There are many who use Jesus as an excuse for multiple contradictory beliefs and actions. How do we decide who is right, and who is wrong? How do we discern if our approaches to Jesus and his Church are reflective of his living and teaching regarding the Gospel and the Kingdom of God? Whose interpretation of Holy Scripture is the correct one?
For many Americans, personal feelings, perceived needs, and religious experiences are the new authorities that trump all others…past or present. Neither the Holy Scriptures nor the Historic Christian Church (who gathered the Scriptures from the Apostles) have been completely cast aside, but both have largely become "suggestive" sources that carry little real weight. In the end, most Protestant groups (Conservative and Liberal alike) continually give themselves over to authorities that promise visible, measurable, and comfortable options in regard to a particular brand of Jesus and his ways. Of course, God is on their team's side, so victory and success are assured.
The suggestion of this book is that the above approach to church (of any particular team) only brings a fleeting happiness and a buyer's remorse. Only the real Jesus can give real life, love, joy, and hope. His vehicle for redemption and transformation is the fallible, holy, messy, and faithful Church of Jesus Christ. But it is HIS church. He is the Lord, and only he decides what faithfulness is or is not.
Is it Jesus that we truly want?
