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Jesus loves us so much, he sometimes slaps our vague idealism in the face with a healthy dose of reality. This shocks us, and we find ourselves speechless and blushing with either anger or shame. Not only do we not have the cool church we had hoped for, but we also don't have an understanding Lord to comfort us through our faith crisis! Instead, Jesus rebukes us with reality and tells us to stop betraying his cause by worshipping the devil.

Like Peter, we have to die to our notions of relevance and success, and let God—through a crucified Savior, through an amateurish church, through a stiff Communion service—raise up his people when he will and how he will, with a power and glory we can hardly fathom.

Mark Galli is managing editor of Christianity Today. This chapter is excerpted from his latest book, Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God (Baker, 2006).

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Jesus Mean and Wild is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

Publisher's Weekly reviewed the book.

More information is available from Baker Books.

Other excerpts include:

Baptism + Fire | Suffering may build character, but ultimately it's not about us. (Nov. 30, 2004)

The Angry Savior | Yes, Jesus taught peace and love. But Scripture reveals a Messiah who was not above losing His cool. (Today's Christian, July/August 2006)

More CT articles warning against relevance include:

The Dick Staub Interview: Trusting in a Culturally Relevant Gospel | Os Guinness says that evangelicals have never strived for relevance in society as much as they do now. Ironically, he says, they have never been more irrelevant. (Aug 26, 2003)

Spirituality for All the Wrong Reasons | Eugene Peterson talks about lies and illusions that destroy the church. (March 4, 2005)

Resisting "Relevancy" | The church suffers when pastors confuse anecdotes with parables. (June 28, 2001)

A Cure for Spiritual Deafness | Relevance, we have surely mastered. What would happen if we sought a little irrelevance? (April 6, 1998)

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July 2006, Vol. 50, No. 7