Mark Ellingsen dares you to go ahead and sin bravely! In this refreshing and unique read, he challenges the religious legalism pervasive throughout American evangelicalism today and encourages a new understanding of what it means to be both a Christian and a human being.

Beginning with the first theological analysis of Rick Warren's brand of Christianity, this book exposes the burdens and narcissism that purpose-driven and duty-bound living encourages. Ellingsen criticizes the purveyors of the Prosperity Gospel, taught by such influential preachers like Joel Osteen, saying that this narcissistic inclination contributes to “Christianity light” – a way of embracing faith without sacrificing too much. Ellingsen writes that brave sinners, aware of God’s grace in their lives, instead say “no” to narcissism and “yes” to healthy risk-taking that gets beyond selfish desires to the desire to help one another. When people sin bravely, acknowledging that everything done is done in sin with God’s saving grace acting upon them, people can learn to recognize God. Citing recent neurobiological findings, Ellingsen shows that when people forget themselves in order to focus on bigger projects, the pleasure centers of the brain are stimulated and people become happier and more content. It is this joyous risk-taking that he suggests brings people closer together, closer to God, and closer to a better understanding of themselves.

This book demonstrates both how and why brave sinning leads to joy, and in so doing offers readers practical advice on living this way.

Citing recent neurobiological findings, Ellingsen shows that when people forget themselves in order to focus on bigger projects, the pleasure centers of the brain are stimulated and people become happier and more content. It is this joyous risk-taking that he suggests brings people closer together, closer to God, and closer to a better understanding of themselves.

Mark Ellingsen is the author of many books, including When Did Jesus Become Republican?, Evangelical Movement: Growth, Impact, Controversy, Dialog, and Reclaiming our Roots and Sin Bravely. He is an Associate Professor of Church History at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia.