The Jesus You Can't Ignore, A Review

The Jesus You Can't Ignore; John MacArthur

Although John MacArthur is known for his graciousness and compassion, he is uncompromising towards false doctrine. He has come under criticism towards his no-nonsense attitude towards false doctrine. We live in a day when Christians are expected to love and accept everyone. We are told to have dialog with people we disagree with. We should never be argumentative. While we are commanded not to be mean spirited, we are not to blindly accept incorrect teaching just to get along.

The Jesus You Can't Ignore is a chronicle of the confrontations of Christ. While Christ was meek and gentle, he had no time for the pharisees. The pharisees were hindering Christ's ministry and keeping people form avoiding hell. Jesus would not give any credence to them. He openly opposed their teachings. He never engaged them with dialog.

In the book, MacArthur answers the issue that we are not Christ. We do not have his motives. We do not always handle things correctly. How can we be involved in correcting error? MacArthur points out that Christians are called to question error. Paul told Timothy to charge his elders to teach no other doctrine. (1 Timothy 1:3) Paul challenged the Galatians church because they had abandoned the true party for another false gospel. (Galatians 1:6)

Another objection is: What about Matthew 7:1? Which says, "Judge not, lest ye be judged." We are not to hypocritically judge. We are not to judge someone for doing the same sin that we commit. If we see blatant false doctrine, we should deal with it. Teaching such as Jesus is not God is a damnable heresy. (2 Peter 2:1) These heresies threaten the church. They must be challenged.

What about the command to let the wheat and the tares grow together. Since we can't know who is saved and who is not, why should we be fruit inspecting? While that is true, if we see clear violations of scripture, we should act. We are told to watch out for false teachers. (Acts 20:29)

I believe that this is an important book. It depicts who Christ is. Christ is loving, humble and gentle. He is also strong and forceful. He is the lion and the lamb. The man who healed the sick also purged the temple. He did not tolerate any type of false doctrine. Christians must contend for the truth. I strongly recommend this book. I like The Gospel According to Jesus by MacArthur a little better. This is definitely one of his best.