Where in the world did the idea that following Jesus would be easy come from?

Jesus life was anything but easy. Grew up poor. Lived among the marginalized. Didn’t start a public ministry till his 30s. Then he was loved, booed, cheered, hated, hunted, betrayed, mocked, beaten, and killed in a most public and humiliating way. Anything but an easy life.

All this to say, we need more books like No Easy Jesus: How the Toughest Choices Lead to the Greatest Life by Jason Micthell.

Throughout the book Mitchell draws a distinction between the easy Jesus of pop culture and the real Jesus found in Scripture.

Easy Jesus is made in our Jesus. The real Jesus call us to be made in his image!

Easy Jesus would have stayed in the place where God dwells, heaven. The real Jesus came to earth and, “moved into the neighborhood.” (John 1:14, MSG)

Following the easy Jesus takes us no effort. He looks and conforms to the images we love. Following the real Jesus, however, takes grit, determination, and often times doubt.

The book is a call to forget we have it all together. We don’t. Life is hard. Nothing is easy anymore. And easy Jesus and easy answer help no one but the fool. It’s time to follow a real Jesus who asks questions, seeks justice, and often finds himself on the wrong side of the debate on holiness (and yet is the holiest of all).

No Easy Jesus by Jason Mitchell is a great reminder to stop and evaluate the version of Jesus we follow. One Jesus has a narrow path leading to life and the other a wide path leading to easy now but death later.

I highly recommend this book to pastors tired of the same ole Jesus who looks like the mega preachers and televangelists of this world. Sometimes we need to be shaken by our long held beliefs, because, put simply, they are wrong.

We all must choose to follow the pop culture Jesus or the Jesus defined by Scripture. You may the call. If you need help figuring it all out, Micthell’s book is sure to delight!

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I received this book from Tyndale House Publishers as a member of the Tyndale Bloggers Network program in exchange for an honest review of the book.