Subversive Jesus: An Adventure in Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness in a Broken World

New
Paperback
2016
$12.19

Craig Greenfield lives life a little crazier than most people. He comes from New Zealand but he has lived in some of the most broken (and beautiful) places in the world, including the drug ruled Downtown Eastside inner city of Vancouver, Canada and the slums of Cambodia. Convinced that Jesus places love for the poor and the pursuit of justice as central, Craig Greenfield has sought to follow in Christ's footsteps by living among people at the edges of society for the last fifteen years.
His quest to follow this Subversive Jesus has taken Craig and his young family around the world and back again. This is the story of how Jesus led them to the margins: initiating the Pirates of Justice flash mobs, sharing their home with detoxing crack-addicts, welcoming homeless panhandlers and prostituted women to the dinner table, and ultimately sparking a movement to reach the world's most vulnerable children.
Craig's story is a radical and potentially controversial critique of the status quo too often found in our own lives and even in our churches, but it also offers an inspirational and hopeful vision of another way. While readers may not relocate to a slum or start dining with drug addicts, they will certainly come to view their lives and ministry through a fresh lens, reconsidering how they are uniquely called by Jesus to subversively love the poor and break down systems of injustice in their own sphere of influence.

Synopsis

Craig Greenfield lives life a little crazier than most people. He comes from New Zealand but he has lived in some of the most broken (and beautiful) places in the world, including the drug ruled Downtown Eastside inner city of Vancouver, Canada and the slums of Cambodia. Convinced that Jesus places love for the poor and the pursuit of justice as central, Craig Greenfield has sought to follow in Christ's footsteps by living among people at the edges of society for the last fifteen years.

His quest to follow this Subversive Jesus has taken Craig and his young family around the world and back again. This is the story of how Jesus led them to the margins: initiating the Pirates of Justice flash mobs, sharing their home with detoxing crack-addicts, welcoming homeless panhandlers and prostituted women to the dinner table, and ultimately sparking a movement to reach the world's most vulnerable children.

Craig's story is a radical and potentially controversial critique of the status quo too often found in our own lives and even in our churches, but it also offers an inspirational and hopeful vision of another way. While readers may not relocate to a slum or start dining with drug addicts, they will certainly come to view their lives and ministry through a fresh lens, reconsidering how they are uniquely called by Jesus to subversively love the poor and break down systems of injustice in their own sphere of influence.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 26 May 2016
ISBN 10: 0310346231
ISBN 13: 9780310346234

Media Reviews

From the manger to the cross, Jesus announced the ultimate subversion of power---the last will be first, the first will be last; the mighty will be cast from their thrones, and the lowly will be lifted up. This book is about that Jesus---the holy troublemaker, the revolutionary Messiah. Craig dares you to join Jesus in the trenches and to reorient your life around the upside-down kingdom of God. What you have here is nothing short of an invitation to join the revolution of the subversive Savior who was born a refugee in the manger and executed as a rebel on the cross. * -Shane Claiborne, author, Irresistible Revolution and Executing Grace *
It's time to embrace a grown-up picture of Jesus. For many of us, the Sunday school picture of passive Jesus needs to be retired. So does the adolescent picture of my private personal Jesus. It is time to meet subversive Jesus, the Jesus who draws the ire of the elite by standing with and drawing attention to those who have been cast to the margins of empire. Craig introduces us to the Christ of the Scriptures, whose words and actions bring a corrective to the Darwinian society we have become. This book challenges us to love the prophets more than we love the profits and to hear with new ears how Jesus subverts the status quo of empire. * -Scott Bessenecker, associate director of missions, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship *
After a lifetime of living among and working alongside some of the poorest people in the world, Craig knows a thing or two about the upside-down nature of the kingdom of God. Subversive Jesus comes riding a donkey, carrying a towel, welcoming children, feeding the hungry, and serving the least. And Craig knows him---really knows him. * -Michael Frost, author, Jesus the Fool *
This book is a wonderful example of the more honest reading and following of Jesus that is invading all of our churches today. It seems many have come to recognize that the churchified and pious Jesus many of us grew up with had little to do with the man and ministry revealed in the Gospels. * -Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, NM *
Craig is a modern-day St. Francis of Assisi. Whether in one of North America's poorest zip codes or in the slums of Cambodia, Craig preaches the gospel through his life, not just his words. This is Craig's story, but as you read it, you may discover God's new call on your life. User warning: don't read this book unless you want to be challenged and your life changed. Do read it if you want to be inspired to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. * - Ken Shigematsu, pastor, Tenth Church, Vancouver; author, international bestseller God in My Everything *
Craig is a prophet of hope calling for an urgent return to embody the subversive memory of Jesus. Craig writes with a keen eye for the substance behind our religious rhetoric, showing us the way to live and love in a world of wounds. When too many authors write about ideals that we all aim to embody, Craig flips that script and reflects on the gifts of what his embodied ideals have meant in his life, inviting us to join him in bearing witness to hope. * - Christopher L. Heuertz, founding partner of Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism; author, Unexpected Gifts: Discovering the Way of Community *
You will find deep practical wisdom in these pages born of vast, hands-on experience that speaks to the breadth of human life---from what hospitality and child-raising looks like among the homeless to how to challenge injustice on cruise ships. This must-read refreshes and inspires, reintroducing Jesus as the life-giving, subversive, troublemaking friend of sinners that he was and still is. Read and you will want to join Jesus in experiencing on earth as it is in heaven here and now. * - Bob Ekblad, founder/general director, Tierra Nueva and The People's Seminary; author, Reading the Bible with the Damned and A New Christian Manifesto *

Author Bio

Social entrepreneur, activist and author, Craig Greenfield is passionate about God's heart for the world's most vulnerable. Craig is the founder and director of Alongsiders International, a fast-growing movement of young Christians reaching the world's poorest children. A storyteller and inspirational speaker, Craig's passion is to amplify the voice of the poor, communicating God's heart for the least in churches, conferences and colleges around the world. Craig is happily married to Nay, a Cambodian-New Zealander and they have two young children: Jayden and Micah.