What If Jesus Was Serious?

Pastor’s Bookshelf - Welcome to my bookshelf! Each month I will discuss a recent book that I’ve finished. *disclaimer; I don’t always have time to sit and read physical books, but I do quite a bit of my reading through audiobooks these days.*

This month I’d like to talk about What If Jesus Was Serious?

By Skye Jethani

This is a FANTASTIC and challenging text! Skye Jethani is a former pastor, and contributor to Christianity today who is now an author and successful podcaster. He co-hosts a podcast called the “Holy Post” with Phil Vischer (the creator of Veggie Tales) – which I also highly recommend. To give you an idea of how much I enjoy Skye’s work: I listened to one of his books DURING HOLY WEEK (arguably my busiest week of the year), and I couldn’t put it down! It was so good I finished it in just a few days and then immediately grabbed another one. I can foresee Skye rising to one of my all time favorite authors.

I listened to this book on audiobook, but I almost wish I had purchased the physical copy – because apparently there are all sorts of doodles and illustrations to serve as a visual guide to this book.

The book has a very simple premise – Skye walks through the teachings of Jesus and repeatedly challenges us “Well, wait – what if Jesus was serious about what he just said?” It reads almost like a daily devotion – with lots and lots of short chapters, each one about a fresh topic and teaching of Jesus that so many Christians ignore or overlook. In fact, I recommend you treat it as such. If you pick up a copy, try reading it as a daily devotional. Read a chapter, and be challenged by the text for a day.

The book was fairly successful, and it led to a series of books with a related titles including, “What if Jesus was serious ABOUT PRAYER?” and “What If Jesus was serious ABOUT THE CHURCH?” Having read the first one, and loving it, I’m excited to pick up the next one when I get the chance.