A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community

Pastor-author-blogger John Pavlovitz has been calling out hypocritical, illogical, uninformed, bigoted thinking for years through his blog, “Stuff That Needs to be Said.” In his new book, “A Bigger Table,” these thoughtful, pointed essays have been distilled into a guide for rediscovering what it truly means to live like Christians. I appreciated his down-to-earth style and found his point of view understandable and instructive. The clear way that he presented his ideas helped to validate, organize and solidify my own random, disorganized thinking. His no-nonsense message stands in sharp contrast to the all-nonsense diatribes coming from those who are full of hate and fear. Unchristian “Christians” have corrupted the meaning of the term. This book strips away the rampant hypocrisy that has warped Christianity into a hostile, judgmental, exclusionary force that Christ would find unrecognizable. John advocates a welcoming environment of inclusiveness, acceptance, open-mindedness and authenticity – expanding our tables to make room for all. He describes the ‘Table’ of the title as being supported by four legs -- Radical Hospitality, Total Authenticity, True Diversity and Agenda-Free Community -- and repeatedly stresses the hard work that will be required to achieve and consistently live by those tenets. Building a bigger table requires us to honestly love all our neighbors as we love ourselves. By embracing diversity rather than fearing and condemning it, we make our lives richer, more fulfilling, and more “Christian.” We have only to examine, reflect on and live by Christ’s teachings in order to set a bigger table. It is easy – and very hard. As John says, “Pull up a chair …” and get to work.

The three stars are not for message ... the message is excellent ... get beyond your prejudices and treat other like you want to be treated, even (or especially) if those others are LGBTQ, prostitutes, or God Forbid, Democrats!My criticisms are primarily on style:1. The book seems to be narrowly focused to other Christian, even Evangelical/Fundamentalist, pastors. As one who is none of the above (and who agrees with Pavlovitch, but from a Universalist/Secular place), it was a bit wierd reading the book whose intended audience was someone else. On the other hand, my prejudices suggest that his intended audience is the exact audience who needs to read it (though they probably won't).2. The book needs to more tightly edited. In other words, fewer words could have have made a stronger impact without losing any of the message.3. Despite my strong agreement with the overall message (at least from the less than universalist Christian paradigm), I regularly cringed at Pavlovitch's historical naiveté. The regular appealing to that "loving, fully, authentic original Christian community, blah, blah, blah" made me wonder ... has this guy never studied a shred of history since Vacation Bible School? Even if he confined his source material to the New Testament (which no historian ever would), you would just as easily find as much conflict as kum ba yah.4. Finally, Pavlovitch's regular referring to Pharisees according to ahistorical Christian prejudices reveals both a disturbing ignorance both of who the Pharisees actually were and how treating the Pharisees in this way skates perilously close to antisemitism, or at least is a regular precursor to antisemitism. For the record (for those unfamiliar with this history) the Pharisees were part of liberal movement in Ancient Judaism that lasted over 500 years and made the transition from a religion based on killing animals in the temple to a religion based on love and morality. It is very likely that Jesus himself was a Pharisee. Nearly all the bad stuff written about Pharisees in the new Testament occured after the Roman War and the destruction of the Temple. These stories about the Pharisees were written by people (who themselves probably algned very closely to the Pharisees) who used the Pharisees as a defense against the Romans proving they were not those troublesome and rebellious Jews who had been so terribly slaughtered in that bloody siege of Jerusalem. At the time, it was a smart move since the Romans were continuing to slaughter Jews and these Jesus-Jews wanted to avoid the same fate. On the other hand, it was the start of a 2000 year legacy of Christian persecution of Jews.So, yeah, Pavlovitch's ignorance of this history and sensitivity to the topic Pharisees is sad.

Many will find the message of the Bigger Table, "God loves us unconditionally," to be uncontroversial. Some will be surprised that in the last quarter of the book, Pavlovitz applies it so forcefully to the homosexual community. That Jesus pitched his ministry to the vulnerable in his midst is the unanimous testimony of the gospel writers, and during the intervening 20 Centuries during which Christianity has developed in cultures around the world it is not surprising that the occasion has arise for Christian communities to apply this gospel to a host of vulnerabilities (illnesses, ignorance, superstition, power-driven institutions, etc.) by which vulnerable populations have been suppressed. Pavlovitz' involvement in ministry to the vulnerabilities of homosexuals' lives is heart-felt and salutary, which I admire and respect. Certainly, however, as Jesus recognized, the vulnerability of women and lepers and tax-collectors and rich young rulers and centurions and ... , the bigger table includes expansions beyond those Pavlovitz aptly develops for the vulnerable he serves. A framework for those and other expansions is visible in the history of the spread of Christianity to cultures across the globe, and that history grounds that vulnerability in many sources: ignorance, superstition, power used for personal or in-group aggrandizement, presumption that the established way is best…many sources. In Cooperative Wisdom, Carolyn Jabs and I articulate a set of practices that has successfully addressed many sources of vulnerability to which our specialized, but highly interdependent society has given risen. I commend it as a companion in ministry to the vulnerable. Cooperative Wisdom: Bringing People Together When Things Fall Apart

A chatty style of writing which makes some good points. Would advise reading a page or two before choosing to buy it or not

No problems!!

An excellent discussion starter for all who really seek to live out a Gospel of inclusivity and love.....and to transform the church into the body we need to be.

I came across John Pavlovitz blogs on social media. The first one I read, brought me to tears. I kept reading more and then ordered his book. Wow. A person of faith, who finally speaks to those that may have given up on it. If you want to read a powerful book, with a message that will touch you, and restore your outlook. This is the book.

This book is just what the evangelicals need in this hour. The concept of the bigger table is not a new one, but in the present climate of hostility and small thinking, this book shows a much more loving, Christlike way to move forward