Another Book - Imaginary Jesus

Well let me start off by saying that I was prepared to be offended. I guess I take myself way too serious, but the cover of the book turned me completely off. You ask, “Why Did You Read the Book?” quite honestly, I read it because I am reviewing books for Tyndale Books. Now here is the really cool part, I loved the book. It really made me think. It actually made me look at my life and wonder about who my Jesus really is. Now don’t stop now, hear me out.

Let me back up, the book begins with the main character, Matt a Christian, eating at a diner with Jesus. Along comes the Apostle Peter and punches Jesus in the face. Okay, so now I am wondering where in the world this book is going. Matt is just in shock when Peter points out that Matt’s Jesus is just an imaginary Jesus. And Jesus then takes off running. The story then follows Matt’s pursuit of the real Jesus.

Now the premise of this book is that we often mistakenly create a Jesus that is comfortable to us. The problem is the Jesus that we create isn’t always the real Jesus. It is the Jesus that we want him to be. If you know the real Jesus, you know that He isn’t always politically correct, He doesn’t shy away from difficult situations, and He isn’t concerned about offending people by confronting them with truth. The real Jesus also loves us unconditionally. He thinks we are special and He only wants what is best for us. I will be honest; this book made me begin to question if my Jesus was the real Jesus or one that I had created. Don’t get me wrong, I am not questioning my Christianity, I just have done some soul searching.

Now this book is very funny, but yet it is very serious. Throughout this book we meet all kinds of different Jesus’. We meet King James Jesus, Liberal Social Services Jesus, Conservative Truth-Telling Jesus, Magic 8-ball Jesus, Perpetually Angry Jesus, Testosterone Jesus, and Harley Jesus. There are many more Jesus’ in the book, but you need to read the book.

I guess the bottom line is that this book made me laugh, but yet it also challenged me. It is well written and a quick read, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I would highly recommend this book, but be prepared to have fun and laugh out loud. I am definitely looking forward to his next book