Review of Real by Jamie Snyer

“Would people know I’m a Christian if they didn’t see me at church?”  With that question, Pastor Jamie Snyder, embarks on this gem to examine and uncover what it means to be a Real follower of Jesus.  By allowing Sunday to become, “the axis on which their faith spins,” (Pg. 22) Christians have allowed our faith to be too closely entwined with Sunday and all that Sunday represents.  Our fellowship, worship, and study happen in the confines of a single morning and forget that “church is not a place but a people.”  (Pg. 23)

Snyder organizes the book into three sections:

1) The Real Question: The shortcoming of many Christians today

2) The Portrait of a Real Life: Based on Scripture, the characteristics of a Christ-follower

3) The Real Answer: How we bridge the gap between shortcomings and Real-ness

The book is compact (173 pages, which includes discussion questions and prayers) and packed with excellent points and information.  Snyder focuses on seven characteristics of a Christ-follower (Section 2): unbridled generosity, daring courage, rebellious joy, risky faith, relentless hope, scandalous grace, and mad love.  Readers will likely find some room for improvement in their walk in one, if not all seven, of these traits.  For example, our generosity ought to be driven by God’s love rather than out of compulsion (Chap. 6).  Happiness, which seems to be a primary aim of the world, is situational and not sustainable; Joy (Chap. 8), on the other hand, is of God, which means that it can and will sustain us in all circumstances.

The book could be useful for small groups, accountability partners, or individual study. Each chapter concludes with three Reflection/Discussion questions and a prayer.



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I recommend this book without hesitation.

[Snyder, Jamie. Real: Becoming a 24-7 Follower of Jesus. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2013]

NOTE: I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House for the purposes of this review.