Mike Slaughter > Quotes

“Unfortunately, many of us start that journey with enthusiasm but fail to sustain it. Our faith goes on cruise control as we start seeking comfort and not a calling. It doesn’t help that too often in our churches we pigeonhole Jesus safely behind the altar rails and communion tables of our tame religious traditions, teaching people to revere Jesus instead of following Jesus sacrificially every day in the trenches of life. Jesus’ call is not to revere; his call is to follow. When we do so, reverence will naturally result.”
― Mike Slaughter, Renegade Gospel: The Rebel Jesus

“When we privatize our faith, we cease to be salt and light in the world. No longer part of a countercultural revolution, or an outpost of heaven demonstrating God’s plan for restoration and resurrection, we reduce our faith to this: “Jesus came, died, and rose from the grave to get me into heaven.”
― Mike Slaughter, Renegade Gospel: The Rebel Jesus

“The kingdom of God is neither blue nor red, tea nor coffee! The church must stand in prophetic tension with Constantinian political systems and never underwrite or accommodate itself to a partisan political world order, including American democracy.”
― Mike Slaughter, Hijacked: Responding to the Partisan Church Divide

“Why do so many of us profess our belief in God but trust money for our security?”
― Mike Slaughter, Momentum for Life, Revised Edition: Biblical Practices for Sustaining Physical Health, Personal Integrity, and Strategic Focus

“Christians have done more to destroy the image and message of Jesus than all the atheists and agnostics combined!”
― Mike Slaughter, Renegade Gospel: The Rebel Jesus

“I have noticed a more drastic shift in the church world and especially in the evangelical church world during the first decade of the twenty-first century. Values of justice and compassion for the poor are now associated mainly with the liberal end of the Christian spectrum (if associated with Christianity at all), while evangelicals are known primarily for political conservatism.”
― Mike Slaughter, Hijacked: Responding to the Partisan Church Divide

“When did Christians stop causing trouble?”
― Mike Slaughter, Renegade Gospel: The Rebel Jesus

“My issue isn't with a Christian's involvement in the political arena. We need Christians involved in the political process. But we must not equate a political party's platform as representative of the Kingdom's purpose on earth. Nor should we demonize those who disagree with our political positions. Legislation, though important, cannot create change and transformation in the human heart. Power corrupts!”
― Mike Slaughter

“We often embrace a disembodied “saved for heaven” theology. We have overemphasized getting people into heaven to the neglect of getting heaven into earth.”
― Mike Slaughter, Change the World: Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus

“Jesus doesn't lie. The Holy Spirit is with you right now to be your helper through any situation, including the messy ones. When life isn't making sense, the power of God will be a shadow over you! That gift, however, is often experienced in pain and suffering. Just remember, God's promise may be delayed, but it will not be denied.”
― Mike Slaughter, Christmas is Not Your Birthday

“Renewal happens as the church moves from a vague theism to a clear faith in Jesus Christ. The focus of the church is not church, but Jesus! God is made known to us in Christ. Faith comes alive in Christ. Lives are transformed and empowered through Christ.”
― Mike Slaughter, Spiritual Entrepreneurs: 6 Principles for Risking Renewal

“Minimize brick, maximize mission.”
― Mike Slaughter, Momentum for Life, Revised Edition: Biblical Practices for Sustaining Physical Health, Personal Integrity, and Strategic Focus

“The paradox of our time is that those who believe in God do not believe in the salvation of the world, and those who believe in the future of the world do not believe in God.”
― Mike Slaughter, Revolutionary Kingdom: Following the Rebel Jesus

“If we are going to seek God’s directive in prayer for miracles in and through our lives, then we had better be prepared to act on what we hear! It’s not a wait and see; it’s an act and see.”
― Mike Slaughter, Made for a Miracle: From Your Ordinary to God's Extraordinary

“We must unwrap the greatest gift ever given by our down-to-earth God, accept it for ourselves, and then extend it through Christ to others. A”
― Mike Slaughter, Down to Earth: The Hopes & Fears of All the Years Are Met in Thee Tonight

“an idol: anything, or anyone, that receives the primary focus of my energy or resources, which should first belong to God. The Bible calls this having a divided heart.”
― Mike Slaughter, Shiny Gods: Finding Freedom from Things That Distract Us [Chapter Preview]

“Christians on both the conservative and liberal ends of the spectrum (with an ever-shrinking moderate middle) can fall victim to the tendency to conflate their theology and political ideology in unhealthy ways that limit civil debate and Christian cohesion.”
― Mike Slaughter

“As Christians, our first goal is to hold positions consistent with our faith commitments and our belief that God calls us as a society to wholeness and flourishing. Consequently, we do not seek primarily to formulate our positions based upon non-Christian voices, but rather first and foremost upon the basis of what Christians have held on the topic at hand.”
― Mike Slaughter

“We make time for what we deem most important.”
― Mike Slaughter, shiny gods: finding freedom from things that distract us