews posted (except the latest one) have an identical negative comment by the same individual, one wonders just who is carrying on the "media campaign" to... Read more
Published on January 14, 2011 by A Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love it!
Mark is insightful and brings a fresh perspective that helps me think of Jesus' teaching in new and awe-inspiring ways. Read more
Published on December 15, 2010 by Kristy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Author Is a Great Teacher
I have only recently been exposed to Mark Labberton as a teacher and have learned of His ability to communicate God's passion in a way that is Scriptural, relevant and convicts me... Read more
Published on December 15, 2010 by Gary
