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Chase Replogle
Author
A Sharp Compassion: 7 Hard Words to Heal Our Insecurities and Free Us from Offense

Adult; Spirituality/Inspirational; (Market)

A Sharp Compassion offers readers a closer look at some of Jesus’ most challenging words. Through a careful study of the conversations in which Jesus offended, you will discover a savior willing to risk offending you to heal you from your deepest insecurities. Because his love is great, his truths are often hard, and his compassion sharp. But perhaps it’s Jesus’ hard words we need most right now.
Reviews
Arguing that “God himself will risk offending you to save you,” this spiritual resource takes a close, searching look into the words of Jesus in scripture and the contemporary world's sensitivity to words or ideas that may cause offense. Pastor Replogle highlights interactions and revealing conversations between Jesus and disciples, specifically Peter, who "made himself an obstacle to Jesus", the Pharisees, and the Samaritan woman at the well. In all of these conversations, Replogle pinpoints the moments when Jesus called out these individuals, daring to cause some offense, but in the process revealing true intentions and insecurities hidden even from themselves. Encouraging readers to open themselves up to explore why they may take personal offense to certain conversations or interactions, Replogle offers close looks at Bible passages, shares insightful personal anecdotes, and arrives are clear-eyed guidance for living steeped in Gospel teaching, like "You discover who you are only by being willing to sacrifice who you think you are—and often who the world says you are."

As he explores the deep-rooted nature of human tendencies like insecurity, “the distorted imitations that trap us and put words in our mouth,” and the need for affirmation, Replogle breaks down instances where Jesus faced such challenges within the inner circle, and even with Mary herself. Replogle highlights thinkers like C. S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot, and many others on the nature of offense, digging into the very nature of the term and questions of biblical translation—especially revealing is how, in ancient Greek, offense is rooted in a term for stone or obstacle, with translators seeing in “stumbling over a hidden obstacle the similar experience of stumbling over an offense.”

That gets to the heart of this depiction of a Jesus who caused offense in a compassionate way, to elicit change. Replogle makes the case that everyone can benefit from exploring the sources of their offended feelings come from—and can find revelation and healing in the process.

Takeaway: Encouraging guide to Jesus’s compassionate use of offense to spur change.

Comparable Titles: Kevin DeYoung’s The Hole in Our Holiness, Anita McCall's Overcoming the Spirit of Offense.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Gary W. Moon, M.Div., Ph.D. Founding Executive Director Martin Institute and Dal

"Good therapists know how to be warm, compassionate, and empathetic. But they also know when to be challenging and confrontive if that preferred approach is not working. Jesus was a good therapist. And Chase Repogle is also a good clinical theologian, and an engaging writer. In this wonderfully transparent book, he examines some of Jesus's own words of "sharp compassion" to help the reader find a more examined and free way to live, and to love."

Jay Y. Kim, Pastor and Author

"In our desperate search for comfort, the temptation to minimize, neutralize, or distort the cross looms large for Christians navigating the fragility of our own shortcomings. But the cross is offensive. As Chase Replogle reminds us, 'the cross is the singular offense we must not lose, for it frees us from all other offenses.' A Sharp Compassion is a timely diagnosis of our contemporary condition, offering a challenging but accessible, difficult but beautiful path forward, away from suffocating fragility, toward a spacious and free life."

Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church; New York Times bestsel

"Through a careful look at some of Jesus's most challenging conversations, Chase helps us better understand the trap of offense and how Jesus can rescue us from it. Like a skilled surgeon, Chase uses Jesus's words to dissect our lives, helping us recognize the insecurity and idolatry that often leads us to envy and offense. Jesus loves us enough to be honest with us. For those willing to listen, his hardest words also turn out to be some of his best. With Chase's usual mix of history, psychology, and literature, A Sharp Compassion is a fascinating and sober read. For those willing to take the journey, you'll learn and certainly be changed."

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