The Party Crasher

How Jesus Disrupts Politics as Usual and Redeems Our Partisan Divide

By: Joshua Ryan Butler

Narrated by: Joshua Ryan Butler

Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

In this insightful, nonpartisan roadmap toward faithful political engagement and ultimate allegiance to Jesus, pastor Joshua Ryan Butler diagnoses the roots of political conflict tearing apart the church and prescribes a practical and prophetic way forward.

“A must-read for any and all who seek the way of Jesus.”—Jay Kim, pastor and author of Analog Christian

Have you noticed a deeper level of political division in your community or church? If so, you’re not alone. This powerful, accessible book exposes the religious nature of modern political movements and how they compete with faithfulness to Christ.

Rather than retreat from the political realm, The Party Crasher will help you understand the politics of our age and equip you with the wisdom to faithfully navigate them. Key takeaways include:

• How to develop a Christian posture for political life and promote unity in the church.

• When to be bold.

• How to identify and repent from our political idols.

• How the way we worship can help us avoid division.

This is not a book about putting politics aside, it’s a book about putting politics in their place so that we might be better disciples of Jesus in whichever party or place we find ourselves.

©2024 Joshua Ryan Butler and James Delano Mullins, III (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“The Party Crasher is a must-read for any and all seeking the way of Jesus amid the fractured mess we find ourselves in today. I love the prayer that Josh invites us into—God, give us soft hearts and steel spines—in this timely and all-important book.”—Jay Kim, pastor of WestGate Church (San Jose, California) and author of Analog Christian

“Politics is the new religion. In the first century, no one separated politics and religion. In the twenty-first century, we assume they’re divided. But they’re not. Josh Butler explores the culture war as a religious war, driven by idols and ideologies, showing how kingdom-centered peacemaking could transform our tribalized moment.”—Patrick Miller, co-host of the Truth Over Tribe podcast, co-author of Truth Over Tribe, and pastor at The Crossing (Columbia, Missouri)

“The Party Crasher boldly and compassionately addresses the pain and tension political division has wreaked upon our country, churches, and interpersonal relationships. Josh casts a gripping vision of what it looks like to live with conviction in our cultural moment, by exposing the core ideologies of the political religions which call for the allegiance of our hearts, to subvert our bow and pledge loyalty to Jesus as the Ultimate King.”—Bre Golden, pastor of community care at Park Hill Church (San Diego, California) and co-founder of Waves Ministries

Practical, Personal

Josh shares real stories about how his church endured well through the political season. He gives very straight forward examples to try yourself and in your context. You can tell he cares about his community. He doesn’t tell you who to vote for, but encourages you to love both sides well. Also not all authors should read their own books, but Josh crushed this!

I highly recommend this very accessible book on politics to individuals, small groups or whole churches to help steward the American political season well.

Political Parties Are Made To Be Crashed If Done Like Jesus.

There are many good books on Christians in politics. I’ve read quite a few. This is one I would read again. The concept of being a party crasher like Jesus is a good one along with the four political religions. Many good practical ideas for how Christians can be involved in politics not just to make a point but to make a difference. Highly recommend.

Not Bad

When I listened to the first part of this book, I was a little concerned that it would not be as engaging and well-thought out as some of his other books. However, the chapters got better as the book went on.

What Josh does really well is explain his own experience to provide ample examples of practical commitments to keep. This is not a book that critiques political theories from a Christian perspective (see David T Koyzis “Political Visions and Illusions” for that). Neither is it a full length treatment of how to be formed rather than deformed during the political season (see The Liturgy of Politics by Kaitlyn Scheiss). But neither is it a political strategy for the faithful (see What On Earth are Christian’s For? By Jake Meador, or Letters to an American Christian by Bruce Riley Ashford, or God’s Politics by Jim Wallis, depending on your political persuasion). This is a little bit of all of those things, placed on a very accessible shelf for all of us.

What Josh has written is a thoughtful engagement that touches on several key themes to faithfully represent Jesus in a political year. Many of these themes I wanted to be teased out more. A few themes he could have hit harder on, but for brevity and clarity’s sake he did not. I suspect that Josh was writing to the lay level person and busy pastor who needs a fresh perspective that is neither partisan nor polarized.

To that end, this is a great start.