i’m a big fan of rob bell’s work. i enjoy all his nooma videos, as well as his book “velvet elvis.” It came as no surprise to me that I loved this book. “jesus wants to save christians – a manifesto for the church in exile” is an interesting take on our current way of living. bell takes us on a journey back to sinai, where we start wondering how far “east of eden” we’ve come as a society.

i can already tell that this book will undergo major scrutiny and criticism as it can easily be interpreted as “anti-america,” “down-with-the-corporations”-type stuff, but as with anything of this genre, you have to realize that the author’s opinion doesn’t have to be yours. if it is, fine. if it isn’t, better.

the first 2/3 of the book or so outline the cries of the oppressed and how we should be willing at every point in our lives to drop everything to respond to that call. there are some general statistical facts on world hunger, poverty, etc. – not a lot we haven’t heard before, but refreshing nonetheless. bell seems to be calling for a revolution in the church. one of my favorite quotes from the book is “church should exist not for the believers, but the nonbelievers.” how true.

while the authors compare the biblical exiles and empires to the nation of america, terrorists, and war, all of this must be taken in with an open mind. the introduction says that you have to read the book beginning to end or it won’t make any sense. this is true. if you open the book in the middle and start reading about how america is nothing more than an empire of socialites, you’ll probably return it to the store.

cover to cover, this is a great book. rob’s best in my opinion. it’ll certainly be on my re-read list.

rating: 5 out of 5