SPIRITUAL FOCUS ON BOOKS October 12, 2009 Issue

AN UNEXPECTED LOVE

KIM SHIPPEY, SENIOR WRITER

TWO THINGS DREW ME to the crisp new paperback on the shelves of Barnes and Noble. First, the title, Jesus Mean and Wild, was extraordinarily provocative—though I liked the subtitle's reference to an "unexpected love." Second, I was curious to see what a fellow religion writer had to say about some of the hot-button issues of today.

Mark Galli is the senior managing editor of the monthly magazine Christianity Today. He's a former Presbyterian minister, and the author and coauthor of several books, including 131 Christian Everyone Should know and Beyond Smells and Bells.

Galli points out that the contemporary church tends to paint Jesus as gentle, meek, and usually nice. But Galli is bold enough to write about a different kind of Saviour, who sometimes makes other people feel decidedly uncomfortable. He focuses on Jesus as portrayed in Mark's Gospel, famous for its presentation of Jesus' militancy. Yet Galli leaves us reassured that if Jesus' plan for our lives often feels demanding and difficult, it's in that difficulty that we find real love. He remains our "gentle, patient Sherpa."

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