Edgy outlaw
Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus, John Eldredge, FaithWorks (2011)
“That is what I want to do here — I want to open up the possibilities of experiencing Jesus.” 1 That pretty much sums up the mission and effect of Beautiful Outlaw.
In order to open up this Jesus experience for anyone and everyone, I’ll borrow a statement from Mary Baker Eddy to unlock this beautiful outlaw for a universal audience: “The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus.” 2
What Eldredge loves so much about Jesus is universal. It’s about what Jesus’s actions represent for all humanity: freedom from material chains, sin, disease, and death! Transcending religious lines, the book jabs at conventional Christianity and the “solemn Sabbath day” Jesus. Its laid-back warmth serves as a catalyst to stop thinking about Jesus in that strait jacket, and start feeling him in yourself and everyone you meet.
Not only does Beautiful Outlaw break Jesus out of the typical church setting; it parades him all over town with people on the streets where he belongs. Also, the book is intended for an audience with preconceptions about Jesus and, possibly, trauma about their relationship with him. Which is why it’s lovingly written in an informal, by-the-fire-with-your-favorite-uncle style.
My favorite parts of the book are when Eldredge gets gushy about Jesus. “So, the best thing you can do at this point is simply begin to love Jesus. Just love him…just begin to make a practice of loving Jesus.” 3 He then explains that in different parts of his day he’ll just say out loud, “I love you.” Not only can you tell that this man sincerely means it, but his real motive in writing this book is to get us to feel the same way.
Eldredge says our life purpose can be identified by loving Jesus “with all our strength, sharing our daily life with him, and allowing his life to…heal and express itself through ours.” 4. This, of course, takes practice. But Jesus is made so accessible through this book — for those with or without a Christian background — that it really makes us want to follow Jesus down the straight and narrow no matter what the circumstances.
The real accomplishment of “Beautiful Outlaw” is that it makes readers feel like they’re meeting Jesus for the first time. The reader really feels like a disciple right at the feet of the Master.
Through fresh perspectives on Mary Magdalene’s crashing the private dinner at the Pharisee’s house; Jesus’ verbal parrying with the sassy Samaritan woman by the well; and Jesus whipping corruption out of the temple with a real bull-whip, the reader starts to see why “it takes a beautiful heart to recognize the beauty in a scandalous act, and to love it as [Jesus] does.” 5
The Jesus given us here is a rebellious revolutionary who knows that he’s defying the laws of physics, religion, and society through his radical acts. This gives readers a Jesus they not only can emulate, but want to emulate. It’s not a lofty, cloud-covered Jesus, but a man masterfully laying down the brickwork for overturning oppressive systems everywhere.
Here’s the key point that sums up the entire book: If it makes you feel alive, it’s Jesus. The salvation that Jesus came to give us requires rebelling against the world. It should make our hearts leap. Then we can experience life in all of its — sometimes edgy — spiritual beauty and glory.
By Michael Morgan
Notes:
Topics: Christ Jesus
Hi Megan!
So great to hear this question! In one of the drafts of this review I included a quote written by Mary Baker Eddy in an article called “Put up thy Sword” (found in Miscellaneous Writings, pg. 214) that helps to awaken the love that we all, as Christian Scientists, need to have for Jesus the man, not just Christ the eternal Son of God.
“My students need to search the Scriptures and ‘Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,’ to understand the personal Jesus’ labor in the flesh for their salvation: they need to do this even to understand my works, their motives, aims, and tendency.”
Powerful, huh? Sounds like Eddy expected her students to be way more John Eldredge than Deepak Chopra.
BIG THOUGHT THERE – GO JESUS!
Thank you for such a great review! Did you find that when the author referred to feeling alive as “Jesus” that perhaps Christian Scientists would consider that the Christ instead of the man, Jesus? Again, thanks for your insightful review!