Unshockable Love: How Jesus Changes the World through Imperfect People

If you saw a Rembrandt painting by a dumpster behind a museum, torn, covered in mud and dirt, how would you treat it? Once you saw there was a masterpiece beneath all the grime, you would carefully gather it up and take it for restoration to its original beauty. This illustrates the central theme of Mud and the Masterpiece.John spent a year studying every encounter of Jesus with people. The Pharisees were there on many occasions, and provided a ready contrast to Jesus. The book challenges us to check ourselves on how we see and treat people, whether we are more like the judgmental pharisees with a "mud management" approach to people, focusing on their sin and brokenness, or more like Jesus who saw their true identity and great value.John's tender heart for hurting and broken people pulses insistently through his words, urging you to look for the Masterpiece God created in each person you encounter. You can feel the intensity behind his message. The first part of this book (2/3) covers Jesus's heart toward people. The second part (1/3) covers his actions and instructs us how to become part of a wave of action.Like his previous two books, this one has personal stories woven throughout, putting modern flesh on ancient principles, and bringing them to life. I've always found that the stories and e-mails John shares make his ideas more understandable, and certainly give them credibility for application today. While some Christian books seem to be built primarily on a foundation found in psychology and positive thinking, the ideas in John's writing stem from his in-depth biblical study of Jesus's encounters, and he includes verse after verse from the Bible as the foundation for his message. The grounded principles he develops in the book are exemplified by the personal stories he shares, but weren't derived from them.Reframing the way we look at people requires God's help, of course, but also conscious effort. As I was reading different sections of the book I would pause and think through some people in my life and how I see them. It's a lot easier to see some as Masterpieces than others! I found it's almost like those stereogram optical illusion pictures popularized in the last couple of decades. You know the ones. They look like a page of squiggles, dots, or sometimes little characters, but if you stare at the picture, kind of blur your eyes like you are looking into the distance, wait, tweak the angle a little, and if you're lucky, a 3D image will snap into focus! It was a little like that looking for the Masterpiece with some people. I couldn't really see it, but then I would get a glimpse. Like the 3D pictures, it would jump out of focus again, but it was a little easier to get it back the next time.Though it isn't addressed a standalone section, and I wish it were, threaded through the book's message is that you also need to see yourself as a Masterpiece. It's easy to fall into the Pharisaical trap of subtracting value from yourself for areas where you've fallen short -- to know that the masks you wear hide a person "less than" what you hope people see. Seeing your own true identity in God's image is an important part of being able to honestly see and communicate with others their value in his eyes. And John says, "Part of his restoration work in you is to help you call out that Masterpiece in others."John believes that most people are painfully aware of their brokenness. They don't need us to open by pointing out where they fall short. Instead, "Since God's image resides in every human, we can learn to see and call out that image shining through the cracks in the mud of sin and brokenness." Look for things a person is doing that are in line with God's teachings. "So many Christians think proving non-Christians wrong is the goal, yet Jesus sought to prove them right wherever they spoke truth."John teaches that you let the love draw them in, rather than letting the law push them out. Jesus respected the free will of those he encountered, yet invited them into Life, which quenches our deepest thirst in a way that makes muddy water unappealing." His church encourages people who don't yet believe to get involved, to serve alongside the Christ-followers, to use their gifts for good. (For anyone concerned, leaders in the church must meet qualifications derived from I Timothy 3 and shown in a table in the end notes.) He writes of a Muslim who got involved in a Network of Gateway people in the music and arts. He played gigs with the leader of the group and also sometimes played in the band at church on Sunday. I know that wouldn't have been allowed in the church where I grew up, but John raised a strong supporting point for doing this. Jesus chose Judas to use his gifts to serve with him, even though Judas would ultimately betray him completely. It seems Jesus was showing it's worth the risk.Before you assume that John is advocating an "anything goes" grace, know that he balances grace and truth, united in love. "Grace and truth can feel like the positive polarities of two magnets. For some reason, Christians find it very difficult to hold them together in tension... God uses these tools in tandem to restore human beings." John believes, "If you truly are for people, hold good will toward them, highly value them, people can hear all kinds of difficult things because they'll know you are on their side." Jesus didn't ignore or deny the seriousness of our sins, "instead he put the spotlight of grace on the Masterpiece, so people could see why the mud needed removing." He uses three specific examples of Jesus doing this -- with Zacchaeus, the woman at the well, and the woman caught in adultery. "The reason Jesus wants his followers to be unshockable has nothing to do with hating sin or not. It has to do with seeing sin for what it is -- it's foreign matter. Sin is not our true identity -- that's the whole problem. We need to help people identify with God's image in them."The actions John recommends are actually freeing in a way. They make the whole process of sharing faith a positive one for all parties and much less stressful. What he shows both in the Bible and today of God's lovingkindness drawing people in and making them want to change is exciting and natural. I'm looking forward to practicing it.-----------Here are some representative short quotations:People perceive how you feel about them intuitively, and that's what they respond to... even if they can't articulate why.What you hold in your heart toward a person, the mental framework in which you picture them, is what people react to interpersonally. Understanding this can transform you into a more life-giving person.The religious Pharisees, on the other hand, devalued people based on a perceived weight of sin. In Pharisee minds, weighty sin subtracts value from a person. Do I hold in my mind's eye the picture of a persons' true worth (from God's perspective), or do I mentally subtract value based on my judgment about their relative muddiness?We are told to show mercy. We are not told to punish the world for their sins.Maybe the reason we get so shocked is that we don't really feel grateful or in need of God's grace in an equal way. In other words we don't see ourselves accurately. Therefore we don't experience the magnitude of God's love and grace extended to us, so we don't have much love and mercy in our hearts for those who need the same!God sets the value of each person by what he was willing to pay.How can we make change a matter of identity rather than a matter of consequences?Jesus restored not only the leper's physical body, but also his identity as a person who deserves touch. Luke 5:12-13God's restoration plan is to first restore our identity, rooted in our Creator, so that we feel secure in our uniqueness, comfortable in our own unique skin.God wants our hearts even more than our obedience.Jesus still meets people at their greatest point of pain and need, even if they do not believe.No Masterpiece of God is beyond hope of restoration.

Book was as described & arrived sooner than expected. I would recommend this seller.

Most appealing to me in reading Mud & The Masterpiece was the unique approach John took w/his extensive research into Jesus' interactions with people in the Bible -- he covered each one and shared real-life-today mudroom stories along the way. Never seen that approach before. Loved the tender, kind ways in which he talked about the Masterpiece that each one of us is ... definitely took my soul to the mirror with God again, and I can't stop hearing his words echo in my heart as reminders everywhere I go now, to search for that Masterpiece in every person I meet. This book is so filled with all the magnificant ways of God and definitely made me want to have God fill me to overflowing with those ways anew and wash away any and all the mud that has kept me from that.The second part of the book really is just an extension of the first in many ways, showing how the love ripples spread by Christians outward are a natural multiplying process that occurs. He helps organize that with some great ideas to help keep us intentional as well as functional in the process of building the Kingdom of God, as God keeps filling it up with His Masterpieces. One day the mudroom will be closed and the detailed restoration work will be complete! What a day that will be.John's books always encourage me, and I can't wait to share them with others. The stories he weaves in along with scriptures from the Bible are living examples that reinforce the truth that Jesus is a lifechanger and life with God is good! I hope he keeps writing!!!

I was privileged to read an advance copy of this book, although I've now purchased it. John Burke has been my pastor and friend for 14 years, and this is his third book.In reading all three of Burke's books, it's clear that John's writing style has evolved and is now more polished. I think the premise of his latest book -- that all followers of Christ can easily fall into "holier than thou" Pharisaical thinking -- is right on target and is a huge part of the reasons that non-believers think we're full of crap. It's because we are.I don't know that there is a lot of new ground here, but John still made me think. He states that people (well, sinners) were so attracted to Jesus because they could tell he cared about them, and that if we truly care about others and seek to learn about them, we'll begin to be more like Jesus than like the religious leaders of his day. Not a huge revelation, but John states it well, and it's still something that every believer should check their attitude against.There are points during which the editing could be a little tighter; the book feels a little repetitive in nature. This in no way takes anything from the importance of the message, but there were a couple of spots in which I wished Burke would move along to the next topic.Overall, I find this a worthwhile read for any believer, particularly anyone who wants to authentically share their faith with others. And if you're not a believer, you can read this and call us on our crap.

This has to be one of my new favourite books this year!"Beneath the surface of every broken person, there is a work of art waiting to be revealed". This is the central message of this book. A beautiful message of God's ultimate love and view of us. People are MESSY! We all are messy in some way and yet God sees that Masterpiece that is us.This is a call for the church to see people as Jesus does...with love! This book will challenge you as an individual and as part of the church. Just like the Pharisees we too have stereotypes and prejudices and this book will call out out on these and show us how we can see others as Jesus does. There are NO perfect people afterall.With excellent examples throughout and strong biblical truths John Burke really highlights a very real problem in the "Christian" circuit. The author goes on to not just highlight the problem but offers very real solutions that all churches can get on board with. Our churches need to be inviting and open places for all people to hear about Jesus so they can make a decision for Christ themselves....not just the "Christians".I 100% recommend this book for those who really want to grow in becoming more "Christ-like".

"I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ," said Mahatma Gandhi. Many people both inside and outside the church still share his sentiment today.Why is this so? Why do so many admire the One we follow but despise His followers? In this book, John Burke tackles this question to the ground until he comes up with a satisfying answer.His answer: Christians do not see people as Christ sees people. Instead, many share the vision of the Pharisees, who, Jesus said had no vision at all.In Mud and the Masterpiece Burke masterfully reveals the difference between how Christ saw people and how the Pharisees saw people.Christ saw the gold in people; the Pharisees saw the sin in people. Christ saw someone worth dying for; the Pharisees saw people who deserved to die. Christ saw sinners as sick people that He wanted to draw near to heal; the Pharisees saw sinners as sick people whose disease was contagious, so they kept their distance.Who are you most like?By the end of this book you will be able to discern the Christ in you and the Pharisee in you. Burke encourages us to cast out the Pharisee in us to make room for Christ to be "a friend of sinners" once more.If believers take this message on board, in ten years or so, we might hear people saying, "I like your Christ; I like your Christians also. Your Christians are so much like your Christ."

I ma recommending this book to all my contacts. Every church leader should read it and put its words into practise. Love is the key to effective engagement. Love is the atmosphere in which God's power works. People are looking for the right kind of love in all the wrong kind of places. This book will help you show the right kind of love in all the right kinds of places.

very good book, author is seems very down to earth.

It is remarkable how we as human beings get caught up in everyday life, form habits and patterns in our Christian walk, and forget why we are here.John Burke has a great way of communicating how Jesus did things and upon knowing that, we should be motivated as well to 'go into all the world' with the Good News no longer held back by our lack of motivation.