Christ in You

Eric Johnson, the son of Bill Johnson of Bethel Church, has written a new book called Christ in You.

Unless you’re new to the blog, you know that the theme of living by the Christ who dwells in us is the central mark of my ministry.

For that reason, I wanted to find out what Eric’s book is about and what specific points he makes in it.

So Eric and I talked about it and here’s the interview.

Enjoy!

Instead of asking, “what is your book about,” I’m going to ask the question that’s behind that question. And that unspoken question is, “how are readers going to benefit from reading your book?”

Eric Johnson: My heart is that for the believer to come to a greater understanding of who lives inside of them it’s King Jesus! Jesus paid the ultimate price for the ultimate temple and you are that temple. So it begs a lot of questions of what is possible when Jesus lives inside of you! The reader will also experience some paradigms shifts on redefining what ministry is as well as partnering with heaven and that God actually is very interested in you and your ideas.

Explain the subtitle. What do you mean by “God trusts us” and how does that connect with Christ living in us?

Eric Johnson : Well let me ask you this question first “Why would God put Christ in you if he didn’t trust you? The body of Christ has mostly understood that Christ in us means that I am “saved” and get to go to heaven someday. I would like to suggest that there is also another purpose of Christ living in us and that is to do the Great Commission and advance the Kingdom of God. My conviction is that God actually trust people by giving them what is necessary to actually accomplish this. He gave us everything necessary for this to happen and he trust us to do it amazingly well.

Tell us about the experiences that shaped the insights in your book.

Eric Johnson: There are so many to list as in writing any book you are pouring your life onto these pages. But a few that were paramount for this book was reading Matthew 6:5-8, Luke 18:1-8 and Colossians 1:15-27. These three passages became encounters for me that actually unlocked and connected the “dots” of what God had been teaching and leading me through for the past 10+ years.

Another experience that I had involved me not paying for any coffee, whether it be a bag of beans or a cup, for 18 months.  It was God’s humorous way of teaching me how to move out of a needs based relationship to a relationship based on abundance. It was amazing and it was also one of the most challenging seasons of my life and it involved “not lacking anything.”

How is your book different from the many other books on discipleship and spiritual formation available today?

Eric Johnson: That’s a tough one as there are some books out there that are just superb in this category. I think this book takes a slightly different approach and touches more on what happens after the Cross without taking anything away from the Cross. A lot of books that I’m aware of focus a lot on the redeeming nature of the Cross, which is so important. Since there is a good amount of emphasis on that, I wanted to go a step farther and actually look at life after you’ve been born again and live in such a way that it mimics the life the Christ.

The message of “Christ in you” is rarely talked about in contemporary Christian circles, including (of all places) those who emphasize discipleship. Why do you think this is?

Eric Johnson: I wasn’t aware of that, interesting. Glad I could help with adjusting that.

Give us a teaser. Quote three of the best paragraphs in the book that will give readers a snap shot of the content.

God has no need to control you and me. The need and desire to control someone comes from fear. God has no fear that makes it necessary for him to control us. If we think he wants to control our every move so that we don’t mess everything up, then we are perceiving him as fearful of us—a very mistaken perception. Fear is not the currency of Heaven, and it definitely is not the tie that binds us to him. Trust is the tie.

One of my goals in life is that my love for people would grow over the course of my life, and not diminish. If our theology does not cause us to love people more, then we need to question our theology.

Arrogance is driven by what it can gain. Confidence is motivated by what it can give. And confidence is birthed out of our convictions, those things we believe in so deeply that nothing can shake us no matter what comes our way.

What do you hope readers will walk away with after they finish your book?

Eric Johnson: That they would realize that they are God’s workmanship and that they are created to do good things! To also realize who lives in them and that this reality would absolutely wreck them!

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For those of you who want comprehensive and highly practical teaching on how to live by the Christ who indwells us, my discipleship course Living by the Indwelling Life of Christ reopens June 1st for 7 days. If interested, listen to the first session freely and get on the waiting list so you’re notified as soon as it reopens.