Mud and the Masterpiece: Seeing Yourself and Others through the Eyes of Jesus - Hardcover

Imperfect people are the only ones who change the world

Why were "sinners" so attracted to Jesus yet repelled by the religious? It had everything to do with the heart of Jesus. They sensed that Jesus was for them--not against them. Do the broken people in our lives feel such an attraction to us? Or do we unwittingly repel them by expecting them to clean themselves up a little before we can accept them? In other words, do our hearts reveal the heart of God or subtly reflect the heart of the Pharisees?

Through an engaging study of Jesus' encounters with imperfect people, combined with real-life stories of ordinary people having Christlike impact, this book will inspire you to love the messy people around you--and the one staring back in the mirror--with Christ's unshockable love.

"Beneath the surface of every broken person, there is a work of art waiting to be revealed. This book shows us how."--Mark Batterson, author of The Circle Maker

"I wish all believers loved people who are far from God like John Burke does. Unshockable Love reminds us of our desperate need to join Jesus in the messy work of life-on-life discipleship."--Ed Stetzer, www.edstetzer.com, author of Subversive Kingdom

"John is a man who not only knows Jesus, but knows that Jesus really saves and redeems broken people and makes them trophies of his grace."--Alan Hirsch, author, activist, dreamer, www.alanhirsch.org
John Burke is the author of No Perfect People Allowed and Soul Revolution, and the lead pastor of Gateway Church in Austin, Texas, which he and his wife, Kathy, founded in 1998. Since then, Gateway has grown to over 4,500 members, made up mostly of unchurched people who began actively following Christ at Gateway.

What do you see when you look at the imperfect people around you? What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you tend to notice faults, failures, and moral shortcomings most? Or do you see the potential that God said was worth dying for, the Masterpiece hidden beneath the mud of sin in every person?

In this book, John Burke shares powerful lessons gleaned from every encounter Jesus had, challenging us to consider whether our attitudes and actions resemble Jesus or the Pharisees as we encounter messy people. Burke helps ordinary Christ-followers prepare in attitude and action to become God's Masterpiece and restore the messy world around them--just like Jesus did.