Subversive Jesus, Radical Grace: Relating Christ to a New Generation

"Pull up a chair in the coffee shop and sit with me; listen to the questions."

Jesus never called anyone to a comfortable life. While it's true that Jesus preached a gospel of grace and comfort, he never preached an "easy chair" gospel, designed to make life comfortable for his followers. In fact, Jesus' message was subversive in his day, and still is. The grace he proclaimed was a radical grace, designed to usher in a radically new way of life. The gospel of Jesus is a transformational gospel-it is supposed to make a difference.

But to a new, "post-modern" generation, the evangelical establishment looks no different than the secular community surrounding it, and its impact on them is minimal. And while this new generation has a vast, unmet spiritual hunger, their hunger will never be satisfied by a traditional and comfortable spirituality. They need to see a spirituality that is genuine-and makes a difference. They need someone who can relate it to them in terms they can understand. How does one relate the radical truth of the gospel to a generation that is increasingly suspicious of religious words and cynical about religious claims?

Robert Henderson invites readers to look over his shoulder as he addresses the brutally honest questions of faith posed by a young "post-modern" man named Chip. Chip's questions echo those of a whole generation that is spiritually hungry, uncertain of where to look for answers-and totally unimpressed with what they see as powerless religion that offers no hope for change. Readers will discover how they can introduce the next generation of seekers to the radical grace of Jesus-a grace that will make a difference in the way they live.

Robert Thornton Henderson is director of seminary minist$ for Presbyterians for Renewal. He has been an ordained Presbyterian minister for forty years serving in several university churches and engaged with the culture of young adults. He has written several books including Joy to the World (Zondervan), Beating the Churchgoing Blahs (InterVarsity Press), A Door of Hope: Spiritual Conflict in Pastoral Ministry (Herald Press), and Blueprint 21: Presbyterians in a Post-Denominational Era (Providence House Publishers).