Following Jesus: In an Age of Hypocrisy - Hardcover

by David Lowry (Author)

We live in a time when many view the church as a relic of ancient traditions and cosmologies, often reactionary, mean-spirited, nationalist, and racist. They see those who call themselves Christians reacting in fear to the changes around them, rather than, like Jesus, boldly declaring and living out God's compassion and justice. Some, who view themselves as nonbelievers, point out, often with great clarity, the distance between so-called Christian witness and the teaching of Jesus. This book takes us back to the first followers of Jesus and their attraction to Jesus and his teaching. It reexamines what they encountered in Jesus that led them to follow him, and it analyzes the dynamics of following. This exploration becomes a call to let Jesus lead us into God's presence and liberating action. By doing so, we experience a stripping away of our false religiosity, misplaced commitments, and idolatries. As we join with others in a community of Jesus's followers, gathered by Jesus to be sent out, we exercise true, society-altering witness.

Author Biography

David Lowry served as pastor of St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Chicago for over twenty-eight years, a church with a strong outreach to children in crisis, a ministry to people recovering from addictions, and a commitment to social justice. Pastor Lowry received a PhD in theology from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He is the author of Released Outward: Liberating Congregations To Do Justice, Love Mercy, and Live Faithfully.