As the United States awakes to an uncertain result of a bitterly contested election, we seem more divided than any time in recent memory. Have the followers of Jesus succeeded in remaining united in love in the midst of the partisan division? The answer is “No” - Christians are publicly divided. Even more grievously, this division is marked by pride, anger, and contempt on both sides.
This month would be a good time to rediscover Paul’s characteristic of love as “not easily offended.” What if followers of Jesus were unoffendable - by each other, and by the world?
A conservative radio talk show host would seem to be the least likely person to help us here. But help us Brant Hansen does - and conservative radio talk show host, he is.
His radio show gave him a birds-eye view of the lack of maturity in the body of Christ - for example, an email sent to him that read in part:
u are a theological mess! and i could possibly get past the ‘stoner bert and ernie shtick’ and the coy flirtations with the women that call iff you ever had one intelligent or spiritual thing to say … what a shame, u have such an opportunity to help change lives, and you use it just like an apostate.
How to respond? That is the topic of this book, as Brant unfolds his journey from anger and resentment to discovering that he could choose to be unoffended. We all need to learn this lesson!
In the process, Brant tackles a number of hard questions, such as “What about righteous anger?” Clearly, he has been presenting his ideas over the air for years, and listened carefully to those who call / write him, so his responses are not theoretical but highly practical.
Throughout, Brant uses funny stories and an informal style to engage his readers.
You can purchase the book on Amazon, or the audio book on Audible.
Inside tip: Caroline Owens tells me the audio book is great, because he reads his own book - and, being a radio personality, he has a very engaging voice!