Christian Barriers to Jesus (Revised Edition): Conversations and Questions from the Indian Context

A Call to Follow Jesus When He Challenges Our Traditions

There are many challenges to adequately representing Jesus to the majority world, and often Western Christian traditions create unnecessary hindrances to people accepting His truth. This book grew out of many interviews with Indian Jesus-followers--both Christians and Yesu bhaktas--who identified painful stumbling blocks to receiving and sharing the gospel.

While Hindus often have a high view of Jesus, they struggle with the conventions, practices, and labels around "church." Christian Barriers to Jesus uniquely challenges readers to examine nine barrier-producing Christian traditions, exploring:  

- The assumptions Christians may hold about the value, origin, or necessity of their customs

- The concerns Hindus commonly raise about traditions that confuse, offend, or alienate them

- Teachings from Jesus in Scripture that often question the same ideas or practices

Pennington suggests that by not asking deep enough questions about what is essential for following Jesus and what is a non-essential human invention, the church is unnecessarily alienating millions of people from Him. As a body, it is time to honestly address these concerns, developing new patterns of discipleship that reveal Jesus's heart for breaking down barriers instead of creating them. The analysis presented in this book will empower readers to critically examine their personally cherished traditions and the purity of the gospel they present, with insights that are relevant in all contexts.

J. Paul Pennington (MDiv, EdD) has served in various contexts in leadership training, cultural coaching, and dependency reduction for forty years. A decade ago, he began to explore, with Indian colleagues, Christian traditions that alienate Hindus from Jesus. Today he challenges believers everywhere to examine and wrestle with these issues and advocates for incarnational believers who follow Jesus within their own sociocultural communities. Paul enjoys spending time with his family, especially playing and exploring nature with his seven adorable grandkids. traditions that alienate Hindus from Jesus. Today he challenges Christians to examine and wrestle with these issues and advocates for incarnational believers who follow Jesus within their own sociocultural communities. Paul enjoys spending time with his family, especially playing and exploring nature with his seven adorable grandkids.