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Wednesday, May 4, 2022

If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk, by John Pavlovitz

I love the title of this book! I picked it up with anticipation, knowing nothing about the author.  Once I started reading, it didn't take long to know that this guy represents so much that is wrong with Christianity.  He's a proud and outspoken progressive Christian. You know, the group that calls themselves Christians then spends all their time telling you about how they reject Christianity.  I mean, seriously, Pavlovitz rejects so much of historic Christianity that I wonder if he really could be considered a Christian.

Besides slinging mud at theological principles, he spends even more time slinging mud at his fellow believers.  The main theme of the book is that he has grown in his progressive understanding, and now, if you don't believe the same things as him about the death penalty, abortion, immigration, same-sex marriage, etc., you clearly have not grown at all and are stuck in backwards, entrenched, unChristian viewpoints.  In other words, you're a jerk.

I'll tell you who's a jerk.  It's the guy who calls faithful Christians who disagree with him racists, prejudiced, territorial, hypocritical, cruel, lacking compassion.  He has no room for anyone who holds conservative political views, no matter how based in Christian faith they might be, and he certainly has no room for anyone who supported or even cast a vote for Donald Trump.

I'll give him this: he can be engaging and entertaining.  But his writing is poison.  My heart breaks for the American church.  I have seen too many Christians buy into this type of progressive rejection of evangelicalism.  It's true, in many cases it's a failure of good discipleship.  But mostly it's the embrace of the lies of the world.  God help us.

https://amzn.to/3MUvCD2

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy.


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