Not in It to Win It: Why Choosing Sides Sidelines The Church

by Andy Stanley

Is it possible to disagree politically and love unconditionally? The reaction of evangelicals to political and cultural shifts in recent years revealed what they value most. Lurking beneath our Bible-laced rhetoric, faith claims, books, and sermons is a relentless drive to WIN ! But the church is not here to win. By every human measure, our Savior lost. On purpose. With a purpose. And we are his body. We are not in it to win anything. We are in it for something else entirely. That something else is what this book is about. You'll Jesus never asked his followers to agree on everything. But he did call his followers to obey a new to love others in the same way he has loved us. Instead of asserting our rights or fighting for power, we need to begin asking what does love require of me?

Genres: Christian, Politics, Nonfiction, Religion, Faith, Christianity, Leadership

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Andy Stanley is the senior pastor of North Point Community Church, Buckhead Church, and Browns Bridge Community Church. He also founded North Point Ministries, which is a worldwide Christian organization.

Reviews

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally! A Christian book on politics I can actually agree with! This book was not about the right or the left, or any particular political issue. It was about the author’s take on political dialogue in America as it currently exists. He provided biblical support for a more peaceful take on political dialogue, and encouraged the church to not let politics to get in the way of the gospel. Gosh, I want every political person in my life to read this book.

[Ken Vance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very timely, on-spot book. I hope all professing Christ followers will read it.

Before I finished the introduction, I was overcome with emotion that leaked out as tears. In this book, Stanley verbalizes the thoughts and feelings of both me and my husband over the past couple of years. The situation has impacted us personally as our grown sons are in the group he defines as the “more than half the souls in America” that we as Christians have “systemically alienated … through our un-Christlike rhetoric and fear-based posturing.”

Thank you, Andy Stanley, for your courage in writing this book and revealing truth that we as Christ followers need to hear. You are the voice of “Suzy Gray” to the Church, telling us what we need to hear even when we don’t want to hear it. May your words fall on listening ears and repentant hearts.

I just finished the book. Stanley gives some of the history of the Church and its impact on society, both good and bad, through the centuries. He discusses putting aside our traditional language of warfare and replacing it with the law of Christ—loving one another as Christ loves the Church and gave Himself for it. How we love one another within the Church will be the witness that reveals Christ to the world. He challenges us to not just “believe” but also to “do.” Our behavior is what the world sees, not our beliefs. Is our behavior giving an accurate view of Jesus? He urges the Church to live out the answer to Jesus’ prayer in John 17: “that they may be one.” He calls for unity, not necessarily uniformity, within the Church. So much could be said about this book. I don’t feel I’m even touching the surface of how it stirred me and caused me to want more than ever to be a true follower of Jesus, not just a Christian in name only.

I felt challenged and convicted, and I am thankful for the truth he presented.

I pray Christians, whether Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, will read this book and take it to heart. Thank you, Andy Stanley, for your words of wisdom for the Church today.

[Jordan Chitwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

The content in the book is INCREDIBLE. 10/10 content alone.

The only reason this book is not a 5* is because of the formatting. I’m not sure if the book was rushed during the editing process to get it out (based on the events cited, it was still being written in 2021), but the formatting is disappointing and unappealing to the eye.

WITH THAT BEING SAID: it is still a great read filled with love, grace, and truth.

Well done, Andy.

[Glenn Haggerty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only About Half of the Truth

Stanley asserts that the church must be publically apolitical. This is a good biblical application that, in general, Christians should strive for publicly. However, it is not an absolute. Stanley seems to conflate biblical principles with political issues. Of course they overlap. And in a world where everything has been politicized, it requires wisdom to know where to draw the line. This wisdom comes from the Bible. The Lord and the Apostles speak out against a number of moral issues. Today, some of those issues are also political issues. The Bible is clear about sexual immorality. Christian leaders are commanded to teach and followers are commanded to observe biblical sexual morality. Only the marriage bed between one man and one woman is undefiled. All sex outside of marriage is condemned in the New Testament.
Jesus said, “But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28 NAS).
And just like the Christians in the first and second century tried to save children from infanticide, so today Christians are obliged to defend the rights of unborn babies. When biblical principles and politics clash, biblical principles should be observed and defended. Even at the risk of offending. If Christians want to avoid offending woke ideology, they must remain completely silent, and do nothing, or more preferable to woke ideology, cease being Christian all together.
This book needs a complete rewrite.
Rather than a message of surrender, comply, conform and suppress Christ’s clear teachings, I suggest the author get together with the evangelicals with whom he so ardently disagrees and write a book on bridge building between Christians and between Christians and the world.

Theologically Defective

Love and pray for your enemies, turn the other cheek, guard against manipulation from all political parties and the media or anyone else. Make disciples, be all things to all people to save some, and let your speech always be with grace, Not In It to Win It is filled with great concepts and reminders to believers to practice and to avoid.
However, Stanley skews these concepts with a major theological flaw. I am astonished how this great teacher took so many beautiful passages out of their context, leaving half of the truth out and so fashioned a narrative, even a theology that is not biblical. Jesus said.
“. . .‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39 NIV)
If these two commands conflict in practice, the higher law prevails and guides our standard of conduct. In this book, Stanley overlooks the highest commandment, to love God, and substitutes in its place the second highest commandment, to love other people (that is, the variation Jesus gave it in the upper room discourse).
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:37 NIV).
This is an expansion of the second commandment (laying down of one’s life in John 15:12-13). That is why it was new; but it was also narrowed in that it was given to believers for other believers rather than the command to love all people (neighbor love). Hence, believers are not required to die for their enemies. Paul escaped the murderous conspiracy in Damascus and again in Jerusalem and on many other occasions. Peter refused to die for his enemies by escaping from jail in Jerusalem. Laying down of the believer’s life for unbelievers is not the highest absolute of Christianity.
In the same Upper Room Discourse, Jesus said,
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them” (John 14:21 NIV).
Hence, love for God, the first commandment, is demonstrated by keeping Jesus’ commandments, which were many. Loving God begins with faith in Jesus.
“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 3:23 NIV). For without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). The vertical relationship with God is first. And along with faith, God requires truth because God is truth. Believers can never compromise truth right through the core of their being. Therefore, believers worship God in spirit and truth (transparency). The vertical relationship also requires repentance (personal purity – Acts 20:21). None of these necessarily have anything to do with the horizontal relationship of loving others. Stanley’s apparent conflation of the two together equals about half the gospel.
For example, Stanley opens the book emphasizing believers being all things to all people that by all means they may save some (1 Corinthians 9:22). This is one of my favorite verses. But there are higher principles such as loyalty to God, truth, honesty and moral purity. If being all things to all people was the absolute, then the apostles would not have publically challenged the political and religious bosses of their day, the Pharisees; and the Ephesian believers would not have publicly burned their magic books. Further, Paul would not have instructed the Corinthian’s to expel the believer living in blatant immorality, and Jesus would not have condemned the churches for propagating and tolerating the immoral teachings of Balaam, the Nicolatians and Jezebel (Revelation 2:14-16, 20-22).
In the same way, Stanley once again cherry picks from the Upper Room Discourse, this time from Jesus’ high priestly prayer, and emphasizes unity. However, obviously unity is not the highest principle. Unity at all costs is apostasy. And Stanley overlooks the primacy of truth and God’s word in that same High priestly prayer. Before Jesus talked about unity, he talked about his word and truth.
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth,” (John 17:17 NAS). See also v 17:6-8.

Again, this book makes valuable points, but left out half of the truth. It contains some great applications. However, nowhere in this book could I find the Church’s obligation to speak up publically against immorality. This book needs a complete rewrite.

Glenn Haggerty M. Div.

[priya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andy Stanley does a fantastic job of articulating the Upside-Down Kingdom that believers are a part of, and how damaging it is for the church to equate political "gain" or "loss" (whatever that means) with the activity of God.

Shoutout to Jesus for living, dying, resurrecting, obtaining salvation for the world, and ascending into Heaven all without ever dismantling the Roman government.

Christian nationalism is an oxymoron.

[Brice Karickhoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Any time I read Stanley I find myself constantly wanting more nuance, but his style is all about concise and clear communication, so if it lacks some fine points, that comes with the package. Definitely an important matter, that’s fo sho

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is my first exposure to Andy Stanley. I was sure that the author (having been raised Baptist, attended Dallas Theological Seminary, and with a father that was twice president of the Southern Baptist Convention in the 80s) would be falling into the standard fundamentalist trappings, but this is not the case. "Not in It to Win It" addresses what I feel is the most pressing issue in American Baptist and non-denominational churches today: crippling political tribalism. I didn't like his overly-casual and repetitious writing style, but his talking points are spot on (raising this to a 4-star review).

Here's a few excerpts to give you a flavor of the book:

pxvi:
[In response to 2020] We left the impression that our personal faith would suffer irreversible harm if we couldn’t meet indoors every seven days. On social media we demonized and criticized, by name, people we’d never met. We gave up the moral high ground and confirmed what my kids’ generation has suspected for some time -- namely, we don’t actually believe what we claim to believe. Our rhetoric and our responses say otherwise.
We allowed ourselves to be divided over masks and vaccines. Perhaps the apex of the insanity being that not an insignificant number of evangelical Christian leaders considered -- and still consider -- COVID vaccines the mark of the beast. I’m still looking for the beast.
Indiscriminate demonization of entire people groups was considered an exercise in virtue.
. . .
Toward the end of 2020, as the prospects of winning politically and culturally began to slip away, many high-profile evangelical church leaders behaved as rudely and as un-Christlike as their secular counterparts. In some instances, worse. In their attempt to save America from the other political party, they lost their opportunity to save half the American population from their sin. Consequently, we all lost influence. We all lost credibility.

p5:
When Christianity is reduced to belief, we lose our voice. We lose our distinction. We’re easily reduced to a constituency, a voting bloc that can be wined, dined, lied to, and bribed. By reducing Christianity to a pagan bifurcation of sacred and secular, we’ve abandoned our opportunity -- our responsibility -- to serve as the conscience of the nation. Once the church relegated Jesus to the role of forgiver of our sins rather than King of our lives, we opened the door to lesser kings. Thrones never remain empty long.
. . .
Refusing to submit our lives to the Jesus of the Gospels sets us up to be seduced to believe that by leveraging, perfecting, and baptizing the tools and tactics used by the kingdoms of this world, we can further the cause of Christ. Boycotts, voter guides, protests, suing state and local governments, calling out politicians by name from the pulpit -- these are the new spiritual disciplines.

p15:
When winning replaces following, we’re able to sanctify all manner of un-Jesus-like means to justify that end. We become quick to speak and slow to think. We criticize unbelievers for behaving like unbelievers. We criticize other believers without talking to them first. We rebrand slander as truth-telling. We claim, defend, and sue to ensure that our rights take priority over defending the rights of others. We believe the worst. We rejoice when our enemies stumble.

p21:
Leading up to the 2020 election, it wasn’t difficult for religious leaders to turn the faithful into culture warriors.
. . .
The problem with the culture war is that there aren’t just winners and losers. There are casualties. When the church takes a leading role in the fray, the casualty is always the faith of the next generation. Their faith is sacrificed on the altar of temporary power and political gain.

p27:
As Ed Stetzer asserts, “You can’t hate people and engage them with the gospel at the same time. You can’t war with people and show the love of Jesus. You can’t be both outraged and on mission.
. . .
The moment we step into a ring that requires someone to lose in order for us to win, we are no longer followers of Jesus. I saw this play out in the 1980s and again in the ’90s. Different issues, same approach, same outcome -- loss of influence with culture and loss of respect by the next generation.
. . .
It’s One God under Nation . . . There’s no getting around it. Politically associated churches attempt to leverage Jesus for an agenda other than the agenda of Jesus.

p30:
With each inflammatory political post on social media, we make Jesus secondary and politics primary.

p82:
Jesus submitted one specific behavior that was to be the identifying characteristic of his followers.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
How we treat, talk about, respond to, and care for one another is the identifying mark of a genuine Jesus follower. Not what we believe.

P118:
We’re running the wrong race. We’re striving for the wrong prize. We are more concerned about the loss of religious liberty than our loss of unity.
. . .
Unity is mission critical because unity authenticates our message. It makes us credible and convincing. Disunity makes us, well, it makes us like everybody else. Public shaming, theological elitism, heresy hunting, name-calling -- those confirm the suspicions of those looking for reasons to size us up and write us off as posers, users, and hypocrites. That behavior undermines our influence, silences our voices, and causes outsiders to wonder why we insist on referring to our message as good news.

P125:
But if Jesus was correct -- and I believe he was -- if someone considers you their enemy, you’re not required to return the favor. Someone can go to war with you while you refuse to go to war with them.
Got teenagers?
Point made.
. . .
Loving our enemies isn’t something Jesus suggested. It’s something he commanded.
Jesus commanded us not to go to war with individuals or organizations that consider us the enemy. We are not to repay evil with evil. Or violence with violence.
You may be their enemy. But they are not yours.
. . .
Let’s discontinue the centuries-old tradition of importing Old Testament military imagery, narratives, and metaphors into our new-covenant preaching, teaching, and application.
They don’t belong there.
The conquer and conquest narratives depicted in the Old Testament stand in sharp contrast to the tone and posture of Jesus. Those important narratives are the backstory to the main story. Likewise, we have no business reaching forward into the book of Revelation to import the military imagery associated with our returning, conquering, enemy-slaughtering king.
. . .
Both Old Testament and end-times warfare imagery and language are incompatible with the new-covenant mandate of Jesus. A mandate given directly to us. A mandate to love, make disciples, and lay down our lives in the process if necessary.

P133:
If you want to fight for your rights as an American citizen, have at it. I’ll join you.
But let’s not invite Jesus to the fight.
It’s not his fight.

P156:
Paul knew from experience that the old and new covenants were incompatible. Mixing and matching them, as many Christians still attempt to do, wasn’t something he approved of. To the contrary, he insisted that any attempt to blend old and new resulted in a perversion of Christianity.
A version that readily employs the tools and tactics of the kingdoms of this world. A version where warfare terminology feels right and the Sermon on the Mount sounds weak. A version where cruelty masquerades as taking a stand. Where gossip and slander are justified as heresy hunting. It’s the version of Christianity easily deconstructed and abandoned by ex-vangelicals today.

P189:
“The way of love.” Sounds romantic. But there’s another “just as” around the bend.. . . "just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
The way of love sounds soft until we consider that it culminated in a man hanging from a cross drenched in his own body fluids. Embracing the full scope of crucifixion removes any modern misconceptions regarding the way of love. Christian behavior -- all Christian behavior -- should be informed by the sacrificial love of Jesus.

[Jenn Martino]

I have always appreciated and respected Andy as a solid preacher, and this latest book from him is fantastic! I believe every Christian should read this to help us navigate the world we are living in now with all the hate and division that’s going on. It was a great refocus for me to simply live the way Jesus modeled for us (which is to say that it’s not always simple at all) and to just love. I highly recommend this!

[Dana Hashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have ever read. Incredible! Some of my favorite ideas from the book, 1)You are writing your own story, is it one you want to tell, 2) uncertainty doesn't alter our value system but exposes it, c) if religion is just a cover for people to get their own way, it isn't Jesus way, d) Jesus said to love others as I have loved you, we can't make disciples of people we demonize, e) Jesus was never concerned about guilt by association, f) Christians are reconciled people given the task of reconciliation, g) what does love require, and too many more to list.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rev Stanley gives us a challenging book about what churches can do and should do. It’s a surprising book coming from a well known publication that is an anchor of evangelical groups. He does in an open to the reders who are looking for a statement about what churches of evangelicals.

There’s some history about the work of Jesus. It comes in a way that will attract the readers who like the book and a set of evangelicals who will be angry. Perhaps that what is needed in many churches.

The members of evangelical churches will probably be the groups that will read and discuss the book. It's a book designed for a group of readers to take in the ideas and discuss how to use the book. That rode is likely to be given to the church members

[Dennis Ticen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a local church pastor, I have felt many of these same things this past year. Andy Stanley, though he overstates the case at times, has done the church a service in providing a way forward. Whether we will take that way or not remains to be seen. As usual, his writing is conversational, easy to digest, and his adherence to his main message is straightforward. If I could put this in the hands of every person and they would read it, we would be in a better world.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I was provided an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

My interest in “Not In It To Win It” came from working with high school and college age students. A few years ago, at a retreat for college age, the question was asked, “What is it you wish the adults at your church, your parents, and your pastor, understood about social media?” The overwhelming response was that their political posts, even the ones they agreed with, pushed them away. One statement made was that politics had become the god of their church.

In “Not In It To Win It”, Russell Moore is quoted as saying, “We now see young evangelicals walking away from evangelicalism not because they do not believe what the church teaches, but because they believe the Church itself does not believe what the church teaches.”

This brings us to the core of the “Not In It To Win It”. Looking at the lives of Jesus, Paul, and first century Christians, what was their response to the “culture war” of their time? A very anti-Jesus, anti-Christian time. As followers of Jesus, those that represent the Body of Christ at this point and time in history, how are we measuring up?

This book was a challenging read at the beginning. Even with me agreeing with the premise of the book, I began to “fight back” against what I was reading. But the deeper I got into the book; my arguments faded away. This is not a book about burying our heads in the sand, holding hands, and singing “Kumbaya”. “Not In It To Win It” is much like John’s description of Jesus. It is full of grace AND truth. It both unifies and divides at the same time. And by dividing, I mean that Jesus’ way is accepting, but there is a way. You must decide if you are going to follow Jesus’ example or not.

I imagine many in the church will reject this prophetic message. But there will be those that will prayerfully listen, and I believe, find a better path for those that follow Jesus.

Get this book. Read this book. Argue, fight, and fuss with this book. Then share it with everyone you know. It is, indeed, a wakeup call for the Body of Christ.

[Todd Buegler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this book was written by someone who comes out of the evangelical/conservative theopolitical spectrum, it's a book that should be read by people across the spectrum. There is wisdom here.


Jesus' focus was on unity. And that is Jesus' call to God's people. And yet we find ways (lots of them) to divide ourselves.

Stanley's book is a refreshing call for people of faith and the church to occupy that place in the center that draws people together. It is from that space that mission happens.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have great appreciation for any pastor refusing to budge from a determination to follow, obey, and mirror Jesus as the basis of his preaching, teaching, and personal conduct. This is a much needed message to a church that has bought into the lie and devastation of “Christian nationalism” rather than following the Savior they claim to believe in. This should be required reading for anyone and everyone who self identifies as a Christian.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Review of the Audiobook

Published in 2022 by Zondervan.
Read by the author, Andy Stanley.
Duration: 5 hours, 11 minutes.
Unabridged.

Andy Stanley brings a warning to churches across the United States: Do not become involved in partisan politics. Jesus is not a Republican and he is not a Democrat. He did not come to rule this world and he did not make his church a government for this world. Nevertheless, Stanley has been criticized by church members he has known for years for not taking splashy political stands.

Stanley goes on to detail very practical reasons not to get involved in partisan politics, such as ticking off 40% of your potential mission field by endorsing a certain candidate and being known as a Democrat or Republican church.

By identifying with a political candidate or a party, you are rejecting your fellow Christians who disagree with you by identifying with a party more than identifying with the body of Christ. This is literally a heresy. The body of Christ has work to do (and always has) under every sort of political system. That work is not acting as a government. Once the Church becomes a part of a political system it is compromised - it's just another political player.

The only government ever established by God in the Bible was in the Old Testament with Israel. God had a special covenant with Israel. The United States DOES NOT have a special covenant with God. This book is a kindly, Bible-based warning to the Christian Nationalists and the Dominionists that they are on the wrong track. It it is not thundering condemnation, but it is intended to be a correction. It is much more polite and well-written than this review has been.

I rate this audibook 5 stars out of 5.

https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2022...

[Jonathan Beigle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was immediately attracted to this book when I heard about it. I firmly believe that Christians have made our reputation (even) worse over the last several years by the way we have reacted to politics. We are causing more division among ourselves and showing non-Christians the complete opposite of what it means to love like God loves. (Many) Christians act like they are Republican first, then Christian. We care more about our rights or getting our way than we do about being an example to others and growing the kingdom. This needs to change! I believe that Andy Stanely wrote this book for that very reason. Should Christians vote their beliefs on things like abortion, homosexual marriage, school curriculum, etc.? Absolutely! As Andy says, "The issue is not patriotism. The issue is priority." Do Christians need to become "keyboard warriors" or Republican evangelists to make sure that everyone else agrees with them causing an unpenetrable divide between Christians and non-Christians? May it never be! Am I perfect at this...not even close! I need to ask more questions and make fewer statements, but I believe Andy has written a book that every Christian that enjoys politics (I'm not one of those) needs to read.

Favorite quotes:
p. 13 - "When a local church becomes preoccupied with saving America at the expense of saving Americans, it has forsaken its mission."
p. 22 - "When the church takes a leading role in the fray, the casualty is always the faith of the next generation. Their faith is sacrificed on the altar of temporary power and political gain."
p. 82 - "How we treat, talk about, respond to, and care for one another is the identifying mark of a genuine Jesus follower...Nobody knows and nobody is better off because of what we believe. Doing makes the difference. Doing changed the world. Love, as Jesus defined it, for one another is our differentiator, which means our love for one another should be noticeable, notable and distinct."
p. 109 - "Are you willing to follow Jesus if doing so requires you to reject portions of your party's platform?"
p. 121 - "The enemy of the church is not the other politcal party. The enemy of the church is division."
p. 193 - "Our responses and reactions say more about the sincerity and authenticity of our faith than anything else."
p. 196 - "Imagine a world where people were skeptical of what we believed but envious of how well we treated one another. Imagine a world where unbelievers were anxious to hire, vote for, work for, work with, and live next door to Christians because of how well we treated one another and how well we treated them."

[Zoe Lightcap · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was awesome. Andy Stanley is one of my favorite pastors to listen to & he’s advertised this book SO heavily. I had to see what it’s about. It’s essentially a (desperate) plea to the church to stop getting involved in politics and divided by politics, and it’s full of Biblical evidence as to why this is necessary. It’s so clear how heartbroken Andy is about the state of the church, its relationship to politics, & how it’s impacting the next generation.


I really like his theology here in that he is so centered on Jesus & Jesus’ behavior. I was really interested in his chapter about being “unhinged” from the old covenant because of Jesus’ new one. That chapter is a different take and it’s one I will likely read again.

The whole book is written in a way that’s a fresh (& unpopular) viewpoint to me— which made it an enticing read.

[Kait Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always have loved Andy Stanley and his teachings throughout the years. I’ve felt out of place in church for sure since 2020 when the right weaponized Christianity against anyone who believed anything different. Nice reminder that Jesus would’ve hated (or an even stronger action, actively was passive toward) the current political climate.

"When the church as a whole is no longer seen as speaking to questions that transcend politics, and when it is no longer united by a common faith that transcends politics, then the world sees strong evidence that Nietzsche, Freud, and Marx were right, that religion is really just a cover for people wanting to get their way in the world."

[Meagan Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book exemplifies so many thoughts I had during the COVID Pandemic. The way Stanley calls Christians to follow Jesus and stop making politics their god is powerful and clearly supported with scripture. We are called, as Christ followers, to be united in Him, not judge one another for where we stand politically or how we land regarding nonessential practices. We are not here to "be right" or "win"; we are here to love our neighbors AND enemies and pray for those who persecute us. In the words of my dear friend, "Stop slandering your mission field!"

The things in this book needed to be said. Thank you, Andy Stanley, for saying them.

[Jared Pilkington · Rating 5 out of 5]

So convicting but it fires me up!

Loving one another as Jesus loves us is the context of the Bible. Everything Jesus taught, did, and thought led up to this. Everything Holy Spirit taught, did, and thought prior to this in inspiring what’s written in our Old Testament led up to this. Everything Jesus taught, did, and thought after this reflected this. And everything Holy Spirit taught, did, and thought in inspiring what’s written in the rest of the New Testament reflected this!

Serve, host, encourage, listen to, and forgive…especially those you disagree with.

[Mindy Tharnish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent read! I would absolutely recommend it to any pastor or leader in my church. This has helped me frame/reframe the way I think about Jesus and politics. I rated 4 stars instead of 5 because it felt like it ran on in places. It could have been a long blog post/series of blog post and gotten the heart of the content out just fine.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The church is in a battle. But was it meant to fight? We (as the church) get distracted from our mission by politics, mask mandates, vaccines, culture wars, etc. Why are we fighting when the example of Jesus is not about solving things politically?

This is a great book and should be read. It is newer and the examples that are used will feel dated in 10 years, but will still (unfortunately) be relevant.

[Austin Weece · Rating 4 out of 5]

I moved through this book pretty quickly. It was intriguing for sure given the last couple of years in church world. Overall think it’s a great read for anyone who has felt heavy from the recent political climate in our country and churches.

[Joost Brokamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent book! So spot on!

So committed to making wise decisions in life. With all the craziness in the world, this book helped me a lot to get my focus and priorities more on track with Jesus.

[Sophie Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Thank you Andy Stanley for your boldness and humility. This is not Stanley trying to convince you to vote one way or the other - in fact you could read this book and not know who he voted for - but rather is him analyzing the teachings and actions of Jesus and then sharing how Christians should apply that to our lives. I wish every Christian would read this. Would probably save the Church (and America) a lot of heartache.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is timely and powerful. It’s an important read for anyone who considers themselves a Christ-follower in America.

[Jesse Kroeze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick but important read! This is one that every Christian needs to read and then read again. Andy Stanley explores historical and Biblical examples of a Jesus way that defies aligning ourselves to one political party or another. He emphasizes the fact that by all the worlds standards, Jesus lost over and over. But when losing is winning and the last are first become our Kingdom principles, then it’s impossible to first align ourselves with a party rather than to be Jesus people. Andy admonishes us to reclaim what it means to be Kingdom minded in the midst of relentless culture wars. Essential read for everyone who calls themselves a Christian!!

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have time to write a full review, but if you consider yourself a person trying to follow Jesus, and you are a registered voter, PLEASE READ THIS BOOK.

[Janice Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this 10 stars, I would, as the content is so important and timely given the current political conditions in the U.S. Consider yourself a Jesus follower? If so, then this book is a must-read. In fact, move it to the top of your list!

P.S. Andy narrates this book himself so the audio version is spectacular.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book that is easy to read and powerful in its’ impact. If you want to follow Jesus’ example on how to engage in the political culture, this is a must read.