Wasabi Gospel – Preview

Over the last couple of months, I have had the privilege of getting to know Shawn Wood, the Experiences Pastor of Seacaost Church and the  author of two books.  He is the real deal.  He is one of those extremely talented, super smart kind of guys who you wish you were like, but he is also humble and approachable like an old friend.  His second book, Wasabi Gospel, is coming out very soon.  I have had a chance to preview it, and I really think you would enjoy the book.  You can  and should pre-order it today on Amazon.

Review

If you have ever had sushi, then you probably have had an experience with wasabi, the flaming hot green stuff that is always put on the side of your plate. It is a small dallop, and looks innocent enough, but it has extreme power if you put it in your mouth.  Shawn relates that experience to seven teachings of Christ.  He uses scriptures that are nice and cute and very familiar to a believer, but he unpacks them in a powerful way.

Shawn’s approach to the book is brilliant.  I approached the book excited for Shawn to highlight some of the hard teachings of Jesus and really push and challenge me to “Just Do It”.   However, his approach is much more effective.   Each of the Seven “wasabi”  teachings of Christ is woven around the story of Laura, a normal girl with a life full of emotional baggage (just like the rest of us).  Throughout the book,  she struggles with applying the teachings of Christ into her broken and un-perfect reality. This approach did two things to me.  First, it made me think through my own life to see how I am assimilating Christ’s teaching. This challenged me to evaluate myself instead of simply reading the book and saying “Amen” as I came to the hard teachings of Christ.  Second, as a pastor, it helped me have empathy for the people in my church (myself included)  who are trying to assimilate the life and words of Christ into their lives.  To see that it is not that they don’t want to, they just have a lot of questions and baggage to deal with.

Shawn’s writing style is refreshing and very easy to read.  He does not belabor points.  He gets to the point and uses humor that literally makes me laugh out loud. I highly recommend Wasabi Gospel, as well as  his other book, 200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One.