Keith Giles - Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics to Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb

PRAISE FOR

JESUS UNTANGLED

For more than a generation in Americanized Christianity, Jesus has become so entangled in the political realm that he has become more of a political pawn to be owned by a side, than a leader to follow into uncharted territory. His message, once so counter-cultural, has been stifled, suffocated, and reduced to a tangled pile of knots on the floor of the American political scene. I can think of no better place for a Christian to begin sorting those out, and reclaiming a message that is still other-worldly after all these years, than with Jesus Untangled.

BENJAMIN L. COREY, AUTHOR OF UNDILUTED: REDISCOVERING THE RADICAL MESSAGE OF JESUS

This important book clears away the sticky webs that entangle the people of God. It demands the people of Jesus to look like Jesus, and not the world. It demands attention. Disagree with it. Debate it. Deal with it, or just do it...but dismiss it at your own peril.

NEIL COLE, AUTHOR AND FOUNDER OF CHURCH MULTIPLICATION ASSOCIATES

In Jesus Untangled, Keith Giles has put into words the cries and moans my heart has been making for years. This book could have been called Jesus Unstrangled because Keith is pumping oxygen back into our relationship with Christ and helping release the chokehold of American Churchianity. If your blood runs red, white, and blue while your faith sits meek and mild then I dare you to read this book!

KENT C. WILLIAMSON, EMMY-NOMINATED DIRECTOR OF BY WAR & BY GOD

I joined the US Navy because I thought Jesus wanted me to kill Americas enemies. My faith in God was tangled with my faith in America. Untangling my faith has been a hard journey thats taken many years. Jesus Untangled introduces the main ideas that led me on my journey.

MIKE IZBICKI, FORMER U.S. NAVAL OFFICER AND CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR

Through passionate stories, cultural commentary, and biblical insight, Keith Giles presents a good case for separating politics from following Jesus. We shouldnt want a Christian nation, because no worldly nation can ever follow the values and guidelines of Jesus. The rule and reign of God doesnt come through laws, regulations, and votes, but through Gods people living like Jesus among the people he brings around us. Do you want to change the world? Follow Jesus wherever he leads.

JEREMY MYERS, AUTHOR AND BIBLE TEACHER AT REDEEMINGGOD.COM

Our allegiance to God has been compromised by allegiance to earthly politics, and many of us dont even realize it. But we can only serve one master. In Jesus Untangled, Keith Giles provides a desperately needed wake-up call to the church in America, exposing the dangers of nationalism, and showing how Jesus offered a better waythe way of self-sacrificial love. This book should be in the hands of every American Christian.

CHUCK MCKNIGHT, BLOGGER AT HIPPIEHERETIC.COM

If there is an area that begs, yes screams, for untangling, it is the subtle or overt fusion (and resulting confusion) of God-andCountry. Years ago Jerry Falwells church had a marquis that proclaimedGet em saved; get em registered. During WWI, preachers expressed sentiments like, every dollar and every service given to Uncle Sam for his army is a gift to missions. James Dobson advised a mother concerned about her child being bullied, I believe you should teach your child to defend himself/ herself when attacked. Later, they can be taught to turn the other cheek. Jesus Untangled touches some of the most sensitive nerves in the religious world. You may struggle deeply with some of the details he presents, but Keith Giles does a superb job of uncovering the lie that wraps the flag or national symbol of any country around Jesus. Our allegiance is only to the Lamb of God.

JON ZENS, AUTHOR OF 58-0: HOW CHRIST LEADS THROUGH THE ONE ANOTHERS

One of the trials Jesus faced in the desert was Satans enticing offer of absolute political power. Christs triumph over this temptation prepared him for his ministry to a people who were only looking for a political Messiah, who would one day try to make him king by force. Jesus didn't come to usurp political authority; he came to subvert it.

And for the first few hundred years, the church followed in his footsteps. Rather than being unequally yoked with the world, seduced by its political power, the first Christians lived as ambassadors of another Kingdom; they understood their one and only allegiance was to the Lamb, and their only true citizenship was in heaven.

But after years of persecution, Rome finally offered the church relief, along with influence. So, we laid to rest the real Christ, in his burial shroud, and resurrected a new Christ, wrapped in a national flag. And over time, we learned to view the Bible through the lens of our own political leanings and turn Scripture into a prooftext for political ambitions and agendas.

In his new book, Jesus Untangled, Keith Giles reveals an unentangled Christianity that is much more than a mere separation of church and state. He demolishes the recurring fantasy of a world transformed through Christian laws and policies, and reawakens us to the truly transformative power of the Gospel. Using compelling examples of Christians throughout history, along with a sound interpretation of Scripture, Keith skillfully argues for todays church to finally lay down the sword of politics, and once again take up the cross of Christ.

RICHARD JACOBSON, AUTHOR OF UNCHURCHING: CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT CHURCHIANITY AND CO-HOST OF THE UNCHURCHING PODCAST

Simply stated, every Kingdom-minded believer will benefit from reading Jesus Untangled. This is especially true in the hypersensitized, increasingly polarized and divisive society that we live in today. In a day when everyone is drawing lines and choosing sides, Keith asks us to Take a step back from everything you've ever been told, or seen modelled by other Christians, and try to see things from a different perspective than you might be used to. If you are willing to take an open-minded journey with Keith on the topic of Christianity and politics, you will find things that you heartily agree with, things that intrigue or challenge you, and quite possibly things that evoke a resounding, No, No, NO! But if you are brave enough to persevere, you will find yourself reevaluating, reassessing, and possibly repenting of attitudes and beliefs you have held about what it means to follow Jesus without entanglement.

DAN NOTTI, BIBLE TEACHER AND CONFERENCE SPEAKER

OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR

The Top 10 Things Every Christian Should Know (But Probably Doesnt)

Nobody Follows Jesus (So Why Should You?)

The Gospel: For Here or to Go?

[Subversive Interviews] Volume 1

This Is My Body: Ekklesia as God Intended

War Is Not Christian

How to Start a Ministry to the Poor in Your Own Community

The Power of Weakness

Available online at: www.KeithGiles.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Permission for wider usage of this material can be obtained through Quoir by emailing .

Copyright 2017 by Keith Giles.

First Edition

Cover design and layout by Rafael Polendo (polendo.net)

Unless otherwise identified, all Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.