I WISH JESUS HADN’T SAID THAT
but I’m really glad he did
By Steve Timmis
IVP. 153 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 844 748 723
In the ten chapters of this book Steve Timmis writes about some of the particularly radical things that Jesus said.
The author is no stranger to UK readers – he is one of the founders of The Crowded House church network, and has co-written several other notable books such as Everyday Church and Total Church. Their website strapline ‘gospel word and gospel community’ gives a good idea of where he is coming from.
Each chapter takes one of the provocative and disturbing sayings of Jesus such as: ‘deny yourself and take up your cross’, ‘love your enemies’, ‘you cannot serve both God and money’, ‘blessed are those who are persecuted’, etc. In other words, these are essays on the subject of discipleship.
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He puts each saying into context and perceptively analyses its theological content. From his own experience of dealing with an impressive range of individuals, he applies each saying to the situation of his readers. He has a word for the reader who can’t be happy in the rented holiday cottage where there is no mobile phone signal (p.102), and also for the person who says there is no way that they will stop spending £10 per day on cigarettes. (p.67).
His style is lively and contemporary – so much so that I was mystified by the reference to the matter-of-fact tone of Run-DMC (p.110), which I admit had to google.
Timmis is widely read and helpfully quotes comments of C.S.Lewis (e.g. p.28), gives examples from the life of John Wesley (p.68) and illustrates love for neighbour from the life of Dirk Willems – a Dutch anabaptist (p.94). He expresses his own inner initial unwillingness to receive these challenging teachings of Jesus, and yet makes them thoroughly applicable to today without diluting their impact.
One might quibble with his apparent pessimism about the depth of fellowship and community life in churches other than his own (p.118) – but I think we know what he means.
It’s a readable, wholesome and challenging book. Very much recommended.
