Periodically, I'll be posting updated chapters on this blog. My hope is to have a new chapter ready each Sunday (though I ask for forgiveness in advance if they're not always ready on Sunday mornings). Once the project is complete, I'll post the complete eBook, which will be available as a free download from this site. For those of you who read the original book, I think you'll find that there's enough new material to make the book worth reading again. In fact, based on the work I've already done, I believe it will be a different book entirely. For those who didn't read the original book, your patience has won out; it will now be free.As chapters are posted, I'd love your help correcting any typos or misspellings. Positive and negative feedback on the content would also be appreciated. Just comment, drop me a note on Facebook or email me. My hope is to make the final eBook the best possible project it can be.
This week, I've got the revised Introduction for you to read. It explains a bit more of my rationale in revisiting and updating The Jesus Sessions. The full text is below. However, in future weeks, chapters will likely be posted as PDF files because of their length. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy it.
From One Sojourner to Another
Why I’m Rewriting This Book about Jesus
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A few years ago, I had the privilege of writing a little book about Jesus. The opportunity came about in the middle of a journey I was taking. Physically, I had moved around the country quite a bit, starting in New England, and then living in the South and later the West Coast, then back to New England again. At the same time, I was plodding my way through the Master of Divinity program at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, taking the long route because I was working full-time. Both journeys left me feeling unsettled and restless.
Looking for a creative outlet, I began to teach and to write. The teaching experience was a gift given to me by the headmaster and high school principal at Christian Heritage School in Trumbull, Connecticut, my alma mater. They had a need for someone to come in and teach one special Bible course for high school students, and I was eager to leave my office job for a few hours a week to do something fun. I enjoyed my time there immensely.
The writing was simply a way for me to share my thoughts with anyone who cared to read. I blogged at first, but then wondered if I might be able to get something published. I’ll freely admit that it was likely a prideful impulse from somewhere deep inside that gave me the urge to pursue this route. Beyond my pride, though, I sincerely wanted to join in the conversation that was taking place all around me. You see, one of the drawbacks of being in seminary is that much of your life is spent reading books your professors assign, and unless you have an inordinate amount of free time at your disposal, you must forego delving into current debates and subjects that catch your attention.
It was in this environment that I wrote a little essay for an online writers’ journal popular with emergent types about the gospel that Jesus preached. In the essay, I argued that Jesus rarely presented the gospel the same way twice and that our modern evangelistic approaches, bent solely on decision making and cookie-cutter scripts, were out of step with the New Testament. My seminary classes had helped me see the discontinuity between the pages of Scripture and my own experiences, and the students in the Bible class I was teaching confirmed that this gap was real. Most had made a decision for Christ, but few could tell me what the gospel was really all about. The response to my article was both large and divided. Some expressed their like-mindedness and told me I’d hit upon something important, while others defended simple, all-purpose evangelism tactics that required nothing more than an affirmative response. Whether or not people agreed with me, it was encouraging to know that my essay had gotten people thinking.
Believing I’d found a subject worth exploring, I contemplated writing a series of blog entries on the topic. However, as I began to write, that prideful itch crept up once again and I began to scratch it, wondering if I might be able to turn the whole thing into a book. After shopping my proposal around for a few months, I found a small Christian publisher willing to take on the expense of turning my rough chapters into a paperback that someone might actually plunk down a few hard earned dollars to buy. Despite my sometimes self-serving impulses, God has been gracious. I’ve loved hearing from people who have benefited from or have been challenged by reading The Jesus Sessions. These responses have been an unexpected and unmerited blessing to me.
The other day, I picked up a copy I had kept for myself and began to thumb through it, reading paragraphs that were at the same time familiar and strange. It felt as if the words were from a book I had read many times over some years before, but a book that someone else had written. In many ways, I was a different person back then. The season of writing was a hectic one as I juggled a full-time job, seminary, a part-time teaching gig, church ministry responsibilities, and family obligations. Also, I can see now that my mind was a bit foggy at the time. I didn’t allow myself the distance required to ensure that my words would be chosen as carefully as they should have been. Exploring theological ideas is a wonderful, energizing thing, but without time for adequate reflection and extended study, putting thoughts to paper can be a reckless endeavor.
Looking back with a couple of years worth of reflective distance, there are passages in the book I wish I could change. Stylistically, I would make some alterations, but more importantly, in several places dealing with doctrine, I regret that I was not as detailed nor as specific as I should have been. I fear that some of these sections might give readers the wrong impression. In other places, I believe my exegesis left something to be desired.
Events in my life during the past couple of years have caused me to tie down my convictions more firmly on some issues that I was once comfortable leaving unfettered. I’ve now seen with my own eyes what can happen when such things are held too loosely. This past season has also brought with it a painful divorce. I am grateful that in the midst of such a dark time, God has shown me his goodness, patience, and trustworthiness in new ways. And while my intention is not to edit Melinda out of my life with this revision, there are pages where her presence now seems out of place.
Something written down on paper and then bound between two covers has the wonderful and terrifying feature of permanence. When a lifetime of work from a particular writer is studied, changes can be seen over time. What he once believed to be true in his twenties may no longer be so in his sixties. Even within the span of a few years, things can change. Sometimes an author has the chance to correct the record in a later work, but I’m sure there are lots of writers who never have such a chance. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity to write another book, but whether I do or not, I wanted to correct the record as best I could. I hope that in updating The Jesus Sessions the gospel is displayed more vividly and that God is glorified as a result.
A Word of Introduction
This book is about the gospel,[1] but more specifically it’s about people who have met Jesus and talked with him. It’s about ordinary sinners who became children of God. It’s about darkness that was confronted with light and about brokenness that was made whole. The Bible contains four narrative accounts of Jesus’ earthly life. We know them as the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Included in these narratives are some of the conversations that people had with Jesus. Some of these folks were of little importance in the eyes of the world. Others were wealthy and powerful—the kind of people who appear to lack nothing. Rich or poor, strong or weak, proud or humble, Jesus spoke truth into their lives and pointed the way home.
I believe that one of the reasons these stories are in the Bible is so that we might see glimpses of ourselves. The Bible says that we are all poor if we are without Christ. And Jesus spent his time on earth preaching good news to the poor—people just like us. While each dialogue is unique, they are really all the same, for in each conversation, Jesus reveals himself to be life and salvation. He is the answer. He is the good news. This book is for anyone who’s ever had a life-changing conversation with Jesus. And it’s for anyone who’s ever wanted to. For those who have longed to cut through the cultural and social clutter and get at the very heart of God, my hope is that this book will help you see Jesus with fresh eyes.
[1] In the New Testament, the word gospel is found over and over again. The word literally means “good news,” but packed into that simple definition is the story of God redeeming a people for himself. This story really starts where the Bible itself starts—the beginning—but all the seeds that were planted and the promises that were made in the Old Testament find their full life and fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
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