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Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others
What If You Knew You Were Going to Live Tomorrow? You've prayed the sinner's prayer. You know that if you die tonight, you'll go to heaven. But Todd Hunter believes Christianity is a life, not merely a secure death. Which means that eternal life--abundant life--begins on earth, as soon as we become a follower of Jesus. Drawing from his leadership and ministry experience as president of Alpha USA and from his own study and life experiences as an ordinary Christian, Hunter calls us to reframe our salvation and discipleship to focus on life, instead of just heaven and hell. God's intention, he says, is for us to become God's cooperative friends, seeking to live consistent lives of creative goodness for the sake of others. These pages lead us into this abundant way of living, offering Jesus came that we might have life--not just in heaven, but here on earth where he walked and lived among us. And your friends who are hurting, hopeless or hungry for something real need to see what difference life in Christ makes. This timely, biblical paradigm from Todd Hunter will inspire and equip you to live your days with intention, participating in God's work in the world today. It just might change the way you look at life forever.
199 pages, Paperback
First published January 26, 2009
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93 people want to read
About the author
Todd D. Hunter
14 books13 followersBishop Todd Hunter of the Anglican Mission in the Americas, is the founding pastor of Holy Trinity Church, an Anglican church in Costa Mesa, California and author of Christianity Beyond Belief (IVP 2009), Giving Church Another Chance (IVP Spring, 2010) and The Outsider Interviews (Baker Books, Summer 2010). Todd is also the founding director of Churches for the Sake of Others, the West Coast church planting initiative for The Anglican Mission in the Americas. Prior to his work with the Anglican Mission in the Americas, Todd founded Three is Enough, a small group movement that makes spiritual formation doable.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 21, 2021
In this book that Bishop Todd Hunter published in 2009, the major theme is given in its subtitle, ""Following Jesus for the Sake of Others". He criticizes much evangelism for emphasizing that you need to believe in Jesus in order to be saved, so that you go to heaven when you die. While that is not incorrect as far as it goes, there is a lot more to becoming a follower of Jesus than that. God wants us to be coworkers with him in this life, to reach out to others, to do acts of mercy, to connect with people to bring them along. He discusses how evangelism needs to be done today in this era when so many people are professing no religion in particular. Recommended to anyone interested in these questions.
October 28, 2024
Interesting but dated. Written in 2009, website related to the book no longer available. Similar to many others within the genre.
September 18, 2009
We’ve all heard the message, it says that we’re sinners separated from God, in desperate need of grace. Thankfully, Jesus came and died and through Him we can have forgiveness and go to heaven when we die, if only we accept him into our hearts. Questions hang in the air, however, why do we stay here? Why the incarnation? What are we saved for? The answer, really, is that this is an anemic view of the gospel (so too, really, is the so called “Social Gospel,” but for other reasons). It is these questions, and a deeper view of the gospel, that are addressed in Todd Hunter’s Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others.
Fundamentally, what Todd develops is a theology of coming to orthodoxy as a result of a life lived in an environment of spiritual formation. Throughout the work, Todd draws heavily on the work of Dallas Willard and N.T. Wright, which naturally sets the theology on very solid ground. He advocates, as any good Christian theology should, the making of disciples who live their lives for the sake of others and thereby usher in the presence of God’s Kingdom in the here and now.
Todd also understands the importance of imagination and story in the shaping our lives, and he emphasizes the importance of understanding the true story of the gospel if we are to really live the lives Christ calls us to live. This understanding, coupled with a deep awareness of the love and grace of God, means that Todd firmly avoids the pitfalls of guilt-ridden legalism that believers all too often fall into, but still maintains that there is something more to Christianity than mere intellectual agreement to right doctrine. As he himself has said, “Anything you can do with guilt, you can do better without it.”
There were a few places were Todd’s theology seemed to come uncomfortably close to that of the emergent church. Really, that’s only natural as part of what he’s seeking to do is to address the needs of the postmodern generation, which is the same thing the emergent church has sought to do. I think, however, that Todd does it better, because he meets the postmodern where it is, but he does it without losing the anchoring of tradition and orthodoxy.
If I had one complaint about the book, it would be the prevalent use of The Message paraphrase of scripture. I respect Eugene Peterson and the intention behind The Message, but as a writer I find the loss of poetry in that version frustration. This is, however, only and aesthetic complaint and it in no way dampens the important of the message of this book.
Ultimately, Christianity Beyond Belief is a fantastic book that paints a clear, graceful picture of the Gospel and the vibrant promise of life promised by Christ. I recommend that Christians pick up this book and soak in Todd’s expression of the vision of the Gospel. Also, at the risk of repeating myself too much, if you’re in the Orange County area and looking for a church, I strongly suggest you check out Holy Trinity, the church Todd Hunter is launching in Costa mesa at the end of September.
Fundamentally, what Todd develops is a theology of coming to orthodoxy as a result of a life lived in an environment of spiritual formation. Throughout the work, Todd draws heavily on the work of Dallas Willard and N.T. Wright, which naturally sets the theology on very solid ground. He advocates, as any good Christian theology should, the making of disciples who live their lives for the sake of others and thereby usher in the presence of God’s Kingdom in the here and now.
Todd also understands the importance of imagination and story in the shaping our lives, and he emphasizes the importance of understanding the true story of the gospel if we are to really live the lives Christ calls us to live. This understanding, coupled with a deep awareness of the love and grace of God, means that Todd firmly avoids the pitfalls of guilt-ridden legalism that believers all too often fall into, but still maintains that there is something more to Christianity than mere intellectual agreement to right doctrine. As he himself has said, “Anything you can do with guilt, you can do better without it.”
There were a few places were Todd’s theology seemed to come uncomfortably close to that of the emergent church. Really, that’s only natural as part of what he’s seeking to do is to address the needs of the postmodern generation, which is the same thing the emergent church has sought to do. I think, however, that Todd does it better, because he meets the postmodern where it is, but he does it without losing the anchoring of tradition and orthodoxy.
If I had one complaint about the book, it would be the prevalent use of The Message paraphrase of scripture. I respect Eugene Peterson and the intention behind The Message, but as a writer I find the loss of poetry in that version frustration. This is, however, only and aesthetic complaint and it in no way dampens the important of the message of this book.
Ultimately, Christianity Beyond Belief is a fantastic book that paints a clear, graceful picture of the Gospel and the vibrant promise of life promised by Christ. I recommend that Christians pick up this book and soak in Todd’s expression of the vision of the Gospel. Also, at the risk of repeating myself too much, if you’re in the Orange County area and looking for a church, I strongly suggest you check out Holy Trinity, the church Todd Hunter is launching in Costa mesa at the end of September.
September 23, 2011
A lot of our preaching and teaching focuses on how to get saved – or, if you prefer different words, about the rescuing hand of Jesus who has come to deliver us from sin and death.
When we do talk about life in the Kingdom of God it is usually with the goal of getting something through applying biblical principles that are suppose to produce certain results. Or, in some streams, we talk about maintaining a ‘holy’ life full of rules designed to keep us from being polluted by the sins of the world.
It seems that very little time is given to walking with Jesus and doing what He is doing.
In his book “Christianity Beyond Belief” Todd Hunter seeks to teach us how to walk with Jesus beyond our time of rescue. It is a book that looks at the gospel of Jesus, the role of the church and our own lives with new eyes – trying to see what life would be like if we knew that we would be living tomorrow.
In one of his best quotes, Todd describes the life of a Christian accordingly:
“The Christian life is life in the kingdom, living as ambassadors of the kingdom. It is being the cooperate friends of Jesus, living in creative goodness for the sake of others through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Followers of Jesus are both friends with Jesus and ambassadors of Jesus, joining with Him to tell the world about Him through His power.
Notice the focus?
It is about Jesus and others and not about us. We have been brought with a price and our lives are not our own. This is a hard teaching in a land of hyper-consumerism, individualism and entertainment.
Instead of joining together in communities dedicated to helping each other walk through this tough life, we go to coolest religious club in our area – and then leave a little bit later as they did not met our needs. We claim to be looking for the ‘meat’ of Christian life, yet rarely do we leave the comfort of our couches.
The ‘meat’, as John Wimber used to say, is in the streets. It is teaching others how to follow Jesus – it is being faced with the difficult decisions of life – it is praying with a lady on the verge of suicide and hoping beyond hope that Jesus shows up – it is giving out a box of food to a hungry person while praying for the presence to God to come and tear down the injustice and pain that surrounds them.
It is not enough to simply bring people out of darkness; we – the followers of Jesus – must bring people INTO the Kingdom of God. It is Christianity beyond believing.
When we do talk about life in the Kingdom of God it is usually with the goal of getting something through applying biblical principles that are suppose to produce certain results. Or, in some streams, we talk about maintaining a ‘holy’ life full of rules designed to keep us from being polluted by the sins of the world.
It seems that very little time is given to walking with Jesus and doing what He is doing.
In his book “Christianity Beyond Belief” Todd Hunter seeks to teach us how to walk with Jesus beyond our time of rescue. It is a book that looks at the gospel of Jesus, the role of the church and our own lives with new eyes – trying to see what life would be like if we knew that we would be living tomorrow.
In one of his best quotes, Todd describes the life of a Christian accordingly:
“The Christian life is life in the kingdom, living as ambassadors of the kingdom. It is being the cooperate friends of Jesus, living in creative goodness for the sake of others through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Followers of Jesus are both friends with Jesus and ambassadors of Jesus, joining with Him to tell the world about Him through His power.
Notice the focus?
It is about Jesus and others and not about us. We have been brought with a price and our lives are not our own. This is a hard teaching in a land of hyper-consumerism, individualism and entertainment.
Instead of joining together in communities dedicated to helping each other walk through this tough life, we go to coolest religious club in our area – and then leave a little bit later as they did not met our needs. We claim to be looking for the ‘meat’ of Christian life, yet rarely do we leave the comfort of our couches.
The ‘meat’, as John Wimber used to say, is in the streets. It is teaching others how to follow Jesus – it is being faced with the difficult decisions of life – it is praying with a lady on the verge of suicide and hoping beyond hope that Jesus shows up – it is giving out a box of food to a hungry person while praying for the presence to God to come and tear down the injustice and pain that surrounds them.
It is not enough to simply bring people out of darkness; we – the followers of Jesus – must bring people INTO the Kingdom of God. It is Christianity beyond believing.
February 25, 2012
Hunter's book can be divided into three sections: (1) Understanding what it means to be a Christian. (2) A description of the new way to live now that you are a Christian. (3) How to live together in community as a Christian.
The first section was excellent, beautiful, even compelling. I would give the first three chapters 5 stars as they painted a picture of the kingdom of God and our calling to the kingdom through Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful section.
The second section was OK. I would give it 2 stars. Although it fleshed out the picture of life in the kingdom, it did not compel me. More than anything, this is probably because the first three chapters were so good that I expected the rest to be equally good. This section had good ideas but that's it--they're good, not great.
The last section deals with life in the kingdom together and specifically proposes the idea of "Three is Enough" Groups (TIE Groups). This section is the main reason that I read the book--hoping to gain some insights for discipleship groups. While I liked the general idea of TIE groups, and I thought he did a fair job of presenting why they are superior to traditional small groups, I thought this section could have been significantly longer and more descriptive. He has more information on his website www.3isenough.org, but, if I'm going to pay for a book, I want the best stuff in the book!
Overall, the book is worth the first three chapters, but I would recommend skimming the rest of it!
The first section was excellent, beautiful, even compelling. I would give the first three chapters 5 stars as they painted a picture of the kingdom of God and our calling to the kingdom through Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful section.
The second section was OK. I would give it 2 stars. Although it fleshed out the picture of life in the kingdom, it did not compel me. More than anything, this is probably because the first three chapters were so good that I expected the rest to be equally good. This section had good ideas but that's it--they're good, not great.
The last section deals with life in the kingdom together and specifically proposes the idea of "Three is Enough" Groups (TIE Groups). This section is the main reason that I read the book--hoping to gain some insights for discipleship groups. While I liked the general idea of TIE groups, and I thought he did a fair job of presenting why they are superior to traditional small groups, I thought this section could have been significantly longer and more descriptive. He has more information on his website www.3isenough.org, but, if I'm going to pay for a book, I want the best stuff in the book!
Overall, the book is worth the first three chapters, but I would recommend skimming the rest of it!
November 26, 2012
A good edition to a "strategy for discipleship" library, the book sums up the Christian walk in four phrases: Cooperative friends of Jesus, Living in creative goodness, for the sake of others, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The book would be useful for new Christians (although I struggled discovering who the intended audience was, since a few of Hunter's anecdotes required a fair amount of understanding of Christian culture, both past and present). The best parts of the book were (1) Hunter's focus on the Holy Spirit in discipleship and the appendix at the back of the book that provides a simple yet important theology of the Holy Spirit, and (2) Hunter's "Three-is-enough" group theory, particularly how he compares and contrasts it with other coaching triads that are already out there. The basic idea? Discipleship takes place best in groups of 3. Hard to disagree.
September 4, 2015
I gave this book by Bishop Hunter three stars primarily because I liked his book on temptation better, and that one definitely deserves more than three stars, whereas this one didn't jump out to me as much. This book is very similar, only it uses different stories and approaches of one aspect of his temptation book. A bunch of ideas and materials cross over from book to book though, so it felt very familiar right away
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February 20, 2016good stuff to chew on
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews