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Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister's Rediscovery of Faith, Hope, and Love
A leading American evangelical minister—whom public figures long turned to for guidance in faith and politics—recounts his three conversions, from childhood Jewish roots to Christianity, from a pure faith to a highly politicized one, and from the religious right to the simplicity of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
Rob Schenck’s extraordinary life has been at the center of the intersection between evangelical Christianity and modern politics. Attacked by partisans on both sides of the aisle, he has been called a "right-wing hate monger," the "ultimate D.C. power-broker," a "traitor" and "turncoat." Now, this influential spiritual adviser to America’s political class chronicles his controversial, sometimes troubling career in this revelatory and often shocking memoir.
As a teenager in the 1970s, Schenck converted from Judaism to Christianity and found his calling in public ministry. In the 1980s, he, like his twin brother, became a radical activist leader of the anti-abortion movement. In the wake of his hero Ronald Reagan’s rise to the White House, Schenck became a leading figure in the religious right inside the Beltway. Emboldened by his authority and access to the highest reaches of government, Schenck was a zealous warrior, brazenly mixing ministry with Republican political activism—even confronting President Bill Clinton during a midnight Christmas Eve service at Washington’s National Cathedral.
But in the past few years Schenck has undergone another conversion—his most meaningful transition yet. Increasingly troubled by the part he played in the corruption of religion by politics, this man of faith has returned to the purity of the gospel. Like Paul on the Road to Damascus, he had an revisiting the lessons of love that Jesus imparted, Schenck realized he had strayed from his deepest convictions. Reaffirming his core spiritual beliefs, Schenck today works to liberate the evangelical community from the oppression of the narrowest interpretation of the gospel, and to urge Washington conservatives to move beyond partisan battles and forsake the politics of hate, fear, and violence. As a preacher, he continues to spread the word of the Lord with humility and a deep awareness of his past transgressions.
In this moving and inspiring memoir, he reflects on his path to God, his unconscious abandonment of his principles, and his return to the convictions that guide him. Costly Grace is a fascinating and ultimately redemptive account of one man’s life in politics and faith.
Rob Schenck’s extraordinary life has been at the center of the intersection between evangelical Christianity and modern politics. Attacked by partisans on both sides of the aisle, he has been called a "right-wing hate monger," the "ultimate D.C. power-broker," a "traitor" and "turncoat." Now, this influential spiritual adviser to America’s political class chronicles his controversial, sometimes troubling career in this revelatory and often shocking memoir.
As a teenager in the 1970s, Schenck converted from Judaism to Christianity and found his calling in public ministry. In the 1980s, he, like his twin brother, became a radical activist leader of the anti-abortion movement. In the wake of his hero Ronald Reagan’s rise to the White House, Schenck became a leading figure in the religious right inside the Beltway. Emboldened by his authority and access to the highest reaches of government, Schenck was a zealous warrior, brazenly mixing ministry with Republican political activism—even confronting President Bill Clinton during a midnight Christmas Eve service at Washington’s National Cathedral.
But in the past few years Schenck has undergone another conversion—his most meaningful transition yet. Increasingly troubled by the part he played in the corruption of religion by politics, this man of faith has returned to the purity of the gospel. Like Paul on the Road to Damascus, he had an revisiting the lessons of love that Jesus imparted, Schenck realized he had strayed from his deepest convictions. Reaffirming his core spiritual beliefs, Schenck today works to liberate the evangelical community from the oppression of the narrowest interpretation of the gospel, and to urge Washington conservatives to move beyond partisan battles and forsake the politics of hate, fear, and violence. As a preacher, he continues to spread the word of the Lord with humility and a deep awareness of his past transgressions.
In this moving and inspiring memoir, he reflects on his path to God, his unconscious abandonment of his principles, and his return to the convictions that guide him. Costly Grace is a fascinating and ultimately redemptive account of one man’s life in politics and faith.
354 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 5, 2018
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August 6, 2018
One day on the radio I heard Terry Gross of FreshAir interview a reverend of the evangelical school recant his less-than-spiritual political teachings to his parishioners. The interview did not really tell the moment this man realized violence, bending the truth, and shaming of public figures was not the best way to spread the gospel. I was curious, given present evangelical support for a clearly ethically-challenged president.
If I were to say Costly Grace is just another way of Rob Schenck of achieving what seems to be his lifelong goal—fame & a degree of fortune—it sounds like sour grapes from me. From the start of his ministry Schenck felt he was underutilized. Many of us feel that way in our lives, and supplement our jobs with more meaningful work. In his case, Schenck brought that extra-curricular political work into the pulpit, declaring that defenders of abortion rights are evil. Increasingly strident calls for shutting clinics led to the murder of an abortion doctor by someone Schenck did not know but who lived in his home town of Buffalo, New York.
Though Schenck professed not to advocate violence, his words as reverend were profoundly divisive. Even when he attended the funeral for the slain doctor, he pushed his message in the bouquet he sent to the widow. The pushback he received forced him back a step, but he continued his message, convinced of his righteousness. Faith and Action is a christian not-for-profit ministry he founded to lobby Congress and which he based in D.C. He says
Schenck had first been radicalized by Jerry Falwell who thought Christians had been silent too long and needed to make known their political concerns. He was encouraged by Reagan’s “city on a hill” metaphor and W’s answer to ‘the philosopher he admired most was “Christ, because he changed my heart.”’ It is interesting that the beginning of the crumbling of Schenck’s defenses came with the election of Barak Obama, and his understanding of race in America.
Schenck didn’t consider himself racist, having been born to a Jew and subjected in youth to slurs, but he could see why black men and women were rejoicing, could see we lived in a society that had discounted them. He had to admit that God probably loved Obama and the liberals as much as he loved conservatives.
Probably the most important part of Schenck’s re-education came about as a series of visits he made to Morocco to engage with Muslim clerics and a series of therapy sessions instigated by his wife. Schenck had considerable fame at this point, and perhaps an inflated idea of himself and what he had come to believe. He discovered that Muslims are really just humans also, and his wife helped him to see discrepancies between the man he felt he was and how he manifest in the home.
If you aren’t beginning to see why this man annoys me so, you may not understand why this book was unsatisfying. Schenck had not attended college when he left high school but did a course of bible studies for four years and attended a short course in the ministry. His historical, scientific, psychological, and philosophical learning came through life lessons and his work.
This way of learning has a very long ramp up time and Schenck’s life demonstrates that phenomenon. His wife, on the other hand, was interested in her own education and gradually developed more liberal views sooner than her husband. Her influence on her husband, and her views put pressure on him to understand the world in a larger way.
When Schenck was offered the opportunity to study for a PhD, he admits he did it so that he could be called "Doctor" instead of just "Reverend." He decided to study Dietrich Bonhoeffer and travelled to Germany for a short course on his life and writings. Bonhoeffer’s experiences in WWII made a big impression on Schenck, himself the son a Jew. He began to see all people as God’s creation, forcing him to look at his life’s work in a new way.
Called upon to intervene when Pastor Jones of Florida declared he would burn a tower of Korans, he began to see a grotesquerie of passionate evangelicals and extreme nationalism when he discovered Jones’ church escorts were armed. Further, he discovered the evangelical churches operating in America “shared a generic disease with German churches of the 1930s: they’d traded “the supreme lordship of Jesus Christ for the demigods of political and social potentates.” Yes, finally. Long road.
But when he wrote his dissertation, he was afraid if it was circulated that he would become a pariah in his own religious community where he’d been teaching all these years. It was guns finally that changed the argument. How can someone pro-life be pro-gun? When Trump won the nomination and then the presidency, Schenck could clearly see how far evangelicals had strayed from their religious roots.
I am grateful his conversion took place. I wish I could feel as confident that he’d given up his unhealthy attraction to fame and self-aggrandizement. Is it wrong to like the limelight? It could be. That is something he will have to ask himself in conversation with his God.
He writes in the Afterword that his editor at HarperCollins was responsible for “pulling the story out of him.” He also gives credit to his collaborator on the 2015 film The Armor of Light that asks if a pro-gun stance can be reconciled with God’s word. So perhaps this memoir is not a promotional vehicle for the film, as I previously imagined. Again, I can’t judge that. But since we haven’t had many pastors reveal their ‘road to conversion,’ this will have to do.
If I were to say Costly Grace is just another way of Rob Schenck of achieving what seems to be his lifelong goal—fame & a degree of fortune—it sounds like sour grapes from me. From the start of his ministry Schenck felt he was underutilized. Many of us feel that way in our lives, and supplement our jobs with more meaningful work. In his case, Schenck brought that extra-curricular political work into the pulpit, declaring that defenders of abortion rights are evil. Increasingly strident calls for shutting clinics led to the murder of an abortion doctor by someone Schenck did not know but who lived in his home town of Buffalo, New York.
Though Schenck professed not to advocate violence, his words as reverend were profoundly divisive. Even when he attended the funeral for the slain doctor, he pushed his message in the bouquet he sent to the widow. The pushback he received forced him back a step, but he continued his message, convinced of his righteousness. Faith and Action is a christian not-for-profit ministry he founded to lobby Congress and which he based in D.C. He says
“I struggled with how oversimplifications of difficult and complex human problems and actions were a convenient shortcut for me…Decades later, that cheapening of human experience would haunt me. But not yet.”I don’t resent his admitting wrong-headedness after a long life. I just question whether spending so much time relating his own life and experiences was the best way to do it. Surely a more robust discussion of the reasons such views do not actually follow Christian teachings would be useful, rather than a personal memoir.
Schenck had first been radicalized by Jerry Falwell who thought Christians had been silent too long and needed to make known their political concerns. He was encouraged by Reagan’s “city on a hill” metaphor and W’s answer to ‘the philosopher he admired most was “Christ, because he changed my heart.”’ It is interesting that the beginning of the crumbling of Schenck’s defenses came with the election of Barak Obama, and his understanding of race in America.
Schenck didn’t consider himself racist, having been born to a Jew and subjected in youth to slurs, but he could see why black men and women were rejoicing, could see we lived in a society that had discounted them. He had to admit that God probably loved Obama and the liberals as much as he loved conservatives.
Probably the most important part of Schenck’s re-education came about as a series of visits he made to Morocco to engage with Muslim clerics and a series of therapy sessions instigated by his wife. Schenck had considerable fame at this point, and perhaps an inflated idea of himself and what he had come to believe. He discovered that Muslims are really just humans also, and his wife helped him to see discrepancies between the man he felt he was and how he manifest in the home.
If you aren’t beginning to see why this man annoys me so, you may not understand why this book was unsatisfying. Schenck had not attended college when he left high school but did a course of bible studies for four years and attended a short course in the ministry. His historical, scientific, psychological, and philosophical learning came through life lessons and his work.
This way of learning has a very long ramp up time and Schenck’s life demonstrates that phenomenon. His wife, on the other hand, was interested in her own education and gradually developed more liberal views sooner than her husband. Her influence on her husband, and her views put pressure on him to understand the world in a larger way.
When Schenck was offered the opportunity to study for a PhD, he admits he did it so that he could be called "Doctor" instead of just "Reverend." He decided to study Dietrich Bonhoeffer and travelled to Germany for a short course on his life and writings. Bonhoeffer’s experiences in WWII made a big impression on Schenck, himself the son a Jew. He began to see all people as God’s creation, forcing him to look at his life’s work in a new way.
Called upon to intervene when Pastor Jones of Florida declared he would burn a tower of Korans, he began to see a grotesquerie of passionate evangelicals and extreme nationalism when he discovered Jones’ church escorts were armed. Further, he discovered the evangelical churches operating in America “shared a generic disease with German churches of the 1930s: they’d traded “the supreme lordship of Jesus Christ for the demigods of political and social potentates.” Yes, finally. Long road.
But when he wrote his dissertation, he was afraid if it was circulated that he would become a pariah in his own religious community where he’d been teaching all these years. It was guns finally that changed the argument. How can someone pro-life be pro-gun? When Trump won the nomination and then the presidency, Schenck could clearly see how far evangelicals had strayed from their religious roots.
I am grateful his conversion took place. I wish I could feel as confident that he’d given up his unhealthy attraction to fame and self-aggrandizement. Is it wrong to like the limelight? It could be. That is something he will have to ask himself in conversation with his God.
He writes in the Afterword that his editor at HarperCollins was responsible for “pulling the story out of him.” He also gives credit to his collaborator on the 2015 film The Armor of Light that asks if a pro-gun stance can be reconciled with God’s word. So perhaps this memoir is not a promotional vehicle for the film, as I previously imagined. Again, I can’t judge that. But since we haven’t had many pastors reveal their ‘road to conversion,’ this will have to do.
August 16, 2022
If my reviews seem a little autobiographical, forgive me. I write them mainly for my own family and friends.
I first became aware of Rob Schenck when I watched the powerful film about gun violence, The Armor of Light. Part of what made the book so compelling for me was how it tracked with my own history. Rob Schenck is about 3 years younger than I am, and I, too, was immersed in conservative Christian sub-culture until the Trump era. Many influences he mentions impacted my life as well. I read The Cross and Switchblade in my teens and went on to read the La Hayes’ and James Dobson’s books on marriage and parenting in my twenties. Like Rob, I voted for Jimmy Carter, but unlike Rob, I was not disappointed in him as president, nor did I vote for or admire Ronald Reagan, as Rob did. After the Reagan era, though, I voted for Republican presidential candidates for decades, because I, too, became convinced that homosexuality and abortion were moral issues of the highest priority. I began to question all that with the rise of the "Tea Party," before Rob did. Barak Obama was the first Democrat I voted for in decades. Rob began to rethink everything because of his exposure to evangelical gun culture, but then the rise of Trump sent him reeling and turned him around.
I had never understood all this political power the media kept saying evangelicals had, but after reading this book, I understand how that power was coveted and acquired at great cost to our witness.
I was sickened by the role conservative evangelicals played in putting Donald Trump in power. I have felt somewhat disoriented ever since. This book gave me the inside story of how we got here and has helped me find my bearings again. I was deeply moved by Rob Schenck’s account of his turning back to the “true north” of the gospel. I, too, have often thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in these days and so that connection also resonated with me.
I recommend this book to every American Christian I know, but especially to fellow baby boomers, because we've lived through all the same history. I appreciate Rob Schenck's humility, transparency and courage.
(Edited in 2022 to say to reviewers who feel that Rob Schenck was unfair to Obama, or not remorseful enough about his days as an anti-abortion zealot: Look him up now. This book was written very soon after his change of heart and he has continued to grow and change. It takes courage to admit you were wrong, very, very wrong, and he has never shrunk from doing so.)
I first became aware of Rob Schenck when I watched the powerful film about gun violence, The Armor of Light. Part of what made the book so compelling for me was how it tracked with my own history. Rob Schenck is about 3 years younger than I am, and I, too, was immersed in conservative Christian sub-culture until the Trump era. Many influences he mentions impacted my life as well. I read The Cross and Switchblade in my teens and went on to read the La Hayes’ and James Dobson’s books on marriage and parenting in my twenties. Like Rob, I voted for Jimmy Carter, but unlike Rob, I was not disappointed in him as president, nor did I vote for or admire Ronald Reagan, as Rob did. After the Reagan era, though, I voted for Republican presidential candidates for decades, because I, too, became convinced that homosexuality and abortion were moral issues of the highest priority. I began to question all that with the rise of the "Tea Party," before Rob did. Barak Obama was the first Democrat I voted for in decades. Rob began to rethink everything because of his exposure to evangelical gun culture, but then the rise of Trump sent him reeling and turned him around.
I had never understood all this political power the media kept saying evangelicals had, but after reading this book, I understand how that power was coveted and acquired at great cost to our witness.
I was sickened by the role conservative evangelicals played in putting Donald Trump in power. I have felt somewhat disoriented ever since. This book gave me the inside story of how we got here and has helped me find my bearings again. I was deeply moved by Rob Schenck’s account of his turning back to the “true north” of the gospel. I, too, have often thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in these days and so that connection also resonated with me.
I recommend this book to every American Christian I know, but especially to fellow baby boomers, because we've lived through all the same history. I appreciate Rob Schenck's humility, transparency and courage.
(Edited in 2022 to say to reviewers who feel that Rob Schenck was unfair to Obama, or not remorseful enough about his days as an anti-abortion zealot: Look him up now. This book was written very soon after his change of heart and he has continued to grow and change. It takes courage to admit you were wrong, very, very wrong, and he has never shrunk from doing so.)
July 16, 2018
An exercise in grace
No matter the reader they will be asked to extend grace while they read Costly Grace, a demanding task for most. If you once aligned with the work of Rob Schenck you will need to extend grace as he moves and partners with those outside of the Republican Evangelical party. If you are disturbed by Schenck’s work in the 80s-2000s you will need to extend grace as you read about his actions and beliefs, something that I do not think I am fully able to do right now.
What does Costly Grace offer to the reader?
- An example of someone who admits they have made mistakes.
- An example of someone trying to leave the rote rhetoric of politics and evangelicalism.
- One mans personal view of how Evangelical and Republican became synonyms and lasting implications of this dangerous pairing
- A scary example of what happens when a group of white men decide what is best for America.
- a frank look at Evangelicals who are also part of the NRA.
- A new voice in all the noise.
What Costly Grace lacks:
- fair treatment of President Obama.
- fair treatment of Paul Ryan (he is not the amazing man Schenck hopes he is)
- a clear apology for the lives Schenck hurt in his single minded approach to saving innocent lives.
No matter the reader they will be asked to extend grace while they read Costly Grace, a demanding task for most. If you once aligned with the work of Rob Schenck you will need to extend grace as he moves and partners with those outside of the Republican Evangelical party. If you are disturbed by Schenck’s work in the 80s-2000s you will need to extend grace as you read about his actions and beliefs, something that I do not think I am fully able to do right now.
What does Costly Grace offer to the reader?
- An example of someone who admits they have made mistakes.
- An example of someone trying to leave the rote rhetoric of politics and evangelicalism.
- One mans personal view of how Evangelical and Republican became synonyms and lasting implications of this dangerous pairing
- A scary example of what happens when a group of white men decide what is best for America.
- a frank look at Evangelicals who are also part of the NRA.
- A new voice in all the noise.
What Costly Grace lacks:
- fair treatment of President Obama.
- fair treatment of Paul Ryan (he is not the amazing man Schenck hopes he is)
- a clear apology for the lives Schenck hurt in his single minded approach to saving innocent lives.
August 8, 2018
A book all religious fanatics should read. My frustration with "Evangelicals" was elevated throughout most of this book. The moral superiority of their dogma and the necessary concomitant inconsistency with the human condition are so glaring that it frustrates me almost as much as how the dogma misses the true message of Jesus of Nazareth. This author finally got there, thanks to his wife. His education, well after most of the damage he caused, helped too. The revelation the Christian Right has been used by folks who are really just lining the pockets of the wealthy and perpetrating institutional racism was a welcoming aspect of this book of transformation through a true effort to find God. It is a true story of redemption and a pull back of the curtain that shrouds so many poor, uneducated, racism infused souls. It is worthy of five stars for its cultural and political importance but I cannot bring myself to put the fifth star. This reveals my emotional immaturity for which I confess and pray to atone.
July 3, 2018
A very compelling autobiography for me.
I'm curious whether the book resonated because of its contents and writing style, or whether the story and the themes of faith, politics, and belief are incredibly timely for me.
The writing is clear. The story jumps slightly at times, but overall paints a very full picture of Rob's life. You can hear the changes start to happen before Rob does, but the some of the final thoughts really help tie it together.
I will be highly recommending it to quite a few people.
I'm curious whether the book resonated because of its contents and writing style, or whether the story and the themes of faith, politics, and belief are incredibly timely for me.
The writing is clear. The story jumps slightly at times, but overall paints a very full picture of Rob's life. You can hear the changes start to happen before Rob does, but the some of the final thoughts really help tie it together.
I will be highly recommending it to quite a few people.
July 25, 2018
If you are disillusioned with Christianity and can't fathom why anyone who calls themselves a Christian can support Trump, read this book. I have been disillusioned for decades, but the rise of hatred among evangelicals is one of the things that completely turned me off church. I am a liberal and in my opinion this comes from having Christian beliefs yet so many so called Christians don't seem to care about the poor, the down on their luck, the minority, the refugee, the drug addicted. I don't get it. And the wholesale embrace of Trump, the pretzels evangelicals have twisted themselves into to justify Trump, makes me question what kind of people my friends and family truly are.
Schenck's journey is inspiring to me because it encompasses mind and soul. His conversion to embracing all of God's people started with an intellectual journey and then his heart was opened so that he went from a dehumanizing, hated based faith to understanding and accepting people's fallibility and their right to love. I am not exaggerating that he, along with Nadia Bolz Weber,has restored some hope in the Christianity, that there can be a place for a liberal like me in the church. That there are Christians who think like I do. Now if we can get the perniciousness of politics out of the church.
Schenck's journey is inspiring to me because it encompasses mind and soul. His conversion to embracing all of God's people started with an intellectual journey and then his heart was opened so that he went from a dehumanizing, hated based faith to understanding and accepting people's fallibility and their right to love. I am not exaggerating that he, along with Nadia Bolz Weber,has restored some hope in the Christianity, that there can be a place for a liberal like me in the church. That there are Christians who think like I do. Now if we can get the perniciousness of politics out of the church.
October 4, 2018
This one got me in a way I wasn’t expecting. Listened to the NPR Fresh Air interview with Schenck and was intrigued.
I found some of the beginning tedious but I think that stemmed from wanting more details about his third conversion v the beginning of his story. But he builds a good base, the third part is so so worth it. I appreciated the historical understanding of the evangelical anti-abortion/culture wars movement along with its linkage to the Republican Party. I appreciated the insight into a community that is far far different from my own. Schenck owns his mistakes and provides valuable insight into his thoughts and desires at the time of his actions.
Part three was my favorite part and a beautiful challenge to our own ethical morals compared with our actions. And it was a call to see those who we disagree with as humans—just like us.
I found some of the beginning tedious but I think that stemmed from wanting more details about his third conversion v the beginning of his story. But he builds a good base, the third part is so so worth it. I appreciated the historical understanding of the evangelical anti-abortion/culture wars movement along with its linkage to the Republican Party. I appreciated the insight into a community that is far far different from my own. Schenck owns his mistakes and provides valuable insight into his thoughts and desires at the time of his actions.
Part three was my favorite part and a beautiful challenge to our own ethical morals compared with our actions. And it was a call to see those who we disagree with as humans—just like us.
August 7, 2018
To say that Costly Grace was an easy read would be wrong. It's intense. As a liberal atheist, the bridge into Rob Schenck's narrative is long to traverse; but the journey is, ultimately, very rewarding. While many of the passages made me shudder, the book also gave me great pause for reflection and introspection. Costly Grace is as much an honest and revealing insight into Schenck's life as it is an inside view of the Evangelical movement. As such, it also provides a sort of history of the Evangelical phenomenon. Where Schenck ends up in the book is a beautiful place.
The world needs more of Rob Schenck's honesty and self-questioning.
The world needs more of Rob Schenck's honesty and self-questioning.
December 2, 2019
Interesting book. Hard to read the first part. Interesting to see the change. Doesn’t really talk about how the change affects his extended fam- brother kids etc.
February 24, 2021
After the past 4 years of Trump, my eyes were opened to the ugliness and self-serving nature of politics, and even more to the ugly side of Christianity that supported this man that, in my eyes, stood for everything Jesus was against. During the Trump years, my husband and I grew distressed at what we were seeing among those we worshipped alongside, and after some soul searching, we decided to leave the church. It was a heart wrenching decision, one we haven’t fully felt since soon after the pandemic happened and none of us were meeting in church. And while I am glad we made this decision, I still aim to understand how Christians can be so passionate about our 45th president, attend his rallies, and cry fraud following his loss in the election.
Insert this book. I heard about Rob Schenck through a Facebook group for Christians who are grieved at our current political state. My curiosity about him led me to this book, Costly Grace, where I began reading without knowing much about Pastor Schenck at all. But as I read along, I was overwhelmed by a myriad of emotions and understanding.
The book is split into three parts, beginning with his conversion from passive Judaism to Catholicism, then his entrance into Evangelicalism, and ends with turning away from politics as his God and returning to Christ.
It was the second part of this book that affected me the most. Over the past 4 years, I’ve realized how naive I’ve been about politics, and even religion, but this book solidified my new understanding. I honestly never realized just how much religion, particularly Evangelical Christianity, plays a part in politics. I mean, I see how God is infused in our politics, from swearing on a Bible to In God We Trust - which, in hindsight, is strange for a country that also promises freedom in religion. But is there actually freedom in religion? Reading this book, I’d say not. Seeing how Schenck and other “people of God” took aggressive measures to get their candidates elected and to push their beliefs and agendas was appalling. The pro-life measures were horrendous, including public funerals for aborted fetuses, even holding the dead bodies for the public to see or presenting a sitting President with an aborted fetus. These Evangelicals were pushing life for unborn babies, and yet toting them across the country as political tools.
Schenck’s final conversion touched my soul, and I teared up more than once. Over the years when he was deep into Evangelical Christianity, immersed in gaining political power, his family life was suffering. He’d stay awake at night, obsessed over what needed to be done to ensure the right candidate was elected to help promote issues at the heart of Evangelical Christianity. Meanwhile, his marriage was strained, his relationship with his children was suffering, and the very things that attracted him to Jesus were getting lost in the struggle.
But then there was his mustard seed moment - that maybe his faith practice wasn’t what Jesus had in mind.
It wasn’t just one thing that brought Schenck back to the message of Jesus, but a blend of events and circumstances. It was seeing the grace with which an Amish community offered to the mother of a gunman that murdered six schoolgirls. It was learning about the gentle and loving methods of his spiritual hero, Bonheoffer, along with the horrifying similarities of the rise of Nazi Germany to Evangelical’s role in current politics. It was his growing friendship with Abigail Disney as they filmed a documentary about evangelicals, their pro-life stance, and their passion for guns. And more.
The second part of this book made me wonder how I could possibly “forgive” Schenck for his role in the downfall of Christianity and the rise of Trumpism in our nation. But as I continued with the third part, a new understanding came over me. Schenck was immersed in a volatile form of Christianity, and he described what it was like to not only leave it, but to speak out against the messages he once forcefully broadcast - and how it felt to be shunned from both sides. At a dinner with his childhood rabbi, when he was asked about a time he felt like he was a stranger, Schenck said, “when I could not reveal my true thoughts, express what I really believe, or tell people who I really am.” This is what it feels like to be a part of a church family that no longer feels like the safe place you once thought it was. In a small way, it described how it felt when my husband and I made the decision to leave the church, and the emotions we felt after. We did not leave a hateful organization, but a community that no longer aligned with our beliefs. And we did so privately and not in the public eye, like Schenck did. But I found an emotional and kindred feeling in Schenck’s account in leaving a community that had once felt knit into the fabric of our beings, and then how to face those in the community we still cared for but could no longer worship beside.
But the biggest message Schenck promotes is seeing the human being - the individual - on the other side rather than lumping people together as a faceless cause with an “evil” mission. Imagine if everyone did this, whether right or left, Christian or Muslim, Gay or Straight…. Imagine if we all saw God in the person in front of us instead of an issue. Imagine the kind of world we’d live in then. I imagine this is the kind of world Jesus was talking about when he commanded us to love our neighbors.
I’m so glad I read this book. For the past 4 years, and especially in 2020, I have grappled with my faith, mostly because of the manipulations I’ve seen through religion and in the name of Christ, and I’m tired of feeling misled. This book gave me hope, and it helped me feel a little less lost.
Insert this book. I heard about Rob Schenck through a Facebook group for Christians who are grieved at our current political state. My curiosity about him led me to this book, Costly Grace, where I began reading without knowing much about Pastor Schenck at all. But as I read along, I was overwhelmed by a myriad of emotions and understanding.
The book is split into three parts, beginning with his conversion from passive Judaism to Catholicism, then his entrance into Evangelicalism, and ends with turning away from politics as his God and returning to Christ.
It was the second part of this book that affected me the most. Over the past 4 years, I’ve realized how naive I’ve been about politics, and even religion, but this book solidified my new understanding. I honestly never realized just how much religion, particularly Evangelical Christianity, plays a part in politics. I mean, I see how God is infused in our politics, from swearing on a Bible to In God We Trust - which, in hindsight, is strange for a country that also promises freedom in religion. But is there actually freedom in religion? Reading this book, I’d say not. Seeing how Schenck and other “people of God” took aggressive measures to get their candidates elected and to push their beliefs and agendas was appalling. The pro-life measures were horrendous, including public funerals for aborted fetuses, even holding the dead bodies for the public to see or presenting a sitting President with an aborted fetus. These Evangelicals were pushing life for unborn babies, and yet toting them across the country as political tools.
Schenck’s final conversion touched my soul, and I teared up more than once. Over the years when he was deep into Evangelical Christianity, immersed in gaining political power, his family life was suffering. He’d stay awake at night, obsessed over what needed to be done to ensure the right candidate was elected to help promote issues at the heart of Evangelical Christianity. Meanwhile, his marriage was strained, his relationship with his children was suffering, and the very things that attracted him to Jesus were getting lost in the struggle.
But then there was his mustard seed moment - that maybe his faith practice wasn’t what Jesus had in mind.
It wasn’t just one thing that brought Schenck back to the message of Jesus, but a blend of events and circumstances. It was seeing the grace with which an Amish community offered to the mother of a gunman that murdered six schoolgirls. It was learning about the gentle and loving methods of his spiritual hero, Bonheoffer, along with the horrifying similarities of the rise of Nazi Germany to Evangelical’s role in current politics. It was his growing friendship with Abigail Disney as they filmed a documentary about evangelicals, their pro-life stance, and their passion for guns. And more.
The second part of this book made me wonder how I could possibly “forgive” Schenck for his role in the downfall of Christianity and the rise of Trumpism in our nation. But as I continued with the third part, a new understanding came over me. Schenck was immersed in a volatile form of Christianity, and he described what it was like to not only leave it, but to speak out against the messages he once forcefully broadcast - and how it felt to be shunned from both sides. At a dinner with his childhood rabbi, when he was asked about a time he felt like he was a stranger, Schenck said, “when I could not reveal my true thoughts, express what I really believe, or tell people who I really am.” This is what it feels like to be a part of a church family that no longer feels like the safe place you once thought it was. In a small way, it described how it felt when my husband and I made the decision to leave the church, and the emotions we felt after. We did not leave a hateful organization, but a community that no longer aligned with our beliefs. And we did so privately and not in the public eye, like Schenck did. But I found an emotional and kindred feeling in Schenck’s account in leaving a community that had once felt knit into the fabric of our beings, and then how to face those in the community we still cared for but could no longer worship beside.
But the biggest message Schenck promotes is seeing the human being - the individual - on the other side rather than lumping people together as a faceless cause with an “evil” mission. Imagine if everyone did this, whether right or left, Christian or Muslim, Gay or Straight…. Imagine if we all saw God in the person in front of us instead of an issue. Imagine the kind of world we’d live in then. I imagine this is the kind of world Jesus was talking about when he commanded us to love our neighbors.
I’m so glad I read this book. For the past 4 years, and especially in 2020, I have grappled with my faith, mostly because of the manipulations I’ve seen through religion and in the name of Christ, and I’m tired of feeling misled. This book gave me hope, and it helped me feel a little less lost.
February 12, 2019
I sent this comment to my dad tonight, as feedback on the book.
This minister is a semi-frequent guest speaker at my church. This book is amazing. and perhaps will give some insight into where I sit now. It has resonated with me more than many things I’ve read as of late , in that I see my experience in his own.
Worth a read if you get a chance. Compelling story of a Jew from Buffalo who now ministers on Capitol Hill.
This minister is a semi-frequent guest speaker at my church. This book is amazing. and perhaps will give some insight into where I sit now. It has resonated with me more than many things I’ve read as of late , in that I see my experience in his own.
Worth a read if you get a chance. Compelling story of a Jew from Buffalo who now ministers on Capitol Hill.
September 7, 2018
Thanks Maria! Great read.
July 5, 2020
I saw Rev. Schenck in the AKA Jane Roe documentary and was fascinated that he'd transformed from a radical evangelical pro-lifer to an extremely thoughtful and introspective evangelical progressive. (I also listened to his moving interview with Terry Gross.) This memoir offers an inside look into the shameful politicization of the Christian right and will help any reader open his or her heart to all people, whether they share political views or not. (And I am not religious or a church-goer.)
March 17, 2021
I really enjoyed this memoir. I had hear Mr. Schenck interviewed on "Fresh Air" and as well had watched him in The Armor of Light and really wanted to learn more about his spiritual journey.
Schenck and his twin brother, Paul turned away from their Jewish background as teenagers and joined a Methodist church, much to the chagrin of their father. This could have been a brief teenage dalliance, a rebellion of sorts, but it turned into a life changing decision for the brothers. I couldn't keep up with how many worship communities they started and or joined, or the myriad forms of public service they participated in in the name of their faith. Their devotion was genuine and I was very impressed at their dedication giving their relative youth.
The author would go on to have another conversion, to direct his energies and by then significant influence within the faith community towards the issue of abortion and Operation Rescue. This would lead to his being more involved in politics and the and the growing influence the evangelical community would begin to have in national politics and presidential elections. By the time Donald Trump was elected (with 80% of evangelical voters supporting him) Mr. Schenck was well on his way to his third conversion.
Throughout the book I disagreed strongly with a lot of Schenck's politics and stances regarding abortion, the need for religion in schools and the disdain for LGBTQ rights. That being said, I could also tell that throughout the narrative he remained a caring man. The detailing of his eventual decision to distance himself from the evangelical political right was very gratifying for me, it was as if he rediscovered the 18 year old young man who volunteered to work with addicts in the inner city simply because he wanted to make a difference and saw that they had just as much humanity as he did.
Stray observations:
* When an abortion doctor was murdered in cold blood and Schenck was called on to speak on behalf of Operation Rescue to do damage control it was eerily familiar. As the organization used charged language like murder and war, they claimed that they had never advocated violence and could not be held responsible for such a violent act. This sounds very much like current GOP lawmakers explaining away the Capitol insurrection on 1/6/21 and claiming it had nothing to do with the seething rhetoric the mob had been fed for months by Trump and his surrogates.
* Schenck detailed that while participating in promotion of George W. Bush during 2000 presidential election his marketing/fundraising companies recommended they use 'Fear and Anger' technique, namely that simply describing their programs and what they stood for would garner little money. In contrast, making their members angry and afraid would raise a lot more funds. Trump and his machine seem to have absorbed this message and used it during his first election and appear to still be using it even though he has lost his second one fair and square.
Schenck and his twin brother, Paul turned away from their Jewish background as teenagers and joined a Methodist church, much to the chagrin of their father. This could have been a brief teenage dalliance, a rebellion of sorts, but it turned into a life changing decision for the brothers. I couldn't keep up with how many worship communities they started and or joined, or the myriad forms of public service they participated in in the name of their faith. Their devotion was genuine and I was very impressed at their dedication giving their relative youth.
The author would go on to have another conversion, to direct his energies and by then significant influence within the faith community towards the issue of abortion and Operation Rescue. This would lead to his being more involved in politics and the and the growing influence the evangelical community would begin to have in national politics and presidential elections. By the time Donald Trump was elected (with 80% of evangelical voters supporting him) Mr. Schenck was well on his way to his third conversion.
Throughout the book I disagreed strongly with a lot of Schenck's politics and stances regarding abortion, the need for religion in schools and the disdain for LGBTQ rights. That being said, I could also tell that throughout the narrative he remained a caring man. The detailing of his eventual decision to distance himself from the evangelical political right was very gratifying for me, it was as if he rediscovered the 18 year old young man who volunteered to work with addicts in the inner city simply because he wanted to make a difference and saw that they had just as much humanity as he did.
Stray observations:
* When an abortion doctor was murdered in cold blood and Schenck was called on to speak on behalf of Operation Rescue to do damage control it was eerily familiar. As the organization used charged language like murder and war, they claimed that they had never advocated violence and could not be held responsible for such a violent act. This sounds very much like current GOP lawmakers explaining away the Capitol insurrection on 1/6/21 and claiming it had nothing to do with the seething rhetoric the mob had been fed for months by Trump and his surrogates.
* Schenck detailed that while participating in promotion of George W. Bush during 2000 presidential election his marketing/fundraising companies recommended they use 'Fear and Anger' technique, namely that simply describing their programs and what they stood for would garner little money. In contrast, making their members angry and afraid would raise a lot more funds. Trump and his machine seem to have absorbed this message and used it during his first election and appear to still be using it even though he has lost his second one fair and square.
January 30, 2019
As an LGBTQ Christian, I could not stand the rigid ness and the hatred this man showed especially to women having abortions and the homophobia he expounded during his 2nd Conversion so clearly expressed. Yet, he did redeem himself during his 3rd Conversion where he re-examined his loss of compassion in favor or right wing politics, with a commitment to being more inclusive and living in his focus.
His early years in accepting Christ, his first Conversion from his Jewish routes were honest and often I re-examined my early walk. he succinctly describes how those early evangelical experiences slowly transformed His Grace into a judgment and rage with ties to Randall Terry and dangerous Pat Robertson and the Christian Right ,eventually doing his damage to Christianity in DC.
I appreciated the way he set the book into three distinct sections with focus not only on his actions but examining closely the relationship with his wife who was a strong, questioning woman who led him to consider his calling in terms of what Grace means to him and eventually his return to a loving, embracing inclusive Christian. I am certain the Christian Right, will not be pleased with this excellent book
His early years in accepting Christ, his first Conversion from his Jewish routes were honest and often I re-examined my early walk. he succinctly describes how those early evangelical experiences slowly transformed His Grace into a judgment and rage with ties to Randall Terry and dangerous Pat Robertson and the Christian Right ,eventually doing his damage to Christianity in DC.
I appreciated the way he set the book into three distinct sections with focus not only on his actions but examining closely the relationship with his wife who was a strong, questioning woman who led him to consider his calling in terms of what Grace means to him and eventually his return to a loving, embracing inclusive Christian. I am certain the Christian Right, will not be pleased with this excellent book
November 8, 2018
I heard about this book after listening to his interview on NPR's fresh air. I was intrigued by this man who was raised jewish but converted to christianity and was part of the major anti-abortion movement - and rhetoric which led to violence of some doctors and his deep involvement in politics all the while having reversed his stance after many years. I'm glad I listened to the audiobook version of this during a long road trip. There is a lot of bible terms or bible speak. If you're not a religious person like myself it could seem over the top. It made me wonder if this is how many people like that speak on a daily basis during normal conversation. Had I read the book instead of listening to it - I'm not sure I could have finished it. While I applaud Rob Schenck for his humility and speaking out of his personal journey which probably lost him many friends - he did come off a bit self-righteous at times - and someone who is constantly striving for some high level of recognition. That's fine - but his achievements seemed to be emphasized very often throughout the book. Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it rather eye-opening!
December 19, 2018
This book was difficult for me to read, it provoked a lot of feelings and a lot of anger. My anger was not directed at Schenck but at the politicians and Christian leaders who were fighting for power in the 80s and 90s. I think to talk about Costly Grace, I need to give you a little about my other reading this year. This past year I have almost exclusively been reading about racism, civil war, slavery, civil rights, class—basically big problems facing our society. I decided to do this because I wanted to educate myself on U.S. history and I specifically wanted to see it from the perspective of others. Besides Bruce Levine’s Fall of the House of Dixie all the books I have read have been by people of color—by non-whites (19 books). I also decided to take this year off from reading a Bible every morning, something I have done most of my life. I think I tell you this because I like Schenck’s way of describing multiple conversions, I connect to that in my own life.
Rob Schenck grew up in a Jewish family in Buffalo, NY. His first conversion was to Christianity with his twin brother. They were in high school. It was during the Jesus People movement (they graduated from high school in 1976) and charismatic/pentecostal. At a fairly young age both he and his brother were pastors in full time ministry. They eventually work at the same church, with Rob working on missionary work. To raise money for homeless in Mexico, he walks from California to Mexico. While he is doing this, he sees his brother’s picture in the newspaper. He’d been arrested for protesting an abortion clinic. This begins his second conversion.
It is a conversion to conservative political activism. Tim LeHaye was driving apocalyptic fears and Falwell began his moral majority with their calls for political engagement against “the creeping socialism of the welfare state and overwhelming moral degeneracy.” Reagan saw all this and did an excellent job of speaking the language and even brought people like Falwell into the white house. Schenck writes “Reagan masterfully fused matters of church and state, toggling between sacred and secular, political and spiritual.” He describes being at an early event where Reagan spoke and the excitement he provoked in the evangelical group.
Along the way Schenck notices problems with this stream of Christianity … they “bothered me, but I pushed through it.” One instance was at a annual National Association of Evangelicals where Reagan was the speaker. The platform was filled with smiling officials. In Reagan’s introduction one said he “appreciated and valued his [Reagan’s] love for the truth of the Bible and his commitment to its great moral values.” The standing ovation lasted a full thirty seconds. The only African-American on the crowded dias was John M. Perkins. “I noticed that he smiled but did not clap, only joining in politely and tepidly—at the conclusion. It gave me momentary pause … by keeping his hands in his lap during the applause line, he signaled his distance from the rest of us. That bothered me, but I pushed past it.”
(In my head and in the margins of my book I am screaming what about the problem that there is only one African-American? Here is a sidenote/question—James Falwell (1933), Pat Robertson (1930), James Dobson (1936), Tim LeHaye (1926) would have been in their 20s and 30s during the civil rights movement. No political action?!? Then in 1980 they bust out with “creeping socialism and moral degeneracy”? Does anyone else hear “carpetbaggers” and “states rights”? Its the end of the Reconstruction all over again …)
Schenck is transparent with some of the family burdens and conflicts about his time in anti-abortion movement. Choices his wife made in pursuing a career and the one she chose. He was changed and supported her choices, but the collective movement he was part of put pressure on him to say no. I have experienced this personally. The awful difficulty of A) trying to decide what is best, life-giving and even morally correct; B) and trying to please a larger group and a larger set of values and beliefs that you are not allowed to question …
Schenck’s role in the anti-abortion movement was as speaker, campaign manager, fund-raiser and activist. Even including sneaking donated fetus’s onto airplanes to present at rallies. In the book he is masterful at writing his thoughts and perspective at each stage in his journey. (I thought, although from watching his documentary, I think his manner is one that is very direct and straightforward). At one point he appears on Nightline with Ted Koppel where Koppel wryly notes “When all is said and done, as you will see tonight, everything that happens is done with one eye on the camera.” Then Schenck comments that they wouldn’t have admitted it, but it was true.
About this period he says “Becoming a Christian had brought me a new and loving group of friends. Becoming a pro-life activist had brought me into an intense, competition, high-minded group of men—a kind of fraternity.” When you step back, doesn’t that seem bizarre? I mean I believe him and have, to some small extent, seen it first hand, but why?! Why have this crazy male energy to save babies from women and not by fighting the men who do whatever they want without consequence, but fight the women? Ok, I know there is a lot more here and I am short-changing a huge topic. Let’s forget about the specific mobilizing topic of abortion for a second. Was the draw toward serious male almost warrior action Christian or was something more psychological pulling these men together over this issue (and later against gay marriage, and eventually for gun rights, etc.) The question is: are these things about trying to be a disciple of Jesus or are they attempts to achieve masculinity, ego, drive for power, attempts to display power, ambition for fame, etc.
With this book you walk through the 90s and 00s with lots of familiar characters. At one point, Rob’s organization starts giving out awards in the shape of the ten commandments. Guess who he works closely with, even campaigns for—Roy Moore! He works with Mike Pence. He and his brother are actually defends in a Supreme Court case. He talks about working with marketing and fund-raising companies who used the technique they called “Fear and Anger”. One of our consultants explained that if we told people about our programs, we would likely get little money. But if we instilled fear and anger, if we made our readers very afraid and very mad, they wouldn’t send just a little money, they would send a lot of money. And he was right.”
Re-reading all the scare tactics and everything that Rush Limbaugh and his children were saying about Obama in his presidential run - “they believe he was a crypto-muslim … if the supposed Muslim Democratic candidate succeeded, it seemed that Christian America was doomed.” When Obama wins, Rob is fielding calls ranging from grim despair to real paranoia. A longtime pastor and friend called to announce that we had just elected the first Marxist president. [this comment drives me bonkers, the unbelievable ignorance to say this … about a centrist politician whom the left doesn’t even like and who, like others before, kept attempting to placate by going center only to be called the most extreme words. Besides the fact, that it would help if we explored all political writings including Marxism … why does the right get to faun over Atlas Shrugged and they can put Karl Marx in the doghouse?] He finally gets a wake up when a black pastor friend calls to jokingly console him and to tell him how important this day is for him, how this man's grandfather had taught him to always look down at the ground when talking to white men and now he could look them in the eyes. This is right around the time he begins his third conversion.
I have gone on so long, I think I am just going to leave that as a teaser … you should get this book!
Rob Schenck grew up in a Jewish family in Buffalo, NY. His first conversion was to Christianity with his twin brother. They were in high school. It was during the Jesus People movement (they graduated from high school in 1976) and charismatic/pentecostal. At a fairly young age both he and his brother were pastors in full time ministry. They eventually work at the same church, with Rob working on missionary work. To raise money for homeless in Mexico, he walks from California to Mexico. While he is doing this, he sees his brother’s picture in the newspaper. He’d been arrested for protesting an abortion clinic. This begins his second conversion.
It is a conversion to conservative political activism. Tim LeHaye was driving apocalyptic fears and Falwell began his moral majority with their calls for political engagement against “the creeping socialism of the welfare state and overwhelming moral degeneracy.” Reagan saw all this and did an excellent job of speaking the language and even brought people like Falwell into the white house. Schenck writes “Reagan masterfully fused matters of church and state, toggling between sacred and secular, political and spiritual.” He describes being at an early event where Reagan spoke and the excitement he provoked in the evangelical group.
Along the way Schenck notices problems with this stream of Christianity … they “bothered me, but I pushed through it.” One instance was at a annual National Association of Evangelicals where Reagan was the speaker. The platform was filled with smiling officials. In Reagan’s introduction one said he “appreciated and valued his [Reagan’s] love for the truth of the Bible and his commitment to its great moral values.” The standing ovation lasted a full thirty seconds. The only African-American on the crowded dias was John M. Perkins. “I noticed that he smiled but did not clap, only joining in politely and tepidly—at the conclusion. It gave me momentary pause … by keeping his hands in his lap during the applause line, he signaled his distance from the rest of us. That bothered me, but I pushed past it.”
(In my head and in the margins of my book I am screaming what about the problem that there is only one African-American? Here is a sidenote/question—James Falwell (1933), Pat Robertson (1930), James Dobson (1936), Tim LeHaye (1926) would have been in their 20s and 30s during the civil rights movement. No political action?!? Then in 1980 they bust out with “creeping socialism and moral degeneracy”? Does anyone else hear “carpetbaggers” and “states rights”? Its the end of the Reconstruction all over again …)
Schenck is transparent with some of the family burdens and conflicts about his time in anti-abortion movement. Choices his wife made in pursuing a career and the one she chose. He was changed and supported her choices, but the collective movement he was part of put pressure on him to say no. I have experienced this personally. The awful difficulty of A) trying to decide what is best, life-giving and even morally correct; B) and trying to please a larger group and a larger set of values and beliefs that you are not allowed to question …
Schenck’s role in the anti-abortion movement was as speaker, campaign manager, fund-raiser and activist. Even including sneaking donated fetus’s onto airplanes to present at rallies. In the book he is masterful at writing his thoughts and perspective at each stage in his journey. (I thought, although from watching his documentary, I think his manner is one that is very direct and straightforward). At one point he appears on Nightline with Ted Koppel where Koppel wryly notes “When all is said and done, as you will see tonight, everything that happens is done with one eye on the camera.” Then Schenck comments that they wouldn’t have admitted it, but it was true.
About this period he says “Becoming a Christian had brought me a new and loving group of friends. Becoming a pro-life activist had brought me into an intense, competition, high-minded group of men—a kind of fraternity.” When you step back, doesn’t that seem bizarre? I mean I believe him and have, to some small extent, seen it first hand, but why?! Why have this crazy male energy to save babies from women and not by fighting the men who do whatever they want without consequence, but fight the women? Ok, I know there is a lot more here and I am short-changing a huge topic. Let’s forget about the specific mobilizing topic of abortion for a second. Was the draw toward serious male almost warrior action Christian or was something more psychological pulling these men together over this issue (and later against gay marriage, and eventually for gun rights, etc.) The question is: are these things about trying to be a disciple of Jesus or are they attempts to achieve masculinity, ego, drive for power, attempts to display power, ambition for fame, etc.
With this book you walk through the 90s and 00s with lots of familiar characters. At one point, Rob’s organization starts giving out awards in the shape of the ten commandments. Guess who he works closely with, even campaigns for—Roy Moore! He works with Mike Pence. He and his brother are actually defends in a Supreme Court case. He talks about working with marketing and fund-raising companies who used the technique they called “Fear and Anger”. One of our consultants explained that if we told people about our programs, we would likely get little money. But if we instilled fear and anger, if we made our readers very afraid and very mad, they wouldn’t send just a little money, they would send a lot of money. And he was right.”
Re-reading all the scare tactics and everything that Rush Limbaugh and his children were saying about Obama in his presidential run - “they believe he was a crypto-muslim … if the supposed Muslim Democratic candidate succeeded, it seemed that Christian America was doomed.” When Obama wins, Rob is fielding calls ranging from grim despair to real paranoia. A longtime pastor and friend called to announce that we had just elected the first Marxist president. [this comment drives me bonkers, the unbelievable ignorance to say this … about a centrist politician whom the left doesn’t even like and who, like others before, kept attempting to placate by going center only to be called the most extreme words. Besides the fact, that it would help if we explored all political writings including Marxism … why does the right get to faun over Atlas Shrugged and they can put Karl Marx in the doghouse?] He finally gets a wake up when a black pastor friend calls to jokingly console him and to tell him how important this day is for him, how this man's grandfather had taught him to always look down at the ground when talking to white men and now he could look them in the eyes. This is right around the time he begins his third conversion.
I have gone on so long, I think I am just going to leave that as a teaser … you should get this book!
February 23, 2019
An inside look at a man's faith evolution. From finding faith as a teen to be becoming a major voice in the Religious Right to questioning much of what he had given his life too, Schenck pulls back the curtain and lets us see it all. He doesn't hold back and shares moments that he would say are now embarrassing or don't represent him at all. He doesn't paint himself as a savor, but as trying to his best in a complicated world and culture.
I wished there was more time spent on his "third conversion" though it is recent enough that these chapters haven't been written yet. Some of his attitudes and actions in fighting against abortion are hard to read and hear.
A good read and one that helps us wrestle with what we believe and why, and then how we act in response. I look forward to following Schenck and the Bonhoeffer Institute as they strive to be faithful to Christ over party.
I wished there was more time spent on his "third conversion" though it is recent enough that these chapters haven't been written yet. Some of his attitudes and actions in fighting against abortion are hard to read and hear.
A good read and one that helps us wrestle with what we believe and why, and then how we act in response. I look forward to following Schenck and the Bonhoeffer Institute as they strive to be faithful to Christ over party.
August 17, 2018
I heard about this book through Terry Gross' NPR interview with Schenck on Fresh Air and was intrigued by his personal journey. I likely wouldn't have picked up this book or heard of him otherwise. While I found the narrative slow and patronizing at times, I appreciated his message and honest recounting of his movement from judgment and "othering" of his enemies to grace, repentance and a return to following Christ - namely loving his neighbor as himself and caring for the least of us. It certainly takes a lot of courage and humility to take a long, hard look at one's shortcomings and choose to address them. I admire him for that.
February 20, 2019
I had no idea who this author was, but my brother recommended the book. It was so interesting! In a nutshell, this author journeyed from the kind of anti-abortion stuff that feels like hatred to the opposing side, to understanding how we are to love both the unborn and the born... to respect human life to the point of losing our judgment toward those with whom we disagree.
There was much more in the book than this, but this was my greatest takeaway.
There was much more in the book than this, but this was my greatest takeaway.
January 22, 2019
My husband recommended this and really liked it, but I have read about and interacted with other evangelicals and was not impressed with the changes the author went through and discusses in this book.
July 2, 2021
Raw, brave, and beautiful. This is a timely reminder to those of us who are disillusioned by the state of the evangelical church in our time that we are not alone, and that God’s calling on our lives to love our neighbors still stands, even if the church has lost sight of it.
October 7, 2025
Sad and deeply disappointing story of a man who went from a born-again evangelical believer with a mostly conservative viewpoint to a wishy-washy hypocrite that changed theologically and politically to become much more "moderate." Namely, a traitor to the foundational evangelical causes.
It's not worth wasting much time on this but all of his intellectualization of modern topics (gay rights, abortion, guns) were made more liberal by a combination of narrow-minded educational exposure and friends or family member experiences. So he no longer holds to the traditional Bible or the true gospel, instead he spins how he reads it in light of his experiences--which is kind of typical liberal Luther-fueled Christianity that has resulted in thousands of denominations divided by not liking something taught elsewhere and coalescing around one or two doctrines based off of a couple verses.
Yes, Christianity is a mess. But at least evangelicals for a period of time in the 20th century seemed to agree on moral basics. That's no longer true and Schenck represents the new "progressive evangelical" or "liberal evangelical." Those are oxymorons to true believers.
Schenck has gone from standing up for truth to sitting down for almost anything. He tries to claim Jesus would be this way by accepting all heretics, but to do that the author is ignoring the table-flipping confrontational Messiah who said He came to bring a sword and division among people. Jesus said that after he would ascend to heaven things would get worse for believers on earth if they followed His commandments. That Jesus is mentioned in the same New Testament that predicts this modern "lukewarm" thinking where supposed believers want their ears tickled, mistaking grace for acceptance of sin, to which God says he'll "spew you from my mouth."
A sample of statements that are hard to read:
"I began to see that the world was not divided between simply pro-life or pro-choice people: we were all pro-life, to one degree of another." I know many atheistic socialists who believe killing a bug is murder or that would protest in the streets if a pregnant cat were euthanized, but to them killing a baby in the womb or a conservative on on a public stage is not a problem. Is that what he means by all are pro-life to one degree?
"American evangelicals were on the brink of a moral disaster...similarity with the Nazifications of the German evangelical churches." Hogwash and totally offensive claims that 21st century evangelicals that try to save lives, protect citizens, and allow freedoms are somehow similar to the German anti-Hitler reaction post-WWII.
In 2011 he wrote a letter to Republicans in Iowa, where "I urged them to reconsider religious beliefs as the most important factor in their choice of a 2012 presidential candidate...Evangelical doctrine is not a litmus test." Hmmm, he was a few decades late for that when born-agains supported Jimmy Carter, the worst U.S. president up to that time. Bill Clinton was another liberal Baptist who lived the opposite of what he claimed to believe. So why the author's sudden switch to condemning Republicans running on Biblical values?
Well that gets down to Donald Trump, who Schenck refuses to support and even quits Christian groups over . The author makes dumb statements like "you wouldn't go to a doctor who acted like Trump." Um, if I have a family member with an emergency that could cause death (choking, car accident, etc.) and a blowhard nationalistic gun-toting neighbor responds to my cry for help by saving the family member's life I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH RHETORIC OR BS THE RESCUER USES. I'm just happy to have the victim safe and alive. That's what's happening with evangelicals supporting Trump, who is trying to save the country.
Here's the problem--Trump may be a horrible man who is personally immoral and uses offensive rhetoric (no, I didn't vote for him but also would never vote for someone like Joe Biden or the anti-life Democrat platform), but Trump has done more good for the Christian community and reinforcing true Biblical values than anyone since Reagan (another former liberal that was a playboy and divorced). We all suffered through liberal hypocrites Carter, Clinton and other Bible-quoting leaders whose policies did not reflect almost any aspect of the true gospel, why is this supposedly intelligent author asking us to do it again?
So this guy basically has gotten woke and given up on true faith, encouraging the rest of us to do the same and to get politically correct by ignoring our moral foundations. He pushes grace but that type of it may just be too costly for our country's survival and a person's soul.
It's not worth wasting much time on this but all of his intellectualization of modern topics (gay rights, abortion, guns) were made more liberal by a combination of narrow-minded educational exposure and friends or family member experiences. So he no longer holds to the traditional Bible or the true gospel, instead he spins how he reads it in light of his experiences--which is kind of typical liberal Luther-fueled Christianity that has resulted in thousands of denominations divided by not liking something taught elsewhere and coalescing around one or two doctrines based off of a couple verses.
Yes, Christianity is a mess. But at least evangelicals for a period of time in the 20th century seemed to agree on moral basics. That's no longer true and Schenck represents the new "progressive evangelical" or "liberal evangelical." Those are oxymorons to true believers.
Schenck has gone from standing up for truth to sitting down for almost anything. He tries to claim Jesus would be this way by accepting all heretics, but to do that the author is ignoring the table-flipping confrontational Messiah who said He came to bring a sword and division among people. Jesus said that after he would ascend to heaven things would get worse for believers on earth if they followed His commandments. That Jesus is mentioned in the same New Testament that predicts this modern "lukewarm" thinking where supposed believers want their ears tickled, mistaking grace for acceptance of sin, to which God says he'll "spew you from my mouth."
A sample of statements that are hard to read:
"I began to see that the world was not divided between simply pro-life or pro-choice people: we were all pro-life, to one degree of another." I know many atheistic socialists who believe killing a bug is murder or that would protest in the streets if a pregnant cat were euthanized, but to them killing a baby in the womb or a conservative on on a public stage is not a problem. Is that what he means by all are pro-life to one degree?
"American evangelicals were on the brink of a moral disaster...similarity with the Nazifications of the German evangelical churches." Hogwash and totally offensive claims that 21st century evangelicals that try to save lives, protect citizens, and allow freedoms are somehow similar to the German anti-Hitler reaction post-WWII.
In 2011 he wrote a letter to Republicans in Iowa, where "I urged them to reconsider religious beliefs as the most important factor in their choice of a 2012 presidential candidate...Evangelical doctrine is not a litmus test." Hmmm, he was a few decades late for that when born-agains supported Jimmy Carter, the worst U.S. president up to that time. Bill Clinton was another liberal Baptist who lived the opposite of what he claimed to believe. So why the author's sudden switch to condemning Republicans running on Biblical values?
Well that gets down to Donald Trump, who Schenck refuses to support and even quits Christian groups over . The author makes dumb statements like "you wouldn't go to a doctor who acted like Trump." Um, if I have a family member with an emergency that could cause death (choking, car accident, etc.) and a blowhard nationalistic gun-toting neighbor responds to my cry for help by saving the family member's life I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH RHETORIC OR BS THE RESCUER USES. I'm just happy to have the victim safe and alive. That's what's happening with evangelicals supporting Trump, who is trying to save the country.
Here's the problem--Trump may be a horrible man who is personally immoral and uses offensive rhetoric (no, I didn't vote for him but also would never vote for someone like Joe Biden or the anti-life Democrat platform), but Trump has done more good for the Christian community and reinforcing true Biblical values than anyone since Reagan (another former liberal that was a playboy and divorced). We all suffered through liberal hypocrites Carter, Clinton and other Bible-quoting leaders whose policies did not reflect almost any aspect of the true gospel, why is this supposedly intelligent author asking us to do it again?
So this guy basically has gotten woke and given up on true faith, encouraging the rest of us to do the same and to get politically correct by ignoring our moral foundations. He pushes grace but that type of it may just be too costly for our country's survival and a person's soul.
July 11, 2024
This is a really interesting and thought-provoking book that comes up a little short of what I had hoped. The book is more or less a biography up to this day of Rob Schenck who, along with a twin brother, grew up on Grand Island just up the river from Niagara Falls. Rob gets saved, along with his brother, after starting to attend an evangelical church when they were sixteen. He ends up almost immediately beginning to minister to those around him and his desire for ministry and marriage is such that he skips college and seminary and ends up going right into ministry.
He starts working with Teen International and then bounces around quite frequently for awhile, doing a stint as a "normal" pastor, then doing some missions work in Mexico, then getting involved with the more radical fringe of the anti-abortion movement (Operation Rescue) before ending up as a missionary to Washington in general and the federal court systems and judges in particular.
He tells his story with frank honesty and there are parts that are not impressive to say the least. At one point he manages to get ahold of some fetuses and "surprise" various political figures with them who support abortion in order to "force them to face reality." At the time he doesn't appreciate the irony of being pro-life and yet slinging around dead babies for political gain, though he will come to realize it.
He slowly over time begins to question some of his stances and the sort of dark underbelly of the religious right in regards to politics. I could recount the journey, but read the book. Suffice to say that he has an awakening and while he remains a Christian, he now rejects the way that evangelicals have embraced Donald Trump, been oh-so-silent on gun control and treated their opponents as enemies to be mocked and crushed rather than human beings made in God's image.
His journey is never more clear than when he contrasts the 2016 Republican National Convention, which he attended, with the 2016 Democratic Convention. He is highly critical of the RNC (rightly so in my view), but then waxes eloquently about how loving and diverse the Democratic Convention was. This becomes the foundation for my beef with the book. It's hardly surprising that someone who has seen the light to suddenly see their old life in nothing but negative terms and their new life in purely positive light. I feel if Christ ministered in 20th century America, he would be calling both political parties out, not one or the other, though I do agree with Mr. Schenck that he would do it with a lot more humanity and compassion than the religious right has done, especially since Mr. Trump was elected.
Where the book fails in my opinion, is Mr. Schenck's "new" positions. He is vague enough not to be accused of being a wholesale liberal in his religious convictions now, but one wonders if that was a purposeful framing. Here is an example:
"As I emerged from my period of darkness, of succumbing to politics and power, I saw how expansive God's grace is and how universal his invitation is to it. I no longer believe you're excluded if you're homosexual, or if you've had an abortion, or if you perform them. I no longer believe Muslims are dangerous marauders, or that Democrats are liberal apostates."
Taken one way, any evangelical could agree with this statement because God's grace is available to all people everywhere without limitation, but as my son, who is a pastor often tells the congregation, "Come as you are, but don't remain as you are." Christ's call to follow him involves turning away from our sin, whatever sin that may be. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, "When Christ calls us, he bids us come and die."
I'm not sure from Mr. Schenck's words whether or not he still believes that. I wish he had been more clear, but the skeptic in me thinks he was purposefully being vague.
At any rate, it is a book well worth reading, especially if you belong to the religious right politically, though most of this tribe will not do so.
He starts working with Teen International and then bounces around quite frequently for awhile, doing a stint as a "normal" pastor, then doing some missions work in Mexico, then getting involved with the more radical fringe of the anti-abortion movement (Operation Rescue) before ending up as a missionary to Washington in general and the federal court systems and judges in particular.
He tells his story with frank honesty and there are parts that are not impressive to say the least. At one point he manages to get ahold of some fetuses and "surprise" various political figures with them who support abortion in order to "force them to face reality." At the time he doesn't appreciate the irony of being pro-life and yet slinging around dead babies for political gain, though he will come to realize it.
He slowly over time begins to question some of his stances and the sort of dark underbelly of the religious right in regards to politics. I could recount the journey, but read the book. Suffice to say that he has an awakening and while he remains a Christian, he now rejects the way that evangelicals have embraced Donald Trump, been oh-so-silent on gun control and treated their opponents as enemies to be mocked and crushed rather than human beings made in God's image.
His journey is never more clear than when he contrasts the 2016 Republican National Convention, which he attended, with the 2016 Democratic Convention. He is highly critical of the RNC (rightly so in my view), but then waxes eloquently about how loving and diverse the Democratic Convention was. This becomes the foundation for my beef with the book. It's hardly surprising that someone who has seen the light to suddenly see their old life in nothing but negative terms and their new life in purely positive light. I feel if Christ ministered in 20th century America, he would be calling both political parties out, not one or the other, though I do agree with Mr. Schenck that he would do it with a lot more humanity and compassion than the religious right has done, especially since Mr. Trump was elected.
Where the book fails in my opinion, is Mr. Schenck's "new" positions. He is vague enough not to be accused of being a wholesale liberal in his religious convictions now, but one wonders if that was a purposeful framing. Here is an example:
"As I emerged from my period of darkness, of succumbing to politics and power, I saw how expansive God's grace is and how universal his invitation is to it. I no longer believe you're excluded if you're homosexual, or if you've had an abortion, or if you perform them. I no longer believe Muslims are dangerous marauders, or that Democrats are liberal apostates."
Taken one way, any evangelical could agree with this statement because God's grace is available to all people everywhere without limitation, but as my son, who is a pastor often tells the congregation, "Come as you are, but don't remain as you are." Christ's call to follow him involves turning away from our sin, whatever sin that may be. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, "When Christ calls us, he bids us come and die."
I'm not sure from Mr. Schenck's words whether or not he still believes that. I wish he had been more clear, but the skeptic in me thinks he was purposefully being vague.
At any rate, it is a book well worth reading, especially if you belong to the religious right politically, though most of this tribe will not do so.
October 20, 2018
A Review of the Audiobook
Published in 2018 by HarperAudio.
Read by the author, Rob Schenck.
Duration: 11 hours, 26 minutes.
Unabridged.
Rob Schenck tells the story of his life as a story of three conversions. His first conversion was a conversion from Judaism to Christianity as a teenager. Soon after graduating high school he married and began to work to his certification to join the ministry. He first worked in a shelter for junkies but he found that to be a little too dangerous for his wife. Plus, he longed for something with a larger impact.
He became a pastor with a church but still felt that wasn't enough. He participated in joint missions in Mexico to help those that live in the garbage dumps and scrounge them for food and recyclables. After one of his trips he found that his twin brother (also a pastor) had become involved in Operation Rescue, the anti-abortion movement that encouraged protesters to block the entrances to abortion clinics and use non-violent resistance to stop women from getting an abortion. Eventually, the police would show up and start arresting people and it would become a big spectacle that would make the news.
Schenck was persuaded to attend a protest. This was his second conversion. He promised his wife that he wouldn't get arrested - he was just going to observe. But, the lure of the action was too much and he ended up getting arrested. He was hooked. He loved the idea of taking direct action in the name of the Lord.
He became a top figure in the anti-abortion movement. He confronted public figures for their support (twice he ended up being held for questioning for confronting Bill Clinton). He carried actual aborted fetuses to rallies to show people what they were really talking about when they discussed abortions. He became very familiar with the process of being arrested for the cause.
And the cause was also becoming an influential force in Republican politics. Schenk worked with all the major players. At this time, he began to seriously study the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran minister who was placed in a concentration camp for his constant questioning of Nazi authorities. Eventually, he was executed by the Nazis just days before the end of World War II. His studies of Bonhoeffer made him question what he was doing as a Christian. He began to question the cozy relationship he had with the powers that be in Washington. His questions led him to conclude that his fellow evangelicals were wrong in their unlimited support of the NRA and gun rights, especially after two abortion providers were assassinated.
But, he was most moved by the reaction of...
Read more at: https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2018...
Published in 2018 by HarperAudio.
Read by the author, Rob Schenck.
Duration: 11 hours, 26 minutes.
Unabridged.
Rob Schenck tells the story of his life as a story of three conversions. His first conversion was a conversion from Judaism to Christianity as a teenager. Soon after graduating high school he married and began to work to his certification to join the ministry. He first worked in a shelter for junkies but he found that to be a little too dangerous for his wife. Plus, he longed for something with a larger impact.
He became a pastor with a church but still felt that wasn't enough. He participated in joint missions in Mexico to help those that live in the garbage dumps and scrounge them for food and recyclables. After one of his trips he found that his twin brother (also a pastor) had become involved in Operation Rescue, the anti-abortion movement that encouraged protesters to block the entrances to abortion clinics and use non-violent resistance to stop women from getting an abortion. Eventually, the police would show up and start arresting people and it would become a big spectacle that would make the news.
Schenck was persuaded to attend a protest. This was his second conversion. He promised his wife that he wouldn't get arrested - he was just going to observe. But, the lure of the action was too much and he ended up getting arrested. He was hooked. He loved the idea of taking direct action in the name of the Lord.
He became a top figure in the anti-abortion movement. He confronted public figures for their support (twice he ended up being held for questioning for confronting Bill Clinton). He carried actual aborted fetuses to rallies to show people what they were really talking about when they discussed abortions. He became very familiar with the process of being arrested for the cause.
And the cause was also becoming an influential force in Republican politics. Schenk worked with all the major players. At this time, he began to seriously study the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran minister who was placed in a concentration camp for his constant questioning of Nazi authorities. Eventually, he was executed by the Nazis just days before the end of World War II. His studies of Bonhoeffer made him question what he was doing as a Christian. He began to question the cozy relationship he had with the powers that be in Washington. His questions led him to conclude that his fellow evangelicals were wrong in their unlimited support of the NRA and gun rights, especially after two abortion providers were assassinated.
But, he was most moved by the reaction of...
Read more at: https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2018...
June 1, 2021
I got this book at the dollar store for a buck. The title seemed like it might be interesting. Most people would not read the book unless they already know Schenck and like him.
About 1 1/2 stars but I rounded up as it was interesting to see such an arrogant pompous fool tell about all his life.
He is still full of himself. This book was clearly to make money.
The book paints a picture of a perfect pharisee but he sees himself as hot stuff no matter how many times he changed his church affiliation or beliefs.
He and his brother were Jewish but converted in their teens. The brother has now switched to being catholic, while Rob Schenck as been all over the map with changing between brand name protestant churches.
The book paints a picture of how the famous TV preachermen get people to give them money and how they are essentially unelected politicians. Schenck became a master politician and manipulator.
It used words the average person will have to look up in a dictionary.
There were some unexplained statements with no content to help understand.
Schenck omits facts on key claims when they would show he is wrong.
There are a few continuity errors. SPAG was better than average.
As a Jew he has trouble reading the Torah and translating it correctly.
The commandment is thou shalt not murder not kill. But then he could not have been so antiabortion if he got that right along with Exodus which is clear that a fetus is not a person. Even Jewish law says a fetus is not a person until they are past tense born.
A number of logical errors are annoying as are the factual errors.
Schenck comes across as arrogant, egotistical, full of himself, and a hypocrite.
The one good point is that he ended up focusing more on Jesus the nazarene than all the other religious baggage he has tried on and changed over the decades.
The book was manufactured well. The writing was done well at a low level. But at a higher level the writing was poor, although the development edit and structural edit were good, the middle level of writing fell short of good.
This book is a memoir and shows it, in how he portrays himself as always right.
Unless you know Schenck there is no reason to read this book as there is no there there in this self serving memoir meant to make more money for him.
About 1 1/2 stars but I rounded up as it was interesting to see such an arrogant pompous fool tell about all his life.
He is still full of himself. This book was clearly to make money.
The book paints a picture of a perfect pharisee but he sees himself as hot stuff no matter how many times he changed his church affiliation or beliefs.
He and his brother were Jewish but converted in their teens. The brother has now switched to being catholic, while Rob Schenck as been all over the map with changing between brand name protestant churches.
The book paints a picture of how the famous TV preachermen get people to give them money and how they are essentially unelected politicians. Schenck became a master politician and manipulator.
It used words the average person will have to look up in a dictionary.
There were some unexplained statements with no content to help understand.
Schenck omits facts on key claims when they would show he is wrong.
There are a few continuity errors. SPAG was better than average.
As a Jew he has trouble reading the Torah and translating it correctly.
The commandment is thou shalt not murder not kill. But then he could not have been so antiabortion if he got that right along with Exodus which is clear that a fetus is not a person. Even Jewish law says a fetus is not a person until they are past tense born.
A number of logical errors are annoying as are the factual errors.
Schenck comes across as arrogant, egotistical, full of himself, and a hypocrite.
The one good point is that he ended up focusing more on Jesus the nazarene than all the other religious baggage he has tried on and changed over the decades.
The book was manufactured well. The writing was done well at a low level. But at a higher level the writing was poor, although the development edit and structural edit were good, the middle level of writing fell short of good.
This book is a memoir and shows it, in how he portrays himself as always right.
Unless you know Schenck there is no reason to read this book as there is no there there in this self serving memoir meant to make more money for him.
July 16, 2020
If you've ever wanted to get into the mind of a religious extremist, you'd be hard-pressed to find a book as captivating as Costly Grace. Rob Schenk's life has been a fascinating one: He was born Jewish, converted to a type of evangelical Christianity as a teenager, devoted most of his adult life to the radical end of the anti-abortion movement, and .
Although I have an evangelical background, I wasn't familiar (except through news accounts) of the politically oriented style of right-wing evangelicalism that thrived beginning three decades before the era of Donald Trump. And Schenk was at the center of it all. I suppose I've thought that people in that far end of the anti-abortion movement were more interested in controlling others than they were in their Christian faith.
If I had any disappointment in the book, it was that Schenk wasn't clear in explaining what he thinks today (or when the book was written) about hot issues such as abortion and homosexuality. But his views aren't really the point;
I'd recommend this book for any political or religious extremist, for someone interested in the psychology of extremism, and for anyone who wonders how a Christian can come to adore Trump (even though Trump is barely mentioned in the book).
Schenk's writing style is both thoughtful and engaging. Above all, he shows that personal growth is possible, even for those who seem hopelessly lost.
Although I have an evangelical background, I wasn't familiar (except through news accounts) of the politically oriented style of right-wing evangelicalism that thrived beginning three decades before the era of Donald Trump. And Schenk was at the center of it all. I suppose I've thought that people in that far end of the anti-abortion movement were more interested in controlling others than they were in their Christian faith.
If I had any disappointment in the book, it was that Schenk wasn't clear in explaining what he thinks today (or when the book was written) about hot issues such as abortion and homosexuality. But his views aren't really the point;
I'd recommend this book for any political or religious extremist, for someone interested in the psychology of extremism, and for anyone who wonders how a Christian can come to adore Trump (even though Trump is barely mentioned in the book).
Schenk's writing style is both thoughtful and engaging. Above all, he shows that personal growth is possible, even for those who seem hopelessly lost.
March 26, 2019
I met Rob and his twin Paul back in the 1980s in New York City. Our lives had been parallel in measure at that point, and in reading this autobiography of his life so far, I find it fascinating how they continue to parallel. Not in the activities so much as thinking and personal growth. Rob grew up in Buffalo and I grew up in Kansas City, both small towns compared to where we overlapped in the 1980s. We again overlapped in the 1990s in Washington DC, but his journey took him significantly down a political path and mine elsewhere.
My wife found this book in the library in Nashville, read it, and brought it to me. I read it this week. POWERful and liberating. Challenging and humiliating. When I see what Rob characterizes as hubris and wrong thinking in his careers over the decades, I see my own hubris and wrong thinking. What clarity and humility. Thanks, Rob, for making this, for writing this, no matter if Abby or Cheryl, or the Almighty alone challenged you to do so.
The mistakes I made are hounding me; the grace you found is available for everyone. I'm glad to be included in such dispensing.
It seems that many folks start right in the Gospel, then get distracted with politics or their own career path, until something or someone happens to them, and they get reoriented. St Francis certainly had that. I remember reading Jorgensen's biography of Francis and noted it back in the 1970s. But did I learn from that? That is, did I change my own behavior? Not really.
I'm hoping that this read by a good man of God will not only inspire me but keep me on the renewed path of Gospel and grace. To my wife, and kids, and those around me. I don't want to be lost again.
My wife found this book in the library in Nashville, read it, and brought it to me. I read it this week. POWERful and liberating. Challenging and humiliating. When I see what Rob characterizes as hubris and wrong thinking in his careers over the decades, I see my own hubris and wrong thinking. What clarity and humility. Thanks, Rob, for making this, for writing this, no matter if Abby or Cheryl, or the Almighty alone challenged you to do so.
The mistakes I made are hounding me; the grace you found is available for everyone. I'm glad to be included in such dispensing.
It seems that many folks start right in the Gospel, then get distracted with politics or their own career path, until something or someone happens to them, and they get reoriented. St Francis certainly had that. I remember reading Jorgensen's biography of Francis and noted it back in the 1970s. But did I learn from that? That is, did I change my own behavior? Not really.
I'm hoping that this read by a good man of God will not only inspire me but keep me on the renewed path of Gospel and grace. To my wife, and kids, and those around me. I don't want to be lost again.
July 23, 2018
This book has drawn my attention back to “faith” and what does it mean to live a Christian life. Many of us, like Dr. Schenk try to live out our faith by commitment to doctrine, religiosity and somehow through our affiliation with politics. Dr. Schenk shares his journey back to the cross and the true call of Christ. He reveals numerous times where he was there in history (physically present) in many of the faith challenges of our time as an activist and a pastor. His desire to change the political policies of our society was not a “bad thing” and came from his desire to evangelize to a lost world but it overtook his calling and even led him to what he calls a “dark forest” where he finds his actions and attitudes were no better than the “others”. It takes a mentor’s words from the past (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) to guide him back to the feet of Jesus and the true path of discipleship. He asks for the opportunity for people of faith to consider a new faith conversation one which I think many of us long for and probably is waiting for us if we would only return our focus to the Savior. I hope you will read this book.
December 26, 2018
Like other readers, my first encounter with Dr Schenck was "The Armor of Light" movie.
This is a powerful insider's view about the unholy marriage between evangelicalism and political right. Because of the personal perspective right from the teenchline of the culture war, it's not just another addition to this "important conversation", but an unequaled story of transformation.
The only thing that left me a bit disappointed was his relative ambiguity about where he stands right now on the issues. That might be because he doesn't want to say it so he doesn't alienate some readers, but it can also be because the writing of the book caught him with some of his ideas still evolving, not fully formed. I can understand that, i always have some of my ideas half baked and even contradictory, it's part of the growth process. But if that's the case, he didn't make a very good final point on embracing that evolution and finding meaning in it, he just presented us with some (strong and relevant) stories of his more recent journey and left it to the reader to assemble them into a picture of his current ideology.
This is a powerful insider's view about the unholy marriage between evangelicalism and political right. Because of the personal perspective right from the teenchline of the culture war, it's not just another addition to this "important conversation", but an unequaled story of transformation.
The only thing that left me a bit disappointed was his relative ambiguity about where he stands right now on the issues. That might be because he doesn't want to say it so he doesn't alienate some readers, but it can also be because the writing of the book caught him with some of his ideas still evolving, not fully formed. I can understand that, i always have some of my ideas half baked and even contradictory, it's part of the growth process. But if that's the case, he didn't make a very good final point on embracing that evolution and finding meaning in it, he just presented us with some (strong and relevant) stories of his more recent journey and left it to the reader to assemble them into a picture of his current ideology.
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