Reviewed by: Tim Pietz, a Professional Writing Major at Taylor University.

Introduction

Title: Crossruption

Author: Jacob William

Publisher: Westbow Press 

Publication Date: 9/22/2017

Format: Print Book

Length: 225 Pages

OVERVIEW

     Jacob William succeeded in business, succeeded in life, and followed Jesus. He “did great work on [Jesus’] behalf and lived out the perfect Christian story” (p. 25). But it wasn’t enough.

“I had the gifts of the Spirit and the ‘encounter with God’ but still did not know the Person I was so enthusiastically working for and promoting” (p.25). It wasn’t until William began to base his identity in the Person, rather than a purpose, that he learned what it meant to be the salt of the earth (p. 29).

     William likens the Christian life to a tree. Modern Christianity inspires us to produce fruit, but we keep using “externals-focused” religion to improve results. Instead, we should seek to deepen our relationship with Christ and let our lives change from there. “Religion tries to rework the fruit, while relationship gives birth to a new tree” (p. 127). It’s a vivid metaphor, and a strong reflection of Christ’s “I am the vine and you are the branches” parable.

     William also highlights areas of church culture that inspire relational shallowness with God. Tithing becomes “paying people to do my religion for me” (p. 16). Worship becomes “music and songs” (p. 191). Discipleship becomes “instant membership” rather than a journey of following Christ. Reading God’s Word becomes the pursuit of “theoretical knowledge” or a way to “justify our ideas” (p. 168).

     These specifics are powerful and convicting. Unfortunately, they are often few and far between. In William’s focus on the conceptual, his writing feels thin on the applicable. After beginning with relatable references to his personal journey, William ends the book with very little mention of how he changed his lifestyle. The occasional references to biblical examples help, but Crossruption’s message generally floats in the abstract. Alongside the lack of specifics, Crossruption suffers from heavy redundancy. Especially in the middle, the book repeats the same concepts with slightly different phrasing.

     Still, the heart of William’s message is something Christians need to hear: “The Enemy keeps trying to convince us the purpose of a Christian is what we do for God and what God does through us. This is the Devil’s lie. There can be no other purpose but God Himself” (p. 198). While Crossruption struggles to develop its message beyond the abstract, its insights are worth bringing to the table.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5)

3 stars

Suggested Audience

Deep-thinkers who can apply the abstract

Christian Impact

Calls Christians to ground their identity in Christ, rather than what they do.

Interested in reviewing a book, movie, album, or other type of media for our website? We would love to hear from you! Find out more about how to submit media reviews.