Bad Religion, Good News: An Honest Guide for the Spiritually Disappointed

“Scott Bessenecker speaks gently to those carrying wounds from the church who are still captivated by Jesus. With honesty, humility, and compassion, he helps readers name and understand real harm and points us to a powerful hope in Jesus, who heals, restores, and will make all things new.”

— ―Caleb E. Campbell, lead pastor at Desert Springs Bible Church and author of Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor

“The cross brings healing and life simply because it makes us see ourselves with brutal honesty and yet with mercy. This is why Bessenecker’s Bad Religion, Good News is so important. It offers the church a cruciform mirror, fearlessly exposing the wounds we’ve helped create in birthing a ‘bad religion’ that has distorted the good news of Jesus. But this isn’t about accusation; it’s a pathway of healing grace that helps wounded believers begin to mend and equips Christian leaders to cultivate communities that truly feel like good news.”

— ―Colin McCartney, co-director of Connect City Ministries and author of Let the Light In: Healing from Distorted Images of God

“In Bad Religion, Good News, Bessenecker names a struggle we all share but rarely dare to admit: our disappointment with the church. With a refreshing, raw honesty, he helps us reconcile our disillusionment with the goodness of God, inviting us toward a deeper faith and a humbler way to reflect Jesus to the world.”

— ―Deb Hirsch, Jesus lover, author, pastor, and missional leader

“Bessenecker honors the harm that has been done in the name of Christ while inviting us to live out a better version of the faith. As you read, you’ll be encouraged to know that there is room for you–for your doubt, for your disappointment, for your questions, for your anger and your pain. In an age where distorted versions of Christianity are doing so much harm, Bessenecker dares us to live out a version of Christianity that reminds the world of Jesus, the one who made it clear that they will know we are Christians by our love.”

— ―Shane Claiborne, author, activist, and cofounder of Red Letter Christians

“This stimulating treatise [considers] what it means to reckon with disappointments in God, other believers, and the ‘historical sins of the church.’ Bessenecker notes how personal challenges can help Christians build a deeper faith as they seek God’s ‘companionship’ to endure suffering, and how grappling with the church’s flaws is essential because the faithful are meant to live and grow in community. . . . This accounting of the church’s structural sins is bold, thorough, and evenhanded. Believers questioning their relationship with the church will be gratified.”

— ―Publishers Weekly

It’s time to face the church’s checkered past–and present.

We know that Christians across time have participated in or upheld grave wrongs. We also know that religious wrongdoing is more than just history. Many have suffered church-related trauma because of others who profess to follow Christ. So how do we hold the church’s historic and ongoing sins? Is the best alternative to leave the faith–and do these questions make us bad Christians?

After four decades in the same congregation as well as a career in campus ministries, Scott A. Bessenecker has faced plenty of disappointment with the church. Yet he has found a richer spirituality by honestly facing harms done by those who follow Jesus. In Bad Religion, Good News, he offers a way to hold understandable disappointment alongside the conviction that God is good. Speaking openly about the church’s sins can help us examine the ways we’ve been wounded–and perhaps wounded others. Healing begins with an honest confrontation of wrongdoing.

This invitational guide will help you move through disappointment with the church and embody the prophetic alternative to domination that the church was always meant to be.