Customer Reviews for Leafwood Publishers I Knew Jesus Before He Was a Christian (and I Liked Him Better Then)

Asking why Christianity is unattractive to so many people, this book contrasts a revolutionary Jesus who changed the world with a marginalized church that is being ignored by our culture. And it explores how churches can do a better job of representing Jesus to the world.

Has "the church" become a barrier to faith? Is what our culture knows as "the church" a near approximation of Christ's presence in the world? Or does "the church" give a distorted view of Jesus as businessman, showman, huckster, or fraud?

Without abandoning love for the church or forgetting the biblical mandate for its presence in the world, Rubel Shelly explores a model for thinking of church in terms that are more personal than institutional. In doing so, Shelly considers questions important to Christian life and identity.