Customer Reviews

True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In

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Choung starts out with a simple goal - to describe a new way to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ. What makes his book so good is that he recognizes the complex questions people have about the gospel. He retains the central truths that we are separated by sin from the God we were created to be in perfect fellowship with and that the finished work of Christ is the only way to restore that fellowship. He adds on to those truths some others that were previously seen as "Christian history" (what was God like before Creation was created? how did sin enter the world?) and some others that were seen as "Christian Living" (if I'm saved by grace, why should I go to the trouble of doing good? what should I/the church do about Sudan, the environment, or human trafficking?). He sees that individual sin leads to corrupted relationships and communities, and he communicates a gospel of salvation for individuals and healing for relationships and communities. Other writers in this genre (McLaren and Claiborne come to mind) go too far promoting the corporate aspects of sin and salvation to the detriment of the individual responsibility for sin and need for salvation. As I read Choung's book, I didn't feel like the gospel I love was being changed, diminished, or diluted - I felt like it was being strengthened by showing the big picture of why the gospel is truly good news for individual humans and the whole world.

This book really helped me rethink what it means to follow Jesus. For many people I know, "the good news" about Jesus has stopped feeling "good." They see a disconnect between Christianity and the biggest problems facing our world. Actually, that's probably too generous. They more often see Christianity as part of the problem.
James helps us take a fresh look at what Jesus meant when he said that the kingdom of God is at hand by taking us into a crisis of faith as experienced by a young Korean American musician. He's in love. Maybe. And his girlfriend, maybe, is really angry at God. Their conversations are sad, heated, authentic, full of questions . . . I think they are conversations I've had myself.
True Story is a great book for people with questions about God.

As an avid novel reader, this book definitely stands out among the throng of Christian books that fall under the "self-help" category, each approximately 200 pages long. Following the lead of the master story-teller, Jesus, James Choung has chosen a wise path of providing a parable of his own to illustrate a lesson he's learned as a Korean-American Christian himself.

As someone who has been disillusioned by the hypocrisy that runs rampant through the church and needs to find satisfaction in a bigger picture like the one Choung artfully provides, I would recommend this story to anyone in a similar situation. Instead of simply reiterating many of the criticisms that non-Christians and Christians alike direct towards the Church, James Choung provides a more hopeful alternative that challenges the reader to take steps forward to truly bring heaven onto Earth.

I would also recommend this story to anyone who thinks Christianity is bogus because of the crap that the Church both allows and instigates, and I would politely but strongly urge them to see if they can imagine themselves fitting into this larger portrait that James has painted.

On a less Christianese note, this book is a relatively quick read with welcoming language and familiar situations, and, in the tradition of C.S. Lewis, uses a small story to tell a bigger one. Though it's primarily lesson-driven, the plot makes the book a much more comfortable read than a textbook-like alternative would. If anything, reading this book can only help you in the long run, so pick one up and see what you think =)

Working in college ministry, I have felt the difficulty in telling the true Gospel (God's story, and not a watered down, me-centered one) and also in contextualizing it in a way that increasingly skeptical students can connect to. I loved True Story for what is at the heart of the book: an excellent Gospel diagram to help us share our faith Biblically. For more than 2 years, my students and I have been using this diagram with skeptics, seekers, and Christians. Here are a few reasons why Choung's diagram is excellent, and True Story is a great read for anyone:

It starts where they start.
Fewer and fewer people these days begin with a concrete idea of God or truth. But most have a deep sense that all is not right in the world. Choung's diagram begins with our discontentment. Because it begins with the world as we experience it, it is easy to bring up naturally in a variety of contexts. I've been able to share it while discussing the AIDS crisis in Africa, watching the evening news, and even after a student simply had a hard week of school. Choung's diagram shows that indeed things are not what God designed them to be, and connects the large-scale problems in the world and our lives to the sin problem in each of us.

It involves whole-life transformation.
Choung's diagram invites personal change through redemption in Christ, but also makes clear that "getting saved" is the beginning of a life of grateful participation in God's mission. Too often in our desire to protect sola fide, sola gratia, we shortchange our message. Our Gospel explanations leave out Paul's words in Eph. 2:10 (that we are saved by grace alone in order to overflow in good works) and Jesus' in Matt. 5:14-16 (that our good works will lead others to glorify God). The result is Christians whose lives look nothing like Christ's. Of course works are not salvific, but the Bible makes clear that they are to be a part of the life of a believer! As my students and I have used the diagram, we've found it useful not just with unbelievers but Christians, too. Many lifelong Christians recognize that they are living in "Circle 3" (forgiven, but not actively joining God's mission), and are encouraged to live out their faith. And unbelievers recognize that if this is God's message for the world, it truly is Good News.

It's larger than me!
Choung repeatedly focuses on three levels of restoration that Christ's atonement brings: personal, interpersonal, and systemic. Other Gospel diagrams I've used begin and end with the personal--Jesus can forgive and heal me, period. True Story points out that Christ's work certainly begins with my own issues, but that he is also concerned with right relationships between people and with restoring His creation (Eph. 2, Col. 1:20). Thus it leads us to racial reconciliation, environmental stewardship, and other Biblical mandates.

The Gospel will not be palatable to everyone (I Cor. 1:23). But at times in the past, I've had the feeling that seekers I shared with were rejecting not so much Christ as the weak, limited explanation of him that I gave. No diagram or single book holds the fullness of God's plan, as Choung himself points out many times. But True Story is a helpful and needed correction to our individualistic, fire-insurance approach to sharing God's Story. And despite containing all this good stuff, its fable-format makes it a very easy and enjoyable read. Read it, and ask God to help you make sure the Gospel you share is as big as the Kingdom!

A question that most Christians wrestle with is the best way to share their faith. In "True Story," Choung submits an approach that has worked with uneducated third world residents to postmodern college students and many in between.

The approach has a salvation component, but does not neglect Jesus' commands to take part in the Kingdom of God. Choung uses scripture to assert:
Creation was designed for good, but damaged by evil.
Jesus came to restore us for the better, and sends us out to do good.

The steps are illustrated first in a fictional story of a disaffected Christian wrestling with his faith, and then revisited in the author's own words at the end. The first part may seem rough toward some conservative evangelicals, but hold tight. It's a godsend to those who love Jesus' teachings, yet can't stand the hypocrisy of many of His most vocal followers.

Alongside Comfort's "Best Kept Secret" and Bright's "4 Spiritual Laws," Choung's "True Story" will be an indispensable tool of any Christian's witnessing toolkit. For all of us who are willing to "become all things, to all people, that we may win some," Choung has created a very important work.

This book bursts with fantastic, deeply biblical theology and, simultaneously, a great method for holding it all together in your mind and even communicating part or all of it to others. If you want to read a novel, this book isn't the most gripping thriller. But if you want theology, it reads as close to a novel as I think you could come while still packing a walloping dosage. Reading it help you gain a more holistic understanding of the gospel, and may reveal some of the popular culture beliefs we hold that actually aren't biblical.

If you want to become an effective communicator of the gospel, this book will give you an excellent tool. I have used a streamlined version of this diagram a number of times, and I appreciate its clarity and how compelling it is for people in today's generation. Does the gospel have anything to say about war and violence, racism, sexism, or the environment? You will find a clear and, I think, compelling "Yes!" here.

I enjoyed it, and I'm amazed at how much theology the author put in. This book is a gift.

It's a fairly quick read, although the worldview may take a good amount of time to digest.

Especially engaging and effective for Christians who've grown up with Christianity being nothing more than a religious system or a culture. Completely shocking and enlightening for those who don't follow Jesus and are in fact jaded by Him and His church. It paints a fuller and truer picture of the relationship between God, us, and the world. Makes what has become abstract in our generation into a plain and accessible gospel.

For someone who has only recently begun to discover the joys of reading, I found True Story a great read. The short chapters and incorporation of a story made the pages fly by--I finished in less than a day! More than that though, I believe that Mr. Choung provides for Christians and the church with a valuable tool for understanding a fuller and clearer picture of the gospel.

true story is an innovative work that gives jesus followers something to cheer about and skeptics a reason to let their guards down.

true story explores a global picture of jesus' ministry and teachings (the good news) that is missional in focus.

if you've ever asked or heard questions like these: "so i'm 'saved,' now what?" or "christians, what are they good for? (and answered, absolutely nothing!)" then you will enjoy true story. james choung's approach is engaging and the insights/tools provided are compelling.

I'm a United Methodist pastor that never really felt that "the bridge" diagram really said it all. What about the restoration and renewal of all creation? What about the Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven? True Story tells the whole gospel. I now include this book in my discipling process. My church members found True Story refreshing and more in line with their understanding of a complete personal and social holiness. Thank you James Choung.