[Book Review] 10 Sacred Cows in Christianity That Need to be Tipped

10 Sacred Cows in Christianity That Need to be Tipped by Jared H. Moore is a short read, but it's one that opens up dialogue in the Church about some issues that we tend to hold sacred in the American Church. It is only about a 15 minute read, and it is more or less a compilation of blog posts from this past year, but I believe it is something worth reading and exploring. First of all, who is Jared H. Moore? From his website:

My name is Jared Moore. I was dead in my sin and God raised me to life in Christ Jesus. Because of Him, I will live forevermore. I’m 32 years of age, and have served in pastoral ministry in a Southern Baptist context for 13 years. I pastor New Salem Baptist Church in Hustonville, KY. I’m happily married to Amber and have three children: Caden, Ava, and Ian. I’ve authored two books: 10 Sacred Cows in Christianity That Need to be Tipped and The Harry Potter Bible Study: Enjoying God Through the Final Four Harry Potter Movies. In addition to writing at this site, I’m also a regular contributor at SBC Voices, Servants of Grace, Church Leaders, and Sermon Central, and I occasionally write for Speculative Faith, Gospel Husbands, SBC Focus, and Credo Magazine. I have a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Trinity College of the Bible, an M.A.R. in Biblical Studies from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, an M.Div. in Christian ministry from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS), a Th.M. in Systematic Theology (ABT) from SBTS, and I’m currently a PhD Student in Systematic Theology at SBTS.

 Now that we got that out out of the way, on to the book. The book is broken down into 10 chapters, looking at each of the 10 "sacred cows" that Moore is targeting. These are:

1. Entertaining Sermons
2. Anything for Souls
3. Numbers Equal Revival
4. Experience-Centered Worship
5. Nostalgia
6. Relevant Sermons
7. Relativistic Interpretation
8. An Easy Life
9. Tolerant Love
10. Successful Ministry

A number of these, I would have targeted too. A few of them, I've seen in Biblical churches that maybe need to revisit the way they do things. Each chapter is short (1 or 2 pages), but is written in an easy to understand way. Perhaps a failure in this book is that there is not enough. As I stated earlier, it is a compilation of blog posts from his blog. In putting it into book form, I would wish that Moore had expanded each chapter, and opened the dialogue further. While he did not do that, I do believe that this is a book that needs to be read by Christians. We get too far off Christ and too much on what we hold sacred. I also don't believe that this list is exhaustive. There are too many "sacred cows" to even list here. This list also applies mostly to the American church, I believe. Moore should make that clear somewhere. Overall, it's an enjoyable and quick read, able to be read again quickly.

Note: I received a free PDF review copy and was not paid or compensated for an honest review.