Secondhand Jesus (a book review)

Glenn Packiam, in Secondhand Jesus: Trading Rumors of God for a Firsthand Faith, joins a growing number of authors addressing “authentic” Christian faith, challenging people to look beyond the customs, habits or traditions of Christianity to the Holy God that wants to know and love each of us individually.

Beginning with a moment when his own foundation was shaken (Packiam refers to it as a “what the heck?” moment), Packiam combines his personal experience with the stories of the ark of the covenant to demonstrate how operating from a rumor of God - an assumption about His character or his role - plays out in real lives both modern and historical. It’s a unique weaving together that he eventually brings to a crux when he asks, “But what exactly does that look like? How does that work in the real world?”

Packiam’s style is a blend of scholarship, Biblical reference and personal experience. Some of the personal anecdotes were too far beyond my experience to be able to really connect with the challenges that spurred this journey for him, but with some thought I could usually find a comparable personal situation that related to the chapter's theme. I did find it interesting that in reading through the book, I could put it down at the end of a chapter and not be sure I’d grasped Packiam’s point, but then the concepts and examples he’d used would come readily to mind in conversation after conversation during the days that followed.

For many Christians this book would serve as a challenge to re-examine their Christianity and the role God is truly playing in their faith. For others, it may serve in the sense that an annual visit to the doctor does – a chance to double-check and make sure things are still on track. There are discussion questions at the end of each chapter to help with personal application or it could even be used as part of a small group study. Either way, Secondhand Jesus will be faith-changing if you take the time to think through the challenge Packiam presents.


Review copy provided by The B&B Media Group.