Like many, I feel uncomfortable with either major U.S. political party. Butler explains the political creeds and political religions and idols involved. Being devoted to a political ideology competes with allegiance to Christ. “Politics has become the new religion,” he says. (588/3309)

After describing the values driving the political division today, Butler gives suggestions for Christian political involvement, such as being peacemakers. We are to follow the way of Jesus and do justice, show mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Christians can be involved in politics but it is not to be everything. If your side loses, God is still in charge. I really like his distinction between leanings and bowing. We have political leanings but we only bow to God.

There are reflective questions at the end of each chapter and additional Discussion Questions at the end. This would be a good book for a Sunday School class or small group to read and discuss. Here is an example of the thought provoking ideas Butler suggests: Do you pay more attention to political pundits than to the word of Scripture? How about re-prioritizing the reading of Scripture?

Christians are not going to fit into this world system. Jesus wants us to embrace the weirdness of His kingdom. (1745/3309) “Let's keep Christianity weird,” he suggests. (2544/3309) Let's show the world the Christlike people we are becoming.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an honest and independent review.

Josh shares real stories about how his church endured well through the political season. He gives very straight forward examples to try yourself and in your context. You can tell he cares about his community. He doesn't tell you who to vote for, but encourages you to love both sides well. Also not all authors should read their own books, but Josh crushed this!
Thighly recommend this very accessible book on politics to individuals, small groups or whole churches to help steward the American political season well.

I have spent the last eight years in confusion and dismay over the sharp divides in the American church over politics. Butler's explanation of the four political religions is like a "lightbulb" moment of clarity; and the Solution and practical steps he lays out for the Church are a roadmap for bringing us all together in Christ, as we should be. We can lean differently, but bow together. He writes with an engaging flow that makes this a quick read, but you'll have so much to think and talk about!

If there’s one thing I don’t generally talk about, it is politics. I have very strong opinions on certain candidates and I’m not overly fond of our two-party political system. Joshua Ryan Butler has a different take on our political system. He admits to its corruption and issues. He also admits to the fact that even in Christian circles, we belong to different political “religions”.

He defines four political religions into which people fall. He shows how these political religions shape us and how we react and respond when it comes to church, secular politics, and more. He reminds us that we shouldn’t be making our political leanings our idols. Because unfortunately, that’s something we do, even if we don’t realize it.

But he doesn’t just tell us what is wrong and what we may be doing wrong. No, he gives us solutions. He gives us ideas. He even states that we don’t have to follow these ideas to the letter – they’re there for us to take inspiration from and get creative with.

I sincerely thought that I would end up intensely disliking this book because of the political content. I thought it would “step on my toes” and convict me. But I found this book to be very informative and interesting, not at all convicting, because he admits that most people do these things without actually realizing they’re doing it. It gives solid options for how to stop ourselves from compromising our Christianity or even forgoing it in favor of our political religions and idols.

I gave this book 4.5 stars because it was an excellent book for those who are Christians trying to navigate a political world.

The Party Crasher: A survival guide for toxic political conversations

I really liked this book.  I really DON’T like how nasty our political conversations have become especially around the presidential election so it’s great timing to release this now.  

BTW if you’re looking for a book that tells you how to vote if you’re a Christian, this isn’t the book for you.  

But if you’ve asked yourself the question “how did our political conversations become so toxic?” Or “why is this dividing Christian churches so much?” then this IS your book.  

I found it tremendously insightful.  For starters there aren’t just two political ‘religions’, there are at four (at least!).  Butler boils down the key components of each, understanding them makes things less stressful right out of the chute.  But that’s only the first chapter, the rest of the book moves on to very practical things each of us can do to help us not only survive the election season but also engage in conversation while not torpedoing our relationships.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have Ten Commandments for political discussions?  Guess what?  It’s in the book!  

My stress meter came down several notches after reading The Party Crasher.  I feel so much better!

You may be just like my dad. He was a hard-core German with strong opinions on who should lead the Church and the world. He was certain that the way he viewed global challenges was correct. He knew what to do and, had people listened to him, would have fixed everything wrong in today's world. Does anyone tell you, "There's no reasoning with you so let's talk about something else?"
Similarly to Dad, you may be utterly certain of what's black and white in your journey with Jesus. Maybe you follow (or lead) a political movement to change your city, state, country ... or organization. You may be puzzled or frustrated by the fragmentation and cherry-picking of others from news sources, research, or conversations.

Yet not everyone agrees with you, no matter how much evidence you present. Others have their own sources - and those are opposed to your own information. Welcome to the current culture wars and political divisions.

So how do you engage in difficult exchanges without alienating people who are just as certain that they are right? And how do you lead or cultivate networks among deeply divided NGOs, congregations, and friendships?

What would happen if Jesus showed up? If he crashed your certainty and your party (and theirs)?

This book offers practical solutions to living the life of Jesus among culture wars, religious hardliners (is that you?), and religious certainty. You'll be challenged, offended, and perhaps corrected as you read. Well worth keeping at the front of your bookshelf as you seek the wisdom of God in the diverse world around you.

Joshua Ryan Butler always has a way of challenging you to think deeper and broader. The Party Crasher is a good read for the Christian today. The political intensification of 2020 led to much division in the local church, which continues to have ripple effects years later. Josh approaches the reality we find ourselves in with grace and presents the reader with an alternative way to navigate this diverse political climate in the local church. Wherever you find yourself on the political spectrum, I highly encourage you to read this book.

This was a pretty quick read, but don’t let the size fool you. Coming into a political year, I feel this is an important book for all Christians to read. It covers the four political religions, where our allegiance should lie, ten political commandments, when to be bold and how we should be involved. I would recommend all church leaders read this book and share the nuggets of wisdom with your congregation.

Transformative Yet Still A Touch Myopic. In centering this book around a grid that combines the traditional left/ right spectrum with "Modernity" and "Post-Modernity" as its up and down, Butler does an interesting and even transformative job of showing Americans that no matter what they think about politics and the church... they likely have some form of idolatry at play. The weakness here is the exact framing - in limiting himself to just the traditional left vs right and modern vs post-modern, Butler does in fact speak to a large swath of the majority. However, as Jason Blakley's Lost In Ideology - which will release almost a full month *after* this particular book hits bookshelves - shows, there is actually quite a bit more nuance and flux within the "traditional" ideologies than many - including, clearly, Butler here - think. So one can't really fault Butler for not having read a book at the time of writing this one that won't even be published until *after* this book itself is. ;) But the point remains, for those of us able to read both books close together, as I have been even months before either releases to the public. (Yes, making these Advance Reader Copies.) Furthermore, this framing also largely excludes more minority political views that don't abide by the usual L/R spectrum nor the up/ down system Butler uses here.

Overall though, this is yet another of those books that, particularly going into a Presidential election year with all of the hand-wringing, arguments, and outright vitriol that includes in the modern era of American politics (and every era, according to other works I reviewed a few years ago such as James Morone's Republic Of Wrath), every single member of every single American Church - no matter the individual's politics or the church's faith traditions - *needs* to read. Short at just 220 or so pages - over 22% of that being bibliography and discussion questions - this is written in a fairly conversational style such that one could easily envision Butler speaking this entire book into existence over the course of probably a couple of months or so of sermons. The included discussion questions, both at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book, foster a great deal of introspection and, in the case of groups, discussion, and could genuinely go quite a way to at least moderating the vitriol of this and hopefully future campaigns.

Ultimately truly a remarkable work, one that sadly will likely be review bombed by haters of Butler's (also excellent, fwiw) prior work (and indeed already has a one star on Goodreads from a known review bomber who could not possibly have read this book, yet which Goodreads refuses to remove for several weeks now prior to the writing of this review). But read it for yourself, and make your own conclusions. Very much recommended.