Why Jesus Makes Me Nervous: Ten Challenging Words of Faith

In this collection of meditations on some of the themes that undergird and define the Christian spiritual life, Jordan-Lake confronts what it means for believers to experience “the difficult and disconcerting and, frankly, appalling teachings of Jesus.” A professor at Belmont University and a former Baptist chaplain at Harvard University, the author mines her personal history as a pastor, mother, social justice activist and friend to illumine and interpret ideas such as resurrection and hope. Sometimes wry, occasionally stern, Jordan-Lake, with a touch of Southern gothic sensibility, argues that foundational concepts of Christian living, like worship and blessedness, may often be disruptive, disturbing, frequently joyful and often deeply life-changing experiences. Although she has a gift for welcoming, lucid and insightful prose, there is something a bit ephemeral about this volume, as with a sermon in which an audience remembers the story but forgets the point. As though to balance out the structural weakness of such a heavily anecdotal book, Jordan-Lake includes discussion questions for each chapter, so that readers may grapple with how these exigent words of Jesus can be applied to their own lives. (Nov.)