This book is a captivating visual assessment of the Sermon on the Mount and challenges what Christian Culture is stereotyped as. Jethani breaks down Jesus’s famous sermon into 9 main points and 72 subpoint easy enough for youth to understand and provoking enough for lifelong Christains to interact with.
Simply put, this book is the Sermon on the Mount in step by step breakdown. In Skye Jethani’s book, “What if Jesus was Serious?; A Visual Guide to the Teachings of Jesus we Love to Ignore.”, he offers a strange proposition to Christian Culture and how we are raising our youth. What if the normal judgement that Christians take Jesus too seriously, which is why they are stereotyped as judgemental, is actually reversed. Skye proposes that Christian Culture does not take Jesus seriously enough-specifically the Sermon on the Mount- and that’s why the Church is portrayed so harshly in the media. He proposes that if we as Christians looked deeper into what Jesus preaches, we would find more love, kindness, and acceptance that Christains are stereotyped as showing. So to prove a point he wrote this book that breaks the Sermon on the Mount down into nine parts, which consist of 72 main takeaways that the Church either needs to get better at doing or teaching the youth, or needs to stop doing (like now).
There is an enormous list that I loved about this book. I think I will probably go on to use this book in many youth group settings and break the Sermon on the Mount down into a nine week study like this book proposes. The ideas, thoughts, and direct quotes that Skye brought out of the Sermon on the Mount were so in line with what I believe- the Church needs to get better at loving; that doesn’t mean the building. All 72 of the points are phrased, “If Jesus Was Serious…” and then states something we as humans struggle with, for example, one of my favorite points; “If Jesus was serious… then we cannot judge and love at the same time”. Not only does this format make it easy for the reader to understand the topic because it is so blunt, it calls into question- how can the church do better? How can I do better? How can I raise tomorrow's youth to know- and hopefully do- better?
Two other notable things I liked about this book were the extra Bible verses and the art. I really appreciated that the author included, at the end of every point, two verses to cross reference the material brought up, dig further into the topic, or just spend more time in the word. I often struggle with forming opinions in today’s world because I want them to be opinions based on the Bible, but very few people offer you places to look in the Bible when stating their “Christ Approved Opinion”. However this book gives you more sources than just the author's words or even just the Sermon on the Mount; he offers further evidence that backs up his beliefs and writing, proving it is based on Christ. And the art that is paired with these ideas really helps break it down for visual learners in a way that is easy to understand or grasp. There is everything from Venn Diagrams, to charts, to simple doodles and comics, everything is compelling, prompting, and to some extent entertaining. Entertainment is never a must if the knowledge is good, but it will help keep youth’s attention and honestly it made me motivated to read as well.
On the other hand, there was not a lot I disagreed with in this book besides one big thing- I believe this book is written from a view point of Non-denominational, or just Christian in general. There is not genuine Lutheran doctrine to back anything up, and when there is, I get the feeling that it is more accidental than anything. However, it could have been purposeful- I do not know; which is my struggle. I also really appreciate that this book puts the gospel front and center, but sometimes it seems a little too front and center, like the law does not always matter- biblical law that is. When you get down to the core of Christianity I believe that the message of Jesus as our Savior is what determines you a believer or not- so yes the Gospel is radically important, but because we have that grace we follow the law. We don’t get to throw it aside just because the idea that, “well we are saved, nothing to do now but sit around, do whatever we want and wait!”. There are certain elements that hold us accountable to the law, but some points like point 1; “If Jesus was serious... then we will focus more on his good news and less than religious to-do’s” could be taken seriously out of context in the wrong thought process.
Overall I would highly recommend this book to youth leaders, youth groups, or anyone who is looking for a “non-devotional” devotional. The pro’s majorly outweigh the cons in this case, and the cons can be counteracted by the verses presented at the end of each point. The reason I give this book 4.5 stars, is solely due to the lack of specific doctrine and prioritizing of the gospel over the law, however I can understand that due to the core of Christianity.
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As a pastor, I've long insisted to my congregation that my knowledge of Scripture (and Jesus) FAR exceeds my obedience. In other words, I don't NEED to learn ANOTHER, new thing about God. I just need to start obeying what I ALREADY know of Him.Skye offers the church a rare gift: the ability to community key ideas through a picture. He uses some of the concepts laid out by Dan Roam (The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures) and "brings to life" ideas and truths from Jesus's teaching and from Scripture at large.Each idea or truth that Skye presents is presented with a picture and 2-3 pages to quickly flesh it out. He also includes a couple passages of Scripture to explore (on your own) the idea a bit further.If I had a gazillion dollars, I'd LOVE to see this book translated into a set of YouTube videos (perhaps even using the idea of doodling/drawing out the picture while the idea is presented). Why? Because so many Americans just don't read any more.Don't be fooled. While there are plenty of pictures and only 2-3 pages offered up for each idea, this book is anything but "light."
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