Think Like Jesus: Make the Right Decision Every Time

by George Barna

Startling new research indicates that not many of us truly think like Jesus.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Christian Living, Religion, Faith, Nonfiction, Christianity

224 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2003

About the author

George Barna was raised and educated on the East Coast before moving to California in the early 1980s. He held executive positions in advertising, public policy, political campaigns, and media/marketing research before beginning his own company, the Barna Research Group (now The Barna Group), in 1984. The firm analyzes American culture and creates resources and experiences designed to facilitate moral and spiritual transformation. Located in Ventura, California, The Barna Group provides primary research as well as developmental resources and analytic diagnostics. The company has served several hundred parachurch ministries and thousands of Christian churches throughout the country. It has also supplied research to for-profit corporations such as Ford Motor Company, The Walt Disney Company, Visa USA, and Prudential, and has assisted the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army as well.

To date, George Barna has written more than 40 books, predominantly in the areas of leadership, trends, spiritual development, and church health. Included among them are bestsellers such as Revolution, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, The Frog in the Kettle, The Power of Vision, and Pagan Christianity? Several of his books have received national awards. He has also written for numerous periodicals and has published various syndicated reports on topics related to faith and lifestyle. He also writes a bimonthly research report, The Barna Update, which is accessed by hundreds of thousands of people through his firm's Web site (www.barna.org). His work is frequently cited as an authoritative source by the media. He has been hailed as "the most quoted person in the Christian church today" and is counted among its most influential leaders. In 2009, George initiated Metaformation, a new organization designed to help people maximize their potential. More information about his current projects is available from www.georgebarna.com.

Barna is a popular speaker at ministry conferences around the world and has taught at several universities and seminaries. He has served as a pastor of a large multiethnic church, has been involved in several church plants, and currently leads an organic church. He has served on the board of directors of various organizations. After graduating summa cum laude from Boston College, Barna earned two master's degrees from Rutgers University. At Rutgers, he was awarded the Eagleton Fellowship. He also received a doctorate from Dallas Baptist University. He lives with his wife and their three daughters in Southern California. He enjoys spending time with his family, writing, reading novels, playing and listening to guitar, relaxing on the beach, visiting bookstores, and eating pizza.

Reviews

[Stewart Ramsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is great material and great concepts. This is not so much about what things Jesus thought about all day long and how we can think about those same things. This is a book on understanding Christian worldview and how to live within that worldview in how we live.

This isn't my first Barna book. Readers need to understand he's a numbers guy. He writes like an accountant or data analyst, which isn't a bad thing but don't expect Barna to tug your emotional heartstrings. This book is not "precious." Don't expect it to be. However, it's very good material that all Christians need to hear and process.

Great use of statistics but also a good bit of filler information as well. Strip that out and this book would have been around twenty pages long. But then it would have read the same way that eating a brick tastes. (Even less "precious"). So the filler information I guess is needed from that perspective.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with most of what is written here, I do believe he overlooked the significant of the new heaven and the new earth, minor stuff considering all that he covered. But the basic premise is that we need to have the same mind as Jesus which is a Biblical tenet although he goes into much more detail. Thought this is something that more Christians need to hear about.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never read a book by George Barna before, though I received quite a few of them and know he had been the much-respected leader of the Barna Group for many years. I have read the work of David Kinnaman, the new president, and respect his voice and research as it is presented. I found this book to be a good starting place for many elementary or new disciples who want to consider the intellectual worldview of Christianity, which is just as important of a task as Barna explains it to be. However, this book does show its age in some of the topics it chooses to tackle, leaving very little wiggle room for the extraordinary breadth of biblical theology that an orthodox Christian can embrace. It is a book by an evangelical for evangelicals in the early 2000's and, while there are certainly some good nuggets of wisdom, I am sure better introductory books should be considered first for new believers.

[Megan Ritchie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing for any Christian. My young adult bible study group read this and it has really been an eye-opener for us. The book discusses developing a biblical worldview. It asks seven questions, that when answered, will show you what worldview you posses and how far off you are from having a biblical worldview. It helped me to further understand the why of things. Why I was created, what my purpose is, how and why God does some of the things he does. It all boils down to our perspective (our worldview) that determines how we view life. The choice is ours to make to have a biblical worldview, we just have to choose that and choose to implement it daily.

[Faye Limanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking and convicting.

This book opened my eyes to see through God's eyes and to accept the absolute truth of His word the Bible.

[Doug Winder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barna has some good points and things that make you think or stir you to remember.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barna describes seven characteristics of Jesus' worldview and how believers can develop a Biblical worldview. He also describes several other differing viewpoints.

[Jessi Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. This book will help ground any believer in how they should view every aspect of the world around us. With a firm explanation of why we believe what we believe and applications to go with it, it is important to have this biblical lens in how we operate in everything in the world.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am teaching a Sunday School class with this as the jumping off point (I agreed to fill in for someone else. While the book has a good amount of wise counsel, it is presented in a way that left me cold and uninspired.

This is deeply in the Bible as "life handbook" style of faith and utterly fails to really acknowledge the deep challenges such a view can present. Far too often it reads as if simply reading the Bible and implementing a Biblical worldview means every single decision in your life can be made within this framework. If you are already inclined to the fundamentalist - for lack of a better term - side of Christianity then I think this will seem straightforward and even appealing. If you are uncomfortable with some of that perspective or have wrestled with doubts and challenges to aspects of your faith I have a hard time seeing this as helpful or engaging.

Another aspect that frustrated me is that I didn't feel like this really presented how Jesus would think so much as what Modern Orthodox Evangelical Christians view as a Biblical worldview. For example, there is a whole section on evolution, creationism and intelligent design. What this has to do with how Thinking Like Jesus is beyond me.

What if frustrating is that it is not that I disagree with the worldview that Barna presents so much that it is presented in such a way that 1) practically assumes you share this view but just don't consciously acknowledge it or pledge to consistently apply it to your life.

Scripture is quoted but much explication is left to footnotes and the argument is not so much built as asserted. A biblical worldview is presented not as a natural outgrowth of the Gospel but more as a overarching curriculum for churches.

Barna doesn't do enough to explain the difference between intellectual assent and understanding and faith; between having a worldview and living out the Gospel.

[Stephen Jackson]

I didn’t enjoy this book. Nor do I feel as though I learned anything. The overall tone of the book was that it aimed to get me to be frustrated with hypocritical Christians while simultaneously distancing myself from the evil secular world. There were major elements of an “us vs. them” attitude and it seemed at times like this was the opposite of how Jesus would think. I also dislike its claim that it’s questions were the end all, be all when it comes what is and isn’t a Biblical worldview. The statistics at the beginning weren’t helpful, and they were hard to read. This is not a book I’ll recommend or read again.

[Lindsey]

This is one of the worst books I've ever read. A presumptuous topic presented by an arrogant, condescending author that lacks any real substance, or breadth for his case. As a Christian, Barna seems militant and hate-filled. This long, drawn-out essay would have failed a Freshman English course at Owensboro Community College due to its inconsistency, lack of fluidity, and faulty support. However, militant, fundamentalist evangelicals may really get a kick out of it.

[Stephen Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read Barna before, and expected good things. There wasn't a lot here I disagreed with, but I didn't see anything new, and was really hoping for something insightful. Consider reading Revolution again.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review at http://www.BillDahl.net or http://www.ThePorpoiseDivingLife.com

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

helps to develop a biblical worldview

[Mark S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of George Barna's best.