Review: Starving Jesus

Starving Jesus is a book written by pastors Craig Gross and J.R. Mahon of xxxchurch ministries, and is a call to action for other Christian churches and Christian believers to get out of their pews and, basically, put faith into action. They do this by way of sharing their personal spiritual growth, voicing their discontent with the American Christian body of Christ, and defining ways in which others (both Christian and non) can get closer to Jesus and walking the talk of Christianity.

What makes this different from the (already overdone) discourse on church reform is their candid personal accounts as pastors in coming to Christ – for real….and their sincere efforts to change the landscape of ‘the church’ away from buildings where people gather, into a church body of people who serve.

The title, Starving Jesus has a two-fold meaning. First, the authors make an argument that the church in it's current state is, in fact, starving Jesus right out of His own church...not feeding Jesus by way of not truly advancing the kingdom, by not doing what he teaches. Secondly, starving is a key to feeding your own faith through fasting. The authors talk about their own appreciation for how their faith grew through fasting, as well as how blessings follow fasting...and how biblical fasting is a given, not a calling- that it should be a regular part of the Christian lifestyle.

Formatted in alternating personal journal entries interspersed with relevant scriptural passages, the book follows a linear timeline of each of the authors' ‘stories’ of how they came to be xxxministries.com, leaving their traditional church environments and professional careers. In the journey they found fasting to be vital to their walk of faith and are convinced that it is not just a calling for Christians to fast, but rather, it’s a given. If you haven’t been exposed to the current genre of ‘reform the Christian church’, this book might seem a bit brash, forward, and offensive to Christians, and churched people.

The authors simply retell accounts of church people who either don’t understand, or forgot, what Jesus was all about. They call for a church without the red-tape and formality. They call for a church of doers, rather than pew potatoes. If you are one who is tired of the perceived ‘fakeness’ of churches or certain types of Christians, you will thoroughly enjoy this book, and appreciate the candor of these two pastors. You may also (hopefully) be inspired to read the Bible on your own, and fast on your own as a result of reading Starving Jesus.

I applaud this book as the most refreshing – no bull – no egg shells – no kid gloves expression of the frustration with ‘the church’ body, and a no frills urgency to get over it and get into your own personal relationship with Jesus by reading the Bible and fasting.