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Messy Truth: How to Foster Community Without Sacrificing Conviction Spiral-Bound | August 10, 2021
Caleb Kaltenbach
★★★★☆+ from 101 to 500 ratings
$19.78
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Messy Truth: How to Foster Community Without Sacrificing Conviction
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From the author of Messy Grace, a former pastor raised by gay parents, comes a compassionate playbook to help Christians, church staff, and ministry leaders create a culture of belonging without sacrificing theological convictions.
What should we do? This is a question many Christians are asking as they face shifting societal norms, conflicting opinions, and often inaccurate scriptural interpretations regarding those who identify as LGBTQ+.
Caleb Kaltenbach believes there’s a more helpful question:What am I willing to do to keep and build influence with ______________?
Caleb knows our love for others is best measured by the lengths we’ll go to help them. He also recognizes that people find and follow Jesus better in community than in isolation. As a child raised by three activist gay parents, Caleb experienced firsthand the outrage of some Christians. That’s why he is committed to creating a sense of belonging for all people.
True community can happen only when Christians are intentional in infusing their attitudes, systems, and values with grace and truth. This hopeful, practical book offers tools for encouraging church involvement, strengthening personal relationships, increasing empathy, and engaging in pivotal conversations about grace and truth with our whole community.
Fostering a culture of belonging is a messy process, but it holds a massive possibility for everyone involved: a growing relationship with Jesus.
What should we do? This is a question many Christians are asking as they face shifting societal norms, conflicting opinions, and often inaccurate scriptural interpretations regarding those who identify as LGBTQ+.
Caleb Kaltenbach believes there’s a more helpful question:What am I willing to do to keep and build influence with ______________?
Caleb knows our love for others is best measured by the lengths we’ll go to help them. He also recognizes that people find and follow Jesus better in community than in isolation. As a child raised by three activist gay parents, Caleb experienced firsthand the outrage of some Christians. That’s why he is committed to creating a sense of belonging for all people.
True community can happen only when Christians are intentional in infusing their attitudes, systems, and values with grace and truth. This hopeful, practical book offers tools for encouraging church involvement, strengthening personal relationships, increasing empathy, and engaging in pivotal conversations about grace and truth with our whole community.
Fostering a culture of belonging is a messy process, but it holds a massive possibility for everyone involved: a growing relationship with Jesus.
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Original Binding: Trade Paperback
Pages: 256 pages
ISBN-10: 0525654275
Item Weight: 0.5 lbs
Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8.0 inches
Customer Reviews: 4 out of 5 stars 101 to 500 ratings
“The church desperately needs wise and winsome guides that can equip us to lavishly love LGBTQ people in the context of very real, very messy churches and ministries. Caleb Kaltenbach is one of those guides!”—Michelle Sanchez, executive minister of Make and Deepen Disciples at Evangelical Covenant Church
“In Messy Truth, you will grow in your compassion for and conversation with those in the LGBTQ community. Caleb Kaltenbach is a leader and pastor who fosters relationships without sacrificing conviction, and he will teach you to do the same.”—Kyle Idleman, senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church
“Once again, Caleb Kaltenbach tackles this difficult subject with superbly well-balanced grace and truth. His sensitivity and empathy regarding the LGBTQ community is one to be modeled. A must-read for all Christians.”—Becket Cook, author of A Change of Affection
“Many books discuss research and theories about loving people, but this book models how we can relentlessly love people and meet them where they’re at so we can guide them to Jesus.”—Efrem Smith, co–senior pastor of Midtown Covenant Church
“Messy Truth provides a most practical guide— through stories, conversations, and tips for church leaders and Christians to show mercy over judgment.”—DJ Chuang, author of MultiAsian.Church
“Messy Truth is a timely wake- up call for the church. It offers a road map for staying faithful to Scripture and being empathetic and gracious toward people in the LGBTQ community and beyond.”—Sean McDowell, PhD, associate professor of apologetics at Talbot School of Theology
“Caleb teaches us the art of seeing people— people whom Jesus loves. In Messy Truth, we are given the tools to have healing and life-giving conversations that ultimately foster community and belonging for all people.”—Adrianna Cervantes, youth and young- adult programming coordinator at Shepherd Church
“Caleb’s application of Jesus’s powerful formula of grace and truth gives us the guidance we need to move forward in a way that honors God and loves people.”—Randy Frazee, pastor and author of His Mighty Strength
“Bringing wisdom and clarity to the most complicated of situations, Messy Truth helps churches and followers of Jesus advance their faith beyond their agenda. This book goes beyond making a point; it makes a difference!”—Rusty George, senior pastor of Real Life Church
“Very few people these days combine convictions about God’s Word with the ability to unleash compassion for everyone. Likewise, very few people these days are calling the church to full commitment to truth and full commitment to grace. That’s the lesson in this book.”—Ray Johnston, senior pastor of Bayside Church and founder of Thrive
“In Messy Truth, you’ll learn how to best point your LGBTQ friends to Jesus and help them connect in Christ-centered communities.”—Jarrett Stephens, senior pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church
“I am often asked, ‘Who’s doing it right? Who is a model for relating to the LGBTQ community?’ I point people to Caleb Kaltenbach, whose book Messy Truth helps the reader catch his vision for entering into sustained, authentic relationships and provides practical examples from his own life and principles for doing so.”
—Mark Yarhouse, professor at Wheaton College and director of Sexual and Gender Identity Institute
“In Messy Truth, you will grow in your compassion for and conversation with those in the LGBTQ community. Caleb Kaltenbach is a leader and pastor who fosters relationships without sacrificing conviction, and he will teach you to do the same.”—Kyle Idleman, senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church
“Once again, Caleb Kaltenbach tackles this difficult subject with superbly well-balanced grace and truth. His sensitivity and empathy regarding the LGBTQ community is one to be modeled. A must-read for all Christians.”—Becket Cook, author of A Change of Affection
“Many books discuss research and theories about loving people, but this book models how we can relentlessly love people and meet them where they’re at so we can guide them to Jesus.”—Efrem Smith, co–senior pastor of Midtown Covenant Church
“Messy Truth provides a most practical guide— through stories, conversations, and tips for church leaders and Christians to show mercy over judgment.”—DJ Chuang, author of MultiAsian.Church
“Messy Truth is a timely wake- up call for the church. It offers a road map for staying faithful to Scripture and being empathetic and gracious toward people in the LGBTQ community and beyond.”—Sean McDowell, PhD, associate professor of apologetics at Talbot School of Theology
“Caleb teaches us the art of seeing people— people whom Jesus loves. In Messy Truth, we are given the tools to have healing and life-giving conversations that ultimately foster community and belonging for all people.”—Adrianna Cervantes, youth and young- adult programming coordinator at Shepherd Church
“Caleb’s application of Jesus’s powerful formula of grace and truth gives us the guidance we need to move forward in a way that honors God and loves people.”—Randy Frazee, pastor and author of His Mighty Strength
“Bringing wisdom and clarity to the most complicated of situations, Messy Truth helps churches and followers of Jesus advance their faith beyond their agenda. This book goes beyond making a point; it makes a difference!”—Rusty George, senior pastor of Real Life Church
“Very few people these days combine convictions about God’s Word with the ability to unleash compassion for everyone. Likewise, very few people these days are calling the church to full commitment to truth and full commitment to grace. That’s the lesson in this book.”—Ray Johnston, senior pastor of Bayside Church and founder of Thrive
“In Messy Truth, you’ll learn how to best point your LGBTQ friends to Jesus and help them connect in Christ-centered communities.”—Jarrett Stephens, senior pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church
“I am often asked, ‘Who’s doing it right? Who is a model for relating to the LGBTQ community?’ I point people to Caleb Kaltenbach, whose book Messy Truth helps the reader catch his vision for entering into sustained, authentic relationships and provides practical examples from his own life and principles for doing so.”
—Mark Yarhouse, professor at Wheaton College and director of Sexual and Gender Identity Institute
Caleb Kaltenbach is the executive director of the Messy Grace Group and the author of God of Tomorrow and Messy Grace, the story of being raised by three activist gay parents, accepting Jesus, and seeing his parents trust Jesus. He speaks widely on issues of faith, reconciliation, and sexual diversity. A graduate of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, he received his doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Amy, have two children and reside in Southern California.