The Jesus Style

I sought out a copy of The Jesus Style by Gayle Erwin,  because a teacher I truly admire (K.P. Yohannan) highly recommended it. I was NOT disappointed. 

He approaches Christianity in a way of living life as a Christian the way Jesus did when He was on  earth. He talks about how we are called to truly live lives of service and love for one another, and Americans are not living up  to that calling. It was a convicting read, and I'd love to share some excerpts that really convicted me!

"Jesus has authorized only one identifying mark of his followers, love for one another. Not knowledge of Scripture. Not style of clothing nor its percentage of body coverage. Not the rituals I go through each week....Only my love for others properly brands me." 

"Obedience to Him means never to violate others by being self serving."

"To follow the style of Jesus is to refuse the temptation of self promotion and glorification."

"Living to give will never fit our worldly logic, but it will fit our faith, and will unquestioningly require us to trust Him."

The Lord has been teaching me on transparency lately. This book reinforced everything He has been showing me about being vulnerable in my life. 

"Humility is simply seeing ourselves as we actually are, not higher or lower. It means being gut-level honest about ourselves-being up front. It means owning our emotions. It mean living without hypocrisy. "

"Humility chooses to be real, to hide nothing, to be open."

"Becoming one of no reputation means letting others see your failures and struggles honestly... We must consciously share our selves with others...to share my story, to become vulnerable to others, is certainly in the order of servanthood"

"Peter's response is typical of the way we approach one another. 'Above all, you must not see the real me,' we reason. 'I will wash my own feet, and you can rinse them ritually.' Perhaps just as not letting Jesus wash our feet removes us from fellowship with Him, not fulfilling the command to wash one another's feet removes us from fellowship with each other. We are to be cleansing agents to each other, removing the dust of our travels to prepare us to sit at the table of the Lord."

"When someone takes the time to listen to me, when I am compliments, when someone shares a joy with me, when someone values my ear enough to share a burden or confess. my feet have been washed. We need only to begin to notice where the dirt comes from in our lives and we can give cleansing to others".

James 5:16 proclaims:

"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."

"With trust, I can share those things that truly hinder me and consequently, I can expect prayer and healing...By confession, I authorize others to pray for me and, also, to check back with me later to see how I am doing. Such gentle, regular accountability is woefully lacking in the church."