Steve Chalke

And in recent years, the question of the place of the Father's wrath is being challenged from a number of sectors, even from those who claim to be Christian.

In their book, The Lost Message of Jesus, authors Steve Chalke and Ellen Mann say the following, "The fact is that the cross isn't a form of cosmic child abuse, a vengeful father punishing his son for an offense he has not even committed.

Understandably, both people inside and outside of the Church have found this twisted version of events," they say, "morally dubious and a huge barrier to faith.

Deeper than that, however, is that such a concept stands in total contradiction to the statement 'God is love.' If the cross is a personal act of violence perpetrated by God towards humankind, but borne by His Son, then it makes a mockery," says Chalke, "of Jesus' own teaching to love your enemies and to refuse to repay evil with evil." Well, that's the end of the quote.

[gentle music] My name's Gill Rowe, and in this episode of The Different Podcast, I talk with Steve Chalke about what on earth being Christ-centered means as an organization and at an individual level.

We explore the misconception that Jesus was Christian and dive deeply into the way of life all humanity is invited to live, loving God and loving others as we love ourselves.

We talk about what a Christ-centered movement looks like and how leadership should show up built on this way, rejecting hierarchical power and choosing servanthood.