Tired of eating only Christian casseroles, listening only to Christian music, and having only Christian companions? Then why not try something radical — like being a friend of sinners like Jesus was?

Unlike Jesus makes a convincing and convicting case that we who love Jesus must also love the lost — and must stop cocooning ourselves within our churches. Christians need to get out more. But this doesn’t mean we become friends of the world (a decision some disciples make contrary to God’s Word and detrimental to their spiritual health).

Some Christians have simply “lost sense of the lostness of the lost” (Francis Schaeffer). Our hearts are not only “perpetual idol factories” (John Calvin), but are experts in excuse-making for not spending significant time with sinners. Unlike Jesus dismantles the top five excuses believers make for not being like the Lord Jesus, “a friend of sinners.”

Practical advice is given to church leaders for developing a friendship-evangelism mindset in our churches. We’ve even interviewed some of our unsaved friends on what keeps them from taking the gospel message seriously.

This book is clear, practical, and challenging. It will help both educate and energize your church, empowering them to fulfill the gospel commission. Study questions make it suitable for small group and church-wide studies.

Larry Dixon