Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church. Baker Books, 2008.
Referenced in: Theology of Mission, Proposals and Formulations – Missio Dei
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
This volume is dedicated to exploring Christology as a basis for the task of “refounding” (vs. reforming) the church, i.e. “raising the issue of the church’s true founder or foundation.” It is in response to the “spiritual, theological, missional, and existential crisis” behind “Christianity’s endemic and long-trended decline in the West,” that “no quick-fix church-growth solution” has been able to arrest. (5) The authors’ other volumes address missiology and ecclesiology (e.g. Frost and Hirsch, The Shaping of Things to Come and Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways), and missional forms of discipleship (e.g. Frost, Exiles). This text goes deeper by asserting that “Christology (the exploration of the person, teaching, and impact of Jesus Christ) determines missiology (our purpose and function in the world), which in turn determines our ecclesiology (the forms and functions of the church).” It is like “going back to the founder and recalibrating the entire enterprise along Christological lines.” (6) They say,
The core task of this book therefore will be to explore the connection between the way of Jesus and the religion of Christianity. We will attempt to assess the Christian movement in the light of the biblical revelation of Jesus and to propose ways in which the church might reconfigure itself, indeed, recalibrate its mission, around the example and teaching of the radical rabbi from Nazareth. Where is the continuity? Why is what we experience as Christianity discontinuous with the way of Jesus? How consistent is our witness with his life and teachings? And can we move away from his prototypal spirituality without doing irreparable damage to the integrity of the faith? How far is too far? (6)
The authors relate this quest to the earlier scholarly works of Jacques Ellul, The Subversion of Christianity, and popular level volume by Erwin Raphael McManus, The Barbarian Way. Frost and Hirsch say both of these works trace the evolution of Christianity from a “dangerous and revolutionary spiritual force into a kind of ‘religious civilization’” or domesticated religion that in many ways is very foreign to Christ’s intent. They cite examples such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Vatican, and Moscow’s Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior to show how varied and confused we are about the way of Christ. Some tame him and others loose him in profoundly horrifying ways. Most movements, however, wish to accurately represent him. But how? That’s what “this book all about. It’s all about Jesus, with direct implications for our discipleship, some radical challenges for our churches, and some suggested reformulations for our spirituality. In short, it’s about reJesusing the church.” (7)
This book is both dense and readable, scholarly and practical. One may not always agree with the “wild Jesus” they present, but it deserves a respectful reading for anyone who is serious about Christology as a basis for the “refounding” of the church. One the editorial reviewers, Eddie Gibbs, commends their book in this way:
Frost and Hirsch present us with a faithful portrayal of Jesus as fully human, as God intended us to be, by showing us what the God who dared to make us in his own image is really like. The authors present an untamed Jesus who makes scary, radical demands, while at the same time giving of himself to empower his followers with the courage and resources necessary to follow his leading. ReJesus reveals abundant evidence of extensive research, and dropped into the text are brief descriptions of individuals who embodied the challenges Frost and Hirsch present to the reader. In confronting such a gospel every seeker will find more than they bargained for! But the gospel was never a bargain, it is always a gracious gift—far too great and glorious for us to ever fully comprehend or exhaust its potential. In reading this book be prepared for a wild ride!”
From the Publisher
ReJesus asks the following questions:
- What ongoing role does Jesus the Messiah play in shaping the ethos and self understanding of the movement that originated in him?
- How is the Christian religion informed and shaped by the Jesus that we meet in the Gospels?
- How do we assess the continuity required between the life and example of Jesus and the subsequent religion called Christianity?
- In how many ways do we domesticate the radical revolutionary in order to sustain our religion and religiosity?
- How can a rediscovery of Jesus renew our discipleship, the Christian community, and the ongoing mission of the church?
These questions take us to the core of what the church is all about. Rather than reformation, the authors call their task re-founding the church because it raises the issue of the church’s true Founder or Foundation. This theme is of particular importance at the dawn of the twenty-first century as many attempt to address Christianity’s endemic and long trended decline in the West. The authors feel that a spiritual, theological, missional, and existential crisis looms in the West.
About the Authors
Michael Frost is professor of evangelism and missions at Morling College in Sydney, Australia, and a Baptist minister. He is the author of Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture and the coauthor of The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church.
Alan Hirsch is the founding director of Forge Mission Training Network and a founder of shapevine.com. He is the author of The Shaping of Things to Come with Michael Frost, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church, and The Forgotten Ways Handbook.
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- Missional Perspectives, Introduction
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- Church Leadership and Renewal, Index to Resources
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