Recently a friend ask me to share some ideas for a book discussion that he will be leading this summer on the book by Mark Scandrette called, Soul Graffiti. Below is a part of the email I sent to him.
I was thinking about the book and why I have chosen to read it four times already, and I think for me the important thing about this book is that it is one of the only books I know about that really tries to tackle what it would look like today to follow Jesus as a way of life. I personally have been captivated perplexed by verses such as
John 10:10
“I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.”
and Matthew 7:26- “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”
Scandrette throws down the gauntlet and things have not changes since Gandhi’s time. 
Gandhi’s quote- “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” sic
On page 8 of book the blurb below makes a good point on “way of life”
You begin to make life in the way of Jesus by investigating the essence of his message and the example of his life–and experimenting with following his path a companion, artist, healer, and mystic.
In discovering the essence and example it must be lived out.
p.10
In a world overwhelmed words, sometimes the most powerful communication is action that is fueled and inspired by love. We are more likely to trust messages that are inhabited, like living, breathing, three-dimensional graffiti.
The problem of following Jesus is our notions of what we think we are supposed to do and if that is really what he wants. We need to very critically asses who we are in light of Jesus.
p.34
His (Jesus) words were intended to provoke us to think and act in new ways to dismantle and sabotage our long-held assumptions and habits so that we might be released into a better way of life. (NB)
To often we think everything is ok with our Christian life because we say it is ok. This next quote is one of the most disturbing for me from the book.
p.37
Are we apprentices of Jesus when we say we are, or because we do the things He taught. (!)
Our life as a Christ-follower needs to seep into and effect everything we do! We often see Jesus as a teacher but we do not see the small daily building blocks necessary for a fruitful life of followership.
p.41
Jesus, as a teacher, embodied a total pattern of behavior including habits, disciplines, and learned responses to circumstances. The early followers of Jesus understood that Jesus was significant as a savior but also as a teacher who demonstrated a new way of life.
Or I guess to put into simplest terms for a discussion with others. If a person is going to be a fruitful follower of Jesus they need to put intentional effort into the life spheres of community, creativity, compassion, and contemplation. No right or wrong way to look at these but these four area make a broad framework for the life and example of Jesus.
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