Thank you for providing me with this digital ARC of this title.

Centering Jesus seeks to address a growing issue within much of contemporary North American Christianity, particularly in its evangelical guises: namely that it is looking less and less like a faith grounded in the way of Jesus, and more and more simply an expression of a particular conservative cultural worldview, particularly surrounding nationalism, masculinity, 'family values', and winning at all costs. While the book definitely addresses the wider Church, it speaks from within a broadly defined evangelical tradition (the author identifies with a Pentecostal and Wesleyan background and is very familiar with contemporary voices in Anglican theology), that that tradition, out of love and concern for it. As such, it will mostly be of value to those within evangelicalism.

With that in mind, I think this is a very successful book. It does a great job of stating the problem, why it is a problem from a Biblical Christian point of view, and the solutions it offers are, I think, helpful in re-centering Jesus in the lives of those Christians who may have gotten distracted by the current social and political climate..

All in all, I would highly recommend this book to my evangelical friends and those who are struggling to maintain their faith when it seems so much of the Church has ceased to care about Jesus. I don't think, however, it would hold much benefit to those in the broader Christian or 'Christ-curious' spiritual community.

Centering Jesus: How the Lamb of God Transforms Our Communities, Ethics, and Spiritual Lives by Derek Vreeland. This book is written to a Western American audience and challenges how we view the culture and God as a result of who Jesus is. It also encourages you to consider what it actually looks like to have Jesus at the center of everything from how we interact with others to how we interact with God.
While there is a lot covered in the book, I thought it was easy to understand and had a good balance of being academic and applicable.
One thing I really enjoyed was the section about the Christian calendar which went through the calendar with an explanation of the purpose. It included Lent, Holy Week, Ascension day and many other significant days. I think it was helpful to be able to read about the purpose since there were some dates I did not know the full purpose of.

At the end of each chapter there are discussion questions so you can dive in deeper on your own or with a group. I do think this book could be great to go through with others as you can then talk through the ideas that were presented and what challenged you, what you don’t fully agree with, what you can apply to your own life, ect.

Centering Jesus is about Christians focusing on the Lamb of God, Jesus, as the center of all aspects of our lives. I absolutely agree the Jesus sets the example for us on how to live. I also believe we need to see the full Trinity at work in our reading of scripture.

This book has a western audience in view and challenges how we view our culture and relationships with God and others in light of what Jesus has accomplished. I found a lot of this book to be a helpful reminder to follow and focus on the Lamb of God.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! 3.5 stars. First, the pros about this book: It's a lovely treatise for Western American (one could argue probably cis male and not typically marginalized) readers to begin to wrestle with polarizing community topics. It actively attempts to bring in a more collectivist community view that can be hard to find in other books of a similar nature. I particularly enjoyed the section on utilizing the Jesus Prayer to practice the presence of G-d. I also found the assumptions surrounding Christian spirituality needing Jesus at the center and is a lived experience of the Holy Spirit conducive to good discussion and growth.

This is definitely the sort of book one has to take their time on, meditating on not only the words written, but the assumptions underlying them. There's so much built on assumptions and unperceived biases the audience will /of course/ naturally agree with. Yet the person of Jesus stayed its redeeming factor, drawing me back in.

It's one of those books where with the words on the surface, I keep oscilating back and forth between agreement and disagreement between lesser theologies (some definitely not considered lesser by other Christians willing to die on those hills, but I digress) but the ultimate Lamb-centered theology of returning to center Jesus just keeps on making up for the 2 main assumptions: That the fellowship of readers also have to agree with a "PSA all the way with a hint of more Orthodox Christus Victor" theory of atonement and a Christocentric /only/ reading of scripture (and coming to this viewpoint by quoting a scholar whose work has been on a Christotelic reading of scripture???). There's quite a bit of proof-texting because of this (and it seems proof texting of other scholars' work), but also ways in which scripture is creatively interpreted in light of understanding Jesus as the church's desire and focal point to worship and emulate.

As a collective fellowship we need variety and humility to admit we don't fully understand the mysteries surrounding things Vreeland believes, or at least writes, with assurance and perceived absolutism. However, I hope that this book may still instill some humility on it's readers; it certainly did for me every time I reached a point of permanently setting it aside in deep frustration and the Spirit prodded me to return, to re-extend intellectual charity, and to keep finding Jesus at the center.