When Christians Act Like Christians: God's Call to Christlike Civility

Jeff Rosenau has written a great book that will help all of us who want to be ambassadors for Christ but have no idea how to negotiate some of the surprising conflicts we get ourselves into with out hurting someone or retreating helplessly without ever discussing important disagreements. Using examples from his own and others' lives he gives practical and godly advice that will help anyone engage others on difficult topics with grace and wisdom. This can be a life changing book and would be good to discuss with a Bible study group or Sunday School class or just to read on your own. Some great examples of successful dialogue in the spirit of Christ include finding goals in common with an authority on the opposite side of the debate on sex education, having a respectful talk with an imam of the Muslim faith, and enabling siblings with opposite political views to get along well and look forward to dialogue. You will benefit from this book no matter who you are or what your background. I hope many Christian leaders and lay people will read it and learn how to model Christlike civility in our churches, neighborhoods, workplaces, families, and our challenging world of changing values.

Every Christian should read this. Truly represents how we can live and love like Christ. We need to learn how to dialogue together for the common good - not judge others because they think differently than we do.

I haven't had a chance to read it yet but I bought it due to a very good source recommending it.

The church needs to start acting like the church. This book will help!

When Christians Act Like Christians is an amazing book! Truly, a must read. Throughout the book, the reader is exhorted to be motivated in his or her speech by a love for people instead of by a desire to win an argument. As a lawyer, I appreciated the Scriptural references and practical advice on how to approach conflict, yet as a follower of Christ, I valued the reminder that we are to have difficult conversations with those people God has placed in our lives. So often in the Church, we abdicate our responsibility to speak truth and lovingly rebuke one another in order to avoid conflict, which we view as ungodly. We all struggle with the balance of speaking the truth in love - either we feel like the truth will be seen as unloving, so we say nothing, or we are so passionate about truth we fail to care about how others receive it. This book is therefore essential for every believer, as it has sought to explain the balanced approach and provide techniques for its implementation. Most notably, however, this book reveals that there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution to Christ-like conversations; instead, the book shows that the only way we will ever be able to "act like Christians" is to become utterly dependent upon Christ for everything, including every word we speak. The author encourages us to abandon formulas and memorized scripts in exchange for developing a deeper relationship with Christ - a truth we can never hear enough!

If you have mastered the ability of "Speaking the Truth in Love", then you are among the few who have little to gain from reading Jeff Rosenau's book When Christians Act Like Christians: God's Call to Christ-like Civility. However, if you are like me, and 99.9% of other Believers, this book is a must read. Christians need not and should not compromise the truth of the Gospel in discussing tough issues, but how do we do that without alienating those with whom we disagree? The author addresses this very important and daily challenge using tons of scripture and many beautiful illustrations. This book equips Christians to look at dialogue with people holding opposing views as opportunities for growth (for you and the other party) rather than opportunities to win an argument or confrontations to avoid at all costs. Watch what happens when your goal in a discussion with someone holding an opposing view is to gain understanding and to seek truth rather than to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong. One approach builds trust and relationship while the other destroys both. There is a phrase from an old song that says "they will know we are Christians by our love?" I wish that were true. The more people that read Jeff Rosenau's book and put it into practice, the truer it will become.