The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity Get it now!

This book brings up great points, and I certainly feel like Jethani is open my eyes to the perils of a church culture that attempts to reach the world simply by mimicking its trends. It is very inspiring in parts.

However, the presentation can be downright grating at times. Just keep a tally of how many times Jethani uses the words "imagination" and "conventionality" in the first chapter and you'll see what I mean. It appears in virtually every paragraph. He often uses the same words and phrases over and over, often in a vague and generic sense, which sometimes made me wonder whether they represent genuine, thoughtful ideas, or whether they are used because they sound fresh and alternative. For example, Stephen was martyred because he was "imaginative" and the his killers were "conventional". When Jesus says we must have child-like faith, he means that we must use "imagination" and abandon "conventionality". For our imaginations to be "set free", Jethani explains, we need to be "illuminated by the ray from on high" so that we can that we can see the "real" world - "saturated with the presence and love of God."

This books strengths are in its warning against a Christianity that compromises with its surrounding culture. But its weaknesses are that its summaries of Christianity and the state of the world were maddeningly superficial, and that its prescriptions are often so flimsy that I don't know what to do with them. When the advocacy of "imagination" is so vague, and the dismissal of "conventionality" so broad, i find myself wondering if this is anything that, say, Deepak Chopra would disagree with. Are these just flowery thoughts?

In the end, I think that the best way for Christians to transcend consumerism is to strive towards deep obedience to God. In doing so, we must open ourselves up to the creative and unpredictable ways that God works, being careful not to over-emphasize the "conventional" ways the church has worked in the past. We must be constantly strengthening our knowledge of scripture, so that our imaginations can be guided and focused by pure truth. And we must boldly accept our calling as culture-makers, not culture-mimickers.

As for the book, there have been many points where I was ready to call it quits, but I've always found it compelling enough to keep going.Get more detail about The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity.