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The Lost Message of Jesus
A fresh―and perhaps controversial―look at Jesus by one of Britain’s most respected Christian authors. Who is the real Jesus? Do we remake him in our own image and then wonder why our spirituality is less than life-changing and exciting? Steve Chalke―a high-profile visionary in the United Kingdom and an evangelical recognized not only by Christians but by the general public as well―believes that the real Jesus is deeply challenging. And each new generation must grapple with the question of who he is, because only through a constant study of Jesus are we able to discover God himself. The Lost Message of Jesus is written to stir thoughtful debate and pose fresh questions that will help create a deeper understanding of Jesus and his message. It is an encounter with the real Jesus of his world―not the Jesus we try to mold to ours. Themes •The Kingdom of God―shalom―is available to everyone now, through Jesus •The world outside your own church needs to hear of the depth of God’s love and suffering •Jesus was a radical and a revolutionary! •Jesus offers immediate forgiveness, without cost, to anyone •Jesus shows us repentance isn’t a guilt-laden list of dos and don’ts, but an inspirational vision of a new way to live Focusing on some of the key episodes, events, and issues of Jesus’ life, we will see how too often the message we preach today has been influenced more by the culture we live in than the radical, life-changing, world-shaping message Jesus shared two thousand years ago.
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2004
7 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Steve Chalke
73 books21 followersSteve Chalke is a British Baptist minister, social entrepreneur, author, and speaker widely recognized for his work in promoting social inclusion and justice. He is the founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust, an organization he launched in 1985 with the vision of building inclusive communities where everyone is valued and empowered. Under his leadership, Oasis has become one of the UK's largest charities, operating across a wide spectrum of services including housing, healthcare, education, and youth and community development—both in the UK and internationally.
Chalke's commitment to education is reflected in his founding of Oasis Community Learning, a multi-academy trust responsible for over 40 schools throughout England. The trust seeks to support not just academic achievement, but whole-community transformation through education. He also serves as the founding minister of Oasis Church Waterloo in central London, a place of welcome and inclusion for people of all backgrounds.
In 2006, Chalke launched Stop the Traffik, a global coalition working to end human trafficking through awareness, education, and systemic change. The organization has mobilized tens of thousands of activists in nearly 100 countries. His work in this field led to his appointment as a United Nations Special Adviser on Human Trafficking.
As an author, Chalke has written extensively on theology, faith, and social justice. His notable books include The Lost Message of Jesus, Apprentice: Walking the Way of Christ, and The Lost Message of Paul, among others. He has also written numerous articles and is a frequent speaker on topics related to spirituality, ethics, and public life.
In recognition of his tireless efforts, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to social inclusion and has received multiple honorary degrees and fellowships. He also holds the Guinness World Record for the most sponsorship money raised by an individual marathon runner, having raised over £2.3 million during the London Marathon.
Throughout his career, Steve Chalke has consistently challenged societal norms and church traditions in pursuit of compassion, equality, and justice, making him one of the most influential voices in contemporary British Christianity.
Chalke's commitment to education is reflected in his founding of Oasis Community Learning, a multi-academy trust responsible for over 40 schools throughout England. The trust seeks to support not just academic achievement, but whole-community transformation through education. He also serves as the founding minister of Oasis Church Waterloo in central London, a place of welcome and inclusion for people of all backgrounds.
In 2006, Chalke launched Stop the Traffik, a global coalition working to end human trafficking through awareness, education, and systemic change. The organization has mobilized tens of thousands of activists in nearly 100 countries. His work in this field led to his appointment as a United Nations Special Adviser on Human Trafficking.
As an author, Chalke has written extensively on theology, faith, and social justice. His notable books include The Lost Message of Jesus, Apprentice: Walking the Way of Christ, and The Lost Message of Paul, among others. He has also written numerous articles and is a frequent speaker on topics related to spirituality, ethics, and public life.
In recognition of his tireless efforts, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to social inclusion and has received multiple honorary degrees and fellowships. He also holds the Guinness World Record for the most sponsorship money raised by an individual marathon runner, having raised over £2.3 million during the London Marathon.
Throughout his career, Steve Chalke has consistently challenged societal norms and church traditions in pursuit of compassion, equality, and justice, making him one of the most influential voices in contemporary British Christianity.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 25, 2022
Short book with a lot to say about the true message of Jesus. Thought provoking and challenging to make us rethink our assumptions. However, I would have liked more exposition on some specific verses as well as the overall message.
May 15, 2020
A good book looking at various themes about the life of Jesus and how much of the radical message of how we live has been often lost among other "messages" over the centuries. Not as powerful a read as his second book, The Lost Message of Paul, but a good introduction to the themes.
January 24, 2017
I'm actually shocked by how much I liked this book. This book is not an in depth study of anything, so don't take it as such. Rather, it's a survey of various aspects of Jesus' message, both in his actions and words, and how very far the Western church has fallen from that, even so far as to be unrecognizable and Anti-Christ. This book invites the reader into this discussion, but requires more focused study by the reader in the various aspects it goes into. Each chapter could be a series all its own, which is obviously not in the scope of what is trying to be accomplished.
I have read several other reviews and I think this is an important not to note: this book actually achieves what it claims. The message of Jesus in these pages has actually been lost by the church. These things are not taught anymore. I too have heard pastors preaching that "we have to get back to the roots of Christianity!" and "We have to return to Christ!" but then when they preach, it is exactly the same message they and every preacher before them in America has been preaching for 200+ years. That is not the way of this book.
This book actually brings to light aspects of Christ's teaching that are genuinely controversial. I personally have controversial views on a lot of the Bible and Chris in general, so I felt this book was even a little lacking in gut-punch, hence only 4 stars, but I imagine that it would come as exactly that to Baptists and the like who live in a bubble they can't see out of.
After first reading, I am extremely pleased with this book, its successes and messages, for there are several of each. I look forward to a third and deeper reading later in the year because I think this book deserves that kind of consideration from everyone.
I have read several other reviews and I think this is an important not to note: this book actually achieves what it claims. The message of Jesus in these pages has actually been lost by the church. These things are not taught anymore. I too have heard pastors preaching that "we have to get back to the roots of Christianity!" and "We have to return to Christ!" but then when they preach, it is exactly the same message they and every preacher before them in America has been preaching for 200+ years. That is not the way of this book.
This book actually brings to light aspects of Christ's teaching that are genuinely controversial. I personally have controversial views on a lot of the Bible and Chris in general, so I felt this book was even a little lacking in gut-punch, hence only 4 stars, but I imagine that it would come as exactly that to Baptists and the like who live in a bubble they can't see out of.
After first reading, I am extremely pleased with this book, its successes and messages, for there are several of each. I look forward to a third and deeper reading later in the year because I think this book deserves that kind of consideration from everyone.
August 22, 2011
A somewhat controversial book which I felt was an excellent read. It explains much of the story of Jesus from a contextual, historical viewpoint, emphasising that the Kingdom of God was - and is - about life rather than death. God is portrayed as a loving Father, and the life of Jesus as pointing us to God. The simple message has apparently been lost through the ages due to misconceptions by various writers, from Augustine in the fourth century, through to some in the Reformation years.
While many disagree with Chalke's central premise, I found it consistent with the Bible and indeed my own early understanding of the Christian faith. The book is thought-provoking and, in my view, very well-written. Highly recommended.
While many disagree with Chalke's central premise, I found it consistent with the Bible and indeed my own early understanding of the Christian faith. The book is thought-provoking and, in my view, very well-written. Highly recommended.
September 3, 2016
This is actually a very good book. Chalke carefully explains that Jesus' message has been diluted and civilanised over time.
For his first-hand hearers 2000 years ago Jesus' actions and message were completely revolutionary - hence why the Jewish authorities woul go to such lengths to get rid of him!
But ultimately the message is one of love. That no matter how outcast from scoiety you are there is a God who loves you more than you can ever realise. All that is needed is to welcome him in order to receive the peace that is the Kingdom of Heaven.
A well-written, well-explained and captivating book.
For his first-hand hearers 2000 years ago Jesus' actions and message were completely revolutionary - hence why the Jewish authorities woul go to such lengths to get rid of him!
But ultimately the message is one of love. That no matter how outcast from scoiety you are there is a God who loves you more than you can ever realise. All that is needed is to welcome him in order to receive the peace that is the Kingdom of Heaven.
A well-written, well-explained and captivating book.
August 4, 2011
Well he got into a lot of trouble for this but goodness knows why...I suspect some people found what they wanted to find and didn't actually read what he wrote.
An excellent outline of God's love and compassion for the world
An excellent outline of God's love and compassion for the world
January 28, 2009
Oh dear
August 21, 2022
Really rough read. Denies the atonement, God's impassibility, the authority of Scripture, and the necessity of faith and repentance. Also, just written poorly and repetitively.
August 28, 2019
Steve Chalke has divided the evangelical world with his views in recent years and I have heard condemnation of his teaching without myself having either heard what he says nor read what he writes. Hence I chose to read first “The Lost Message of Jesus”.
Overall I found it a very unsatisfactory work for, although it is declared to be “rooted in good scholarship” according to N. T. Wright, it seems to have wondered too far from those roots. It was more like goose grass than oak!
He makes some helpfully positive points as he highlights the mistakes we have made and continue to make.
• Judgemental attitudes when we do not welcome those who are different and don’t meet ‘our’ standards of righteousness.
• Our error when we show love only conditionally. (He helpfully lays out the ‘upside down’ kingdom where Jesus washes the feet, yet we can so easily forget. )
• He very movingly reminds us of the Jesus’ inspired approach adopted by Gandhi, Luther King and Mandela. (All three were confronting evil within the society and he made no comment on his position in the face of outside aggression.)
• The recognition and reminder that there is a faith journey and that a fuller picture is seen only if one considers the direction of travel as well as the destination reached.
• The off-putting way in which we have used Jesus’ teaching on being born again.
• He gives some excellent personal examples of engaging with cynicism outside the church.
Unfortunately, in my view, there are also many things that are distinctly unhelpful!
• He oversimplifies and sets up false dichotomies so that, after arguing persuasively against one view, he claims it proves his favoured other.
• Having helpfully written about the Kingdom of God and shalom, he proceeds to squeeze too much into that paradigm.
• He makes sweeping statements about what the church has missed (God is love) for two millennia which is patently untrue.
• He helpfully uses his imagination reading bible narrative (Zechariah praying in the Temple) but then presents that imagined possibility as fact.
• He states that God being love is the primary (and forgotten) characteristic of God and so undervalues power and holiness. (I would maintain that all these qualities (and others) of God are fully expressed and only by full expression of all do we see the glory of each.) (Worryingly he affirms the quotation, ‘that the bible reveals a God who is “weak in power but strong in love”. (p54) This is not the God I see in the Bible!)
• He quotes people from the past (Jonathan Edwards) in order to condemn them and their contemporaries but leaves a nagging concern that he has been selective and not considered their full output that do not support his condemnation.
• He writes engagingly (like a journalist) so it is easy to read but style can triumph over content and balance.
• He gives the example of four spiritual points learnt on a children camp and recited by an 8 year old and then offers a better and more nuanced four points. This is interesting but no way could an 8 year old have learnt, understood and recited the nuanced view. (I too cringed at the child’s four points for I question the approach but they were in the sense of complexity age-appropriate.)
• He positively affirms the importance of the resurrection but makes too much of instances where it is not overtly expressed.
Then comes the issue for which he drew the most criticism – “cosmic child abuse”. He writes,
“John’s gospel famously declares, “God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). How then, have we come to believe that at the cross this God of love suddenly decides to vent his anger and wrath on his own Son?
The fact is that the cross isn’t a form of cosmic child abuse – a vengeful Father, punishing his Son for an offence he has not even committed. . . .If the cross is a personal act of violence perpetrated by God towards humankind but borne by his Son, then it makes a mockery of Jesus’ own teaching to love your enemies and refuse to repay evil with evil.”
Chalke is presenting a caricature of the doctrine of penal substitution and caricatures are easily knocked down. The inclusion of the words “suddenly decides to vent” and “a vengeful Father” and “a personal act of violence” are emotive distortions of the doctrine and such a contrast with the scholarly and pastoral writings on the subject by John Stott “The Cross of Christ.”
In summary then, it is my view that Steve Chalke’s teaching (as expressed in this book) is wrong for, although he has many good points to make, overall it is unhelpful, a distortion of the truth and a danger to the faithful.
I cannot recommend the book.
Overall I found it a very unsatisfactory work for, although it is declared to be “rooted in good scholarship” according to N. T. Wright, it seems to have wondered too far from those roots. It was more like goose grass than oak!
He makes some helpfully positive points as he highlights the mistakes we have made and continue to make.
• Judgemental attitudes when we do not welcome those who are different and don’t meet ‘our’ standards of righteousness.
• Our error when we show love only conditionally. (He helpfully lays out the ‘upside down’ kingdom where Jesus washes the feet, yet we can so easily forget. )
• He very movingly reminds us of the Jesus’ inspired approach adopted by Gandhi, Luther King and Mandela. (All three were confronting evil within the society and he made no comment on his position in the face of outside aggression.)
• The recognition and reminder that there is a faith journey and that a fuller picture is seen only if one considers the direction of travel as well as the destination reached.
• The off-putting way in which we have used Jesus’ teaching on being born again.
• He gives some excellent personal examples of engaging with cynicism outside the church.
Unfortunately, in my view, there are also many things that are distinctly unhelpful!
• He oversimplifies and sets up false dichotomies so that, after arguing persuasively against one view, he claims it proves his favoured other.
• Having helpfully written about the Kingdom of God and shalom, he proceeds to squeeze too much into that paradigm.
• He makes sweeping statements about what the church has missed (God is love) for two millennia which is patently untrue.
• He helpfully uses his imagination reading bible narrative (Zechariah praying in the Temple) but then presents that imagined possibility as fact.
• He states that God being love is the primary (and forgotten) characteristic of God and so undervalues power and holiness. (I would maintain that all these qualities (and others) of God are fully expressed and only by full expression of all do we see the glory of each.) (Worryingly he affirms the quotation, ‘that the bible reveals a God who is “weak in power but strong in love”. (p54) This is not the God I see in the Bible!)
• He quotes people from the past (Jonathan Edwards) in order to condemn them and their contemporaries but leaves a nagging concern that he has been selective and not considered their full output that do not support his condemnation.
• He writes engagingly (like a journalist) so it is easy to read but style can triumph over content and balance.
• He gives the example of four spiritual points learnt on a children camp and recited by an 8 year old and then offers a better and more nuanced four points. This is interesting but no way could an 8 year old have learnt, understood and recited the nuanced view. (I too cringed at the child’s four points for I question the approach but they were in the sense of complexity age-appropriate.)
• He positively affirms the importance of the resurrection but makes too much of instances where it is not overtly expressed.
Then comes the issue for which he drew the most criticism – “cosmic child abuse”. He writes,
“John’s gospel famously declares, “God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). How then, have we come to believe that at the cross this God of love suddenly decides to vent his anger and wrath on his own Son?
The fact is that the cross isn’t a form of cosmic child abuse – a vengeful Father, punishing his Son for an offence he has not even committed. . . .If the cross is a personal act of violence perpetrated by God towards humankind but borne by his Son, then it makes a mockery of Jesus’ own teaching to love your enemies and refuse to repay evil with evil.”
Chalke is presenting a caricature of the doctrine of penal substitution and caricatures are easily knocked down. The inclusion of the words “suddenly decides to vent” and “a vengeful Father” and “a personal act of violence” are emotive distortions of the doctrine and such a contrast with the scholarly and pastoral writings on the subject by John Stott “The Cross of Christ.”
In summary then, it is my view that Steve Chalke’s teaching (as expressed in this book) is wrong for, although he has many good points to make, overall it is unhelpful, a distortion of the truth and a danger to the faithful.
I cannot recommend the book.
November 19, 2015
Some thoughts:
1. How many times have I heard the core of Jesus’ life-transforming message preached from the pulpit in the past year? Not enough. The message is convoluted and diluted with all kinds of seeker-friendly shows. How often do I hear that the “Kingdom, the in-breaking shalom of God, is available now to everyone” through Jesus? We have a new church in Madison that is committed to preaching and exemplifying the “now-ness of God,” but we do not attend there. Our church community is struggling with its identity and mission. It is a church in transition as the broader culture transitions. Our church is beginning to ask the hard questions Chalke asks, such as: “What did it (the gospel) mean then?” In doing so, I believe our church will find answers to the contemporary questions of “authenticity.”
2. Have I got a “tribal view of God?” (24) How much is my understanding of God a cultural understanding? I feel so fortunate to have been to about 30 countries on missionary outreaches, serving and learning, alongside students and long-term national and international missionaries. This perspective has helped me to find the nearness of God in many contexts, but I fear that I may have somehow “lost” something. At one time I was far more ready to expect God to move in the now.
3. My appreciation for the indwelling presence of God, the healing presence, and the power of God is somehow distant. Why? Because I took up a gospel message that is more about an alternative social-political “kingdom” that is to be expressed in this world. The weight of this long-term, eschatological kingdom message has burdened me in such a way that I am no longer as ready to believe God will act in the now. I fear that I have somehow “lost” the message as I have attempted to “sum up” and “pin down” God’s purposes; I fear that I have somehow become “stupid.” (19)
4. I love to consider boundaries and the way God moves, redraws them. (30) This happens more and more in our globalized world, and we are more and more aware of these boundary line changes as we interact and cross cultural barriers. One of Chalke’s key messages in this book is about the Good Samaritan. His message is not unlike what I myself have been teaching, that Jesus was pointing out that loving our neighbors is not an act of special grace. Rather, loving our neighbors is an act of common grace, something anyone, even the ones we least expect, can and do practice through simple acts of kindness to strangers.
5. I like the message of “shalom,” a word that “appears over two-hundred and fifty times in the Hebrew Scriptures.” (37) This message often seems confused as I listen to those who look at the “kaleidoscope” of shalom from different perspectives. Those given to counseling and health care, look at shalom as a very personal contentment, personal peace, heath, and happiness. Very often I look at shalom in the broader socio-political sense as it comes to global issues of poverty and justice. Others may look at shalom in terms of a church community flourishing in their appointed place on earth. Too often the different views are not connected.
6. I was so glad to see that Chalke attacked the Aristotelian view of “divine impassibility,” …”that gods could not be affected by any outside source.” (48) Chalke points out that God acted on behalf of Israel with violence and war not out of indifference, but as “the result of his determination to be involved with his world.” I like Chalke’s appreciation for the “messy and often brutal reality…longings and ambitions” of God’s interaction with his people. Chalke speaks to the question of stoichea brought up by Newbigin in “Gospel in a Pluralist Society.” The stoichea are elementary principles enforced and taught by territorial spirits who are determined to blind our eyes from seeing the glorious gospel. The stoichea may have some truth, but they create boundaries that are impassible; these principles are either life-giving by the Spirit of God or they are “useless, confining, as embarrassing as a heating system not connected to the gas main. (33)
7. It’s amazing the lengths God goes to in order to teach his principles of generosity, that this good news is to be shared universally. That God’s people, families, individuals, must often go through incredible testing is not a judgment against God’s character; it is representative of the lengths God will go to in order to teach his ways, his heart, to deliver and give his good gifts. It is representative of how much God’s heart is broken, how he waits and longs for relationship with us. As C.S. Lewis writes, “Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.” (57) God hides from us because he is merciful. As Wolterstorff writes, “God’s sorrow is his splendor.” This explains Exodus 33. God is “hiding his immeasurable suffering” caused by his love; he knew we could not bear to see a face wrong with such infinite pain and live. Chalke is opening the gospel up to full view; he taps into the heart of God.
8. This new kingdom that we proclaim is not what the Israelites were waiting for; it was not deliverance from all suffering, but a call to be involved. God was showing how much he is involved in our suffering by taking up the cross. Then God does the amazing thing; he involves us and includes us in portraying his message of forgiveness to the world. (82)
9. Be perfect? How could I be as perfect as God, as Jesus? Is it possible? Chalke points out that there was no Aramaic word or even concept for such a word. The Greek meaning actually distorted the idea Jesus was conveying. Jesus called us to be a “copy, a mode made in the exact likeness.” If I model my life after Jesus and stay connected in responsive relationship with him, I will be “generous, loving, gracious, forgiving, compassionate and merciful.” (121)
10. It was great to be reminded of C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity.” “The world does not consist of 100 percent Christians and 100 percent non-Christians. There are people who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but who still call themselves by that name…There are other people who are slowly becoming Christians through they do not yet call themselves so.” (141) This view is like Hiebert’s “Anthropological Reflection” with the boundless view of the Church. What matters is which way our hearts are pointed. Am I leaning toward the Lord, His Lordship over my whole life, or am I drawing strength from myself, my things, my thoughts, my own dreams? Am I on a journey of faith toward God’s heart or am I leaning on my own resourcefulness to serve my needs, even needs to “do God’s work”? This part of Chalke’s book refreshes my zeal for God. It doesn’t matter, as Chalke puts it, “how close someone was to him at any given stage in their life.” What matters is the “direction in which they were traveling.” Welcome to the journey.
1. How many times have I heard the core of Jesus’ life-transforming message preached from the pulpit in the past year? Not enough. The message is convoluted and diluted with all kinds of seeker-friendly shows. How often do I hear that the “Kingdom, the in-breaking shalom of God, is available now to everyone” through Jesus? We have a new church in Madison that is committed to preaching and exemplifying the “now-ness of God,” but we do not attend there. Our church community is struggling with its identity and mission. It is a church in transition as the broader culture transitions. Our church is beginning to ask the hard questions Chalke asks, such as: “What did it (the gospel) mean then?” In doing so, I believe our church will find answers to the contemporary questions of “authenticity.”
2. Have I got a “tribal view of God?” (24) How much is my understanding of God a cultural understanding? I feel so fortunate to have been to about 30 countries on missionary outreaches, serving and learning, alongside students and long-term national and international missionaries. This perspective has helped me to find the nearness of God in many contexts, but I fear that I may have somehow “lost” something. At one time I was far more ready to expect God to move in the now.
3. My appreciation for the indwelling presence of God, the healing presence, and the power of God is somehow distant. Why? Because I took up a gospel message that is more about an alternative social-political “kingdom” that is to be expressed in this world. The weight of this long-term, eschatological kingdom message has burdened me in such a way that I am no longer as ready to believe God will act in the now. I fear that I have somehow “lost” the message as I have attempted to “sum up” and “pin down” God’s purposes; I fear that I have somehow become “stupid.” (19)
4. I love to consider boundaries and the way God moves, redraws them. (30) This happens more and more in our globalized world, and we are more and more aware of these boundary line changes as we interact and cross cultural barriers. One of Chalke’s key messages in this book is about the Good Samaritan. His message is not unlike what I myself have been teaching, that Jesus was pointing out that loving our neighbors is not an act of special grace. Rather, loving our neighbors is an act of common grace, something anyone, even the ones we least expect, can and do practice through simple acts of kindness to strangers.
5. I like the message of “shalom,” a word that “appears over two-hundred and fifty times in the Hebrew Scriptures.” (37) This message often seems confused as I listen to those who look at the “kaleidoscope” of shalom from different perspectives. Those given to counseling and health care, look at shalom as a very personal contentment, personal peace, heath, and happiness. Very often I look at shalom in the broader socio-political sense as it comes to global issues of poverty and justice. Others may look at shalom in terms of a church community flourishing in their appointed place on earth. Too often the different views are not connected.
6. I was so glad to see that Chalke attacked the Aristotelian view of “divine impassibility,” …”that gods could not be affected by any outside source.” (48) Chalke points out that God acted on behalf of Israel with violence and war not out of indifference, but as “the result of his determination to be involved with his world.” I like Chalke’s appreciation for the “messy and often brutal reality…longings and ambitions” of God’s interaction with his people. Chalke speaks to the question of stoichea brought up by Newbigin in “Gospel in a Pluralist Society.” The stoichea are elementary principles enforced and taught by territorial spirits who are determined to blind our eyes from seeing the glorious gospel. The stoichea may have some truth, but they create boundaries that are impassible; these principles are either life-giving by the Spirit of God or they are “useless, confining, as embarrassing as a heating system not connected to the gas main. (33)
7. It’s amazing the lengths God goes to in order to teach his principles of generosity, that this good news is to be shared universally. That God’s people, families, individuals, must often go through incredible testing is not a judgment against God’s character; it is representative of the lengths God will go to in order to teach his ways, his heart, to deliver and give his good gifts. It is representative of how much God’s heart is broken, how he waits and longs for relationship with us. As C.S. Lewis writes, “Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.” (57) God hides from us because he is merciful. As Wolterstorff writes, “God’s sorrow is his splendor.” This explains Exodus 33. God is “hiding his immeasurable suffering” caused by his love; he knew we could not bear to see a face wrong with such infinite pain and live. Chalke is opening the gospel up to full view; he taps into the heart of God.
8. This new kingdom that we proclaim is not what the Israelites were waiting for; it was not deliverance from all suffering, but a call to be involved. God was showing how much he is involved in our suffering by taking up the cross. Then God does the amazing thing; he involves us and includes us in portraying his message of forgiveness to the world. (82)
9. Be perfect? How could I be as perfect as God, as Jesus? Is it possible? Chalke points out that there was no Aramaic word or even concept for such a word. The Greek meaning actually distorted the idea Jesus was conveying. Jesus called us to be a “copy, a mode made in the exact likeness.” If I model my life after Jesus and stay connected in responsive relationship with him, I will be “generous, loving, gracious, forgiving, compassionate and merciful.” (121)
10. It was great to be reminded of C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity.” “The world does not consist of 100 percent Christians and 100 percent non-Christians. There are people who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but who still call themselves by that name…There are other people who are slowly becoming Christians through they do not yet call themselves so.” (141) This view is like Hiebert’s “Anthropological Reflection” with the boundless view of the Church. What matters is which way our hearts are pointed. Am I leaning toward the Lord, His Lordship over my whole life, or am I drawing strength from myself, my things, my thoughts, my own dreams? Am I on a journey of faith toward God’s heart or am I leaning on my own resourcefulness to serve my needs, even needs to “do God’s work”? This part of Chalke’s book refreshes my zeal for God. It doesn’t matter, as Chalke puts it, “how close someone was to him at any given stage in their life.” What matters is the “direction in which they were traveling.” Welcome to the journey.
August 31, 2018
For a book that claims to reclaim the list message of Jesus, one that (humbly?) claims to have finally grasped what he meant after two thousand years, this is remarkably dull and remarkably predictable.
Chalke straw-mans his opponents every chapter, and then rehashes tired old clichés of 19th century liberalism. He intersperses them with stories, often about how wonderful he is.
In the end he doesn't seem to have anything more to say than that Jesus died as the ultimate expression of non-violence.
Chalke straw-mans his opponents every chapter, and then rehashes tired old clichés of 19th century liberalism. He intersperses them with stories, often about how wonderful he is.
In the end he doesn't seem to have anything more to say than that Jesus died as the ultimate expression of non-violence.
March 28, 2019
Full of straw men, this book blasts the church for consistently getting Jesus wrong and then proceeds to get Jesus wrong.
Engagingly written, however, and there is lots of good stuff wrapping up a core of liberal theology. Particularly poor in effectively denying God’s just anger at sin, man’s. natural alienation from God and penal substitutionary atonement. Basically, you can tell this was at the start of Chalke’s slide into liberalism.
Helpful but stiff review: https://www.9marks.org/review/lost-me...
Engagingly written, however, and there is lots of good stuff wrapping up a core of liberal theology. Particularly poor in effectively denying God’s just anger at sin, man’s. natural alienation from God and penal substitutionary atonement. Basically, you can tell this was at the start of Chalke’s slide into liberalism.
Helpful but stiff review: https://www.9marks.org/review/lost-me...
Read
December 27, 2021Extremely unhelpful book, suffers from poor argumentation and the idea the Chalke knows more than anyone in history has known and only he is right, which is implausible.
Chalke does raise issues that the church does suffer from, but his solutions are to neuter gospel truth.
No Christian should read, unless with care. Would rate lower than one star if I could.
Chalke does raise issues that the church does suffer from, but his solutions are to neuter gospel truth.
No Christian should read, unless with care. Would rate lower than one star if I could.
June 23, 2024
Dnf only read the first chapter but It didn't sit right with me so I am not going to carry on reading it
September 12, 2011
I was disappointed by The Lost Message of Jesus because of several of Chalke and Mann’s poor glossing over of Scripture and his points. My biggest beef with the work was his skimming over the atonement theology that he proffers. I believe he’s trying to say that God is love and because God is love, God would offer his Son to die. But why death? If God is all-powerful as he proffers, could God not just transform the sinner in His power? He says “the truth is the cross is a symbol of love.” Who would disagree? But how do you get to the place where the sacrifice of Jesus is a symbol of love? Why is it so? They don’t explain and you’re left to wonder.
I found their treatment of religion saddening. He notes that “God’s kingdom…is about dropping the crushing, life-draining, religious dogma.” Wow! I think contradicts Jesus message that he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Jesus remained a Jew and remained a part of that tradition and would have had dogma/beliefs a part of this. In the same chapter though, Chalke and Mann provide perhaps the best articulation of Jesus’ methodology that I’ve heard. They describe it as a conversation, sharing what he knows and listening to how life can be made better holistically. I like this and will articulate it similarly. Their part on the holiness of eating together is great. We do need to reconsider how we approach our meals and who we invite. Can we be more open to the table? Jesus broke down barriers, especially around the dining room table.
I read this book because it was given to me as a counter to some podcasts a buddy and I listened to. The podcasts were from an imitable preacher from the Southern Baptist tradition in Texas. My friend wanted to offer another form of evangelism. I appreciate some of this, but would not recommend this book because it falls short exegetically than other books of a similar timbre.
I found their treatment of religion saddening. He notes that “God’s kingdom…is about dropping the crushing, life-draining, religious dogma.” Wow! I think contradicts Jesus message that he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Jesus remained a Jew and remained a part of that tradition and would have had dogma/beliefs a part of this. In the same chapter though, Chalke and Mann provide perhaps the best articulation of Jesus’ methodology that I’ve heard. They describe it as a conversation, sharing what he knows and listening to how life can be made better holistically. I like this and will articulate it similarly. Their part on the holiness of eating together is great. We do need to reconsider how we approach our meals and who we invite. Can we be more open to the table? Jesus broke down barriers, especially around the dining room table.
I read this book because it was given to me as a counter to some podcasts a buddy and I listened to. The podcasts were from an imitable preacher from the Southern Baptist tradition in Texas. My friend wanted to offer another form of evangelism. I appreciate some of this, but would not recommend this book because it falls short exegetically than other books of a similar timbre.
November 22, 2008
This book sets forth the aspectual form of the Gospel that allows the reader to see that the "Kingdom" was both literal and metaphorical. Literal in the sense that a new society that's goal is "shalom" in the way of Jesus and metaphorical because the original hearers had a pre-conceived notion of what "kingdom" meant that did not fit to what Christ was presenting. His notion of the Kingdom could envelope what they were thinking but their version was centered around the concept of empire, dominance, violence, authoritarianism, etc... Christ's Kingdom would be much different than that but he started with the terminology that they used in order to draw them into his reality and focus. This book does a good job of explaining that movement and clarifies what the Kingdom and salvation could mean for a society as well as for an individual. He discusses the atonement in a way that I very much appreciate at the end but that has earned him some heretic stripes and I believe has gotten him removed from some of the "Christian clubs" that he previously belonged to. On the flip side, it has opened doors into other venues that it seems the author would desire to be in more than his previous network venues. You hear him allude to this along the way throughout the book. I really liked the way he presents it and the idea is not his own but rendition of it is refreshing and unique at the same time. There is lots of highlighting and underlining in my copy and I will use it as a resource for future teaching.
January 4, 2013
"Why does the Church believe that it is preaching "good news" while the public invariably think it's message is "bad news"?"
I've certainly heard alot of bad news from pastors lately. With all the noise coming from the rise of Calvinism and Liberalism in the churches today, this is a refreshing and easy book to read that cuts through the muck. It is full of good scholarship and fun examples from today's culture. What is it all about? Jesus and his in-breaking Kingdom of peace...what is it and why it matters...all the stuff that you don't hear in church anymore, but should.
I've certainly heard alot of bad news from pastors lately. With all the noise coming from the rise of Calvinism and Liberalism in the churches today, this is a refreshing and easy book to read that cuts through the muck. It is full of good scholarship and fun examples from today's culture. What is it all about? Jesus and his in-breaking Kingdom of peace...what is it and why it matters...all the stuff that you don't hear in church anymore, but should.
December 8, 2014
A slim volume with a big message. Steve Chalke writes in a delightful conversational style, and he gets to the nub of the issue. Through the generations men have recreated Jesus to fit their cultural expectations. But in reality Jesus' message is one of love and it is at once reassuring and exciting. Just the kind of book to cheer someone going through a tough or questioning time as I was this month.
October 1, 2012
Caricatures historic Christian theology as nasty through and through ,and then throws orthodox Christianity under the bus to deal with that problem. This leaves the reader with a very lacking message of Jesus, one without sin, Hell or even Heaven.
Not recommended.
Not recommended.
July 14, 2008
A great book for any believers who are tired of hearing the story of Jesus warped and misinterpreted time and time again. An uplifting, easy to read, punchy book that clarifys rather than condemns.
January 14, 2009
I read this book at just the right time in my life. I'm not in agreement w/ Steve's views on substitutionary atonement, but we'll just have to agree to disagree.
Want to read
March 27, 2009NULL
February 3, 2016
Clarity is what this book is about - removing what we think we understand.
Getting back to basics, seeing what's there to understand - well worth reading.
Getting back to basics, seeing what's there to understand - well worth reading.
February 18, 2016
This was not so revealing as the title suggests...
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