Who Is My Enemy? [Paperback]

Rich Nathan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2002

Are You at War with Someone Jesus Loves? Many Christians are. We find it much easier to judge those outside the church than to love them. Yet Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save it. It is time we took on his attitude of servanthood--time to share not canned presentations, but our hearts and lives. Rich Nathan helps us understand how. Tackling five knotty current issues, he takes us inside the worldviews and street-level realities of postmodernists, New Agers, homosexuals, feminists, and liberals in order to better understand them, and to see beyond categories to real faces, real needs, and real hearts that long to be welcomed. Nathan reveals both the errors that we must challenge, and unexpected truths that will challenge us. Most important, he helps us to see individuals who long to experience the redemptive touch of Jesus--through us.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

According to Nathan (Empowered Evangelicals), Christian churches rarely step up to the plate with the same compassion and intelligent understanding offered so graciously by Jesus Christ. Today's evangelical masses consistently repel the people God loves, and churches shun those they don't understand out of fear and ignorance. Nathan, senior pastor of Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Columbus, Ohio, presents a soulful entreaty that resonates with the teachings of the late Francis Schaeffer. Nathan writes that followers of God must seek out the hurting and discover areas of agreement in order to effectively communicate the gospel of Christ. His text delves into five major classes of people who make Christians most uneasy: postmodernists, feminists, homosexuals, New Agers and liberals. He cites how indifferent and even hostile many churches are toward those men and women who come calling with a different worldview. When addressing cultural issues with those outside the Christian faith, he suggests, believers should take care to be civil, use persuasion rather than force, be realistic and incorporate biblical principles when communicating their beliefs. Nathan's work is an outstanding compilation of well-thought-out arguments, though some might find the book a bit weighty, requiring a second or third read to fully understand its points. His probings are both relevant and resourceful.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...soulful entreaty that resonates with the teachings of the late Francis Schaeffer. His probings are both relevant and resourceful." -- Publisher's Weekly, February 11, 2002

"Nathan's clear thinking is reflected in his writing." -- Christian Retailing, February 4, 2002

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031023882X
• ISBN-13: 978-0310238829
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,524,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars JESUS: the model for welcoming the rejected, February 14, 2002

By 

nikki pappas (columbus, ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Is My Enemy? (Paperback)

if only this could be required reading for all pastors in the united states, there would be a packed church on every street corner. rich does a fabulous job of explaining how christians need to respond like Jesus to those who are all too often disregarded by the church. this book gives excellent information on the basic foundational principles of homosexuals, post-modernists, feminists, liberals and new-agers. i came away with a greater understanding for each one of these groups of people and a grasp for how i can more love these people as Jesus does. this tricky subject is tackled with incredible authority tempered with overflowing grace. a definited must read for person who claims to want to love people as Jesus did (and does).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important insights on difficult topic, September 17, 2004

By 

Michael Bird (Yorba Linda, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who Is My Enemy? (Paperback)

Because of some of my recent readings, books written from a liberal point of view, this book was timely and well received by me. I think it's important to understand the thoughts, feelings and attitudes of those that have diametrically opposed viewpoints and world views from ourselves (regardless of which side of an issue we are on).

As a conservative Christian I often find myself speaking or communicating to someone that has liberal and/or non-Christian world views. Since Jesus accepted and loved those that were often on the outside of the religious authorities circle of acceptability, and since he calls me to do the same, I think it's important to understand the other side and to try and find places of commonality. Rich Nathan does a good job of pointing out places where Christians can find commonality with those that are often considered way too far away from a Christian world view to be worth trying to communicate with, much less expecting to help facilitate a conversion experience with.

I think Nathan could have been more focused in a few places, he spent some time in some of the chapters pointing out why a certain viewpoint or belief was wrong from a Christian standpoint, which I felt was redundant for the obvious reason that he was preaching to the choir.

I liked the places where he found common ground such as in the brief history of Susan B. Anthony, an early feminist that fought not just for suffrage but also against abortion. I think Nathan did a good job of showing how many that are outside of Christianity may very well have attitudes and feelings that are moving them towards Christ.

I think this book should be read by any in the Church that have mixed feelings or strong feelings against those groups of people that are ardently anti-Christian or simply just have world views and beliefs that put them at odds with the Christian faith. Nathan does a real good job of showing, and giving real life examples of, ways that we in the Church can reach out and serve those that we seemingly have nothing in common with and perhaps even view as being hostile towards us.

Rich Nathan doesn't bend over backwards trying to suppress his view that sin is ugly to God and hurts our relationship with Him. Those reading this book will not feel justified in lifestyles or beliefs contrary to traditional Christian beliefs, and in fact, I'm quite sure that those in groups discussed here would be offended with a reading of this book, however, Nathan is true to his faith, with out which, this book would have been worse than meaningless.

I give this book a strong recommendation to any that feel it would be helpful to them (I sort of felt I was "in the choir" so to speak). My four star rating isn't due to the quality and purpose of Nathan's teaching here, just simply because of the high quality of work I'm comparing it too. Again, I do recommend this to those that struggle at all with being loving and kind to those they find themselves "at war" with.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The welcome of the Kingdom, April 13, 2002

By 

Tom Hinkle (Tulsa, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who Is My Enemy? (Paperback)

Every evangelical church leader in America should have a copy of this book. Rich Nathan believes that, just as Jesus welcomed prostitutes, tax-collectors and other "sinners" into the Kingdom and did not view them as his enemies, so we should do the same to those whose views and lifestyles we find in opposition to ours: post-modernists, feminists, homosexuals, new-agers, and liberals. Not only that, but people in these groups have much to teach the church if only we would listen. Often in a book such as this, there is concern that the author is soft on sin. Nothing could be further from the truth in this case. Nathan is uncompromising with the issue of sin, but is also uncompromising on the issue of God's grace. By modeling love and acceptance at the church he pastors in Columbus, Ohio, Nathan has seen many transformed lives of people who were formerly far away from Christ. In this book, Nathan examines many "hot-button" issues among Christians, and discusses them in a very even-handed manner. Very educational, and very necessary reading.