Keep Christianity Weird: Embracing the Discipline of Being Different

Jesus is different. Go and do likewise.Many Christians have become comfortable letting the world mold them instead of being set apart by God. And many churches have traded in their biblical roots for complacent conventionality. But Jesus and the church are anything but conventional. The hallmark of our faith is that it sees the world differently than the world sees itself.We are called to be eccentric?off center, unique, different; not conformed to the patterns of the world but transformed by the renewing of our minds. By the grace of God we are not only dissatisfied by sin but increasingly uncompelled by conventionality.So resist the allure of acceptability. Get back to the unsafe roots of our faith. Be equipped to surprise the world with the Good News it didn?t even know it was waiting for. Challenge the way things are by living a life that has been truly set free by Christ. Review Mike Frost is one of the sharpest thinkers we?ve got. I don?t just mean that he?s clever (he is), but that his ideas cut through nonsense with prophetic clarity. And so, of course, this book does just that. Large swaths of the Western church are in dire danger of cultural assimilation at the precise time that our wider culture is looking for new ideas and alternative answers. Thank God, then, for Mike?s message, which calls us back to the glorious weirdness of the gospel. Pete Greig, author of Dirty GloryMichael Frost reminds us with winsome prose and challenging clarity that if our neighbors don?t see us living out our Christian faith together as alternative story, something has gone horribly wrong. Read this book and ignore the noise of conformity. If we do, the best days of the local church are just ahead of us. Tim Soerens, cofounder of Parish CollectiveFollowing the apostle Paul?s advice to the Roman church, ?Do not conform to the pattern of this world,? Michael Frost offers us a poignant meditation on the weirdness of our Christian faith. Keep Christianity Weird is the irresistible sort of book that I will read and reread to remind myself what it means to follow in the way of Jesus and in the footsteps of the faithful cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. C. Christopher Smith, coauthor of the award-winning book Slow ChurchKeep Christianity Weird is a provocative book, but only for people who need to be provoked. For the rest of us?people who need a fresh reminder of the Good News or the great commission?this book is a gift. Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian ChurchMichael Frost calls us away from a generic, domesticated, deistic gospel and back into a wild, incarnate, neighborhood-focused, authentically weird, attractive Christianity?which looks, oddly enough, just like Jesus and his Kingdom come. Aubrey Sampson, church planter, teaching pastor, and authorThis book does not disappoint. With Michael?s usual mix of biblical and historical wisdom, cultural exegesis, and keen wit, Michael invites us to be God?s peculiar people in the best possible ways. Daniel Fusco, pastor of Crossroads Community ChurchMichael Frost invites us to open our eyes to the way of the Master and to reimagine what it means to be the people of God in our time. He looks at Jesus (the original weirdo) and numerous biblical and historical figures whose unusual ways of relating to the world around them reflected the Kingdom of God and brought about miraculous change. Michael reminds us of things we may have forgotten. Hold on tight. Al Engler, director of Navigators Neighbors and Navigators Workplace From the Back Cover Jesus is different. Go and do likewise.Many Christians have become comfortable with letting the world mold them instead of being set apart by God. And many churches have traded in their biblical roots for complacent conventionality. But Jesus and the church are anything but conventional. The hallmark of our faith is that it sees the world differently than the world sees itself.We are called to