I was initially going to just comment on Pastor David Swanson’s post but it ended up being too long-winded, so I am just creating a new entry.

Even though I read the book with David, reading his summary makes me want to re-read those chapters! So I highly encourage you all to read The Jesus Way by Eugene Peterson as well. This is the first book of his that I’ve read and it has prompted me to also start reading through The Message, Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible. I’ve been using it as my text for an intensive Bible study that I’m involved with at church and it’s been fruitful so far.

Anyway, my general feeling on his question:

A reoccurring idea in The Jesus Way thus far is the importance of the community of God to be distinct. Distinct in the stories we tell, our robust imagination, the language we use to describe the world, etc. This of course raises a question: In your experience, are the people of God a unique community formed by our pursuit of Jesus? Or, does our life together more closely resemble our surrounding culture?

is that we seem to operate out of a fear of being too different from the surrounding culture. Being too different runs the risk of lower church attendance and attracting controversy and scrutiny. However, sadly, it also keeps us from really living to the full as Jesus did. This is the very way that God has challenged me as I’ve made my way through the book. Am I any different? More importantly, is Jesus a means or an end to me? Am I using Jesus as a more effective means of achieving what I selfishly want in this life-acceptance, significance, a sense of purpose-or is He my end and my means? It’s been a difficult question to confront but a wholly necessary one.

I believe that it takes a lot of soul searching and honest inquiry of our hearts to determine whether Jesus is THE way or is just a way for us. Is He the only Life that we want or is He a genie that we try to conjure up from time to time to grant our wishes? So far, all of my answers to these questions haven’t been pretty.