Not My Circus: Living with Courage, Conviction, and Compassion in a World of Chaos

The pressure is unmistakable—conform or get cancelled. New York Times bestselling author Mark Batterson invites you into a different way of living in the digital age with a call to Christlike nonconformity that doesn’t withdraw from the world but transforms it.

“In Not My Circus, Mark Batterson pastors us through a cultural moment and relational challenges with wisdom, kindness, and conviction.”—Annie F. Downs, author of That Sounds Fun

Social media rewards outrage and punishes nuance. Algorithms decide what you see and who you hear. Mob culture stands ready to silence anyone who steps out of line. And the pressure to pick a side—and stay there—has never been greater.

No one is immune from conformity bias, including those who follow Jesus. Somewhere along the way, many have traded holy courage for social comfort, spiritual discernment for tribal loyalty, and amazing grace for the same culture of cancellation they claimed to oppose. The result is a faith that looks less like Jesus and more like whatever side of the aisle we happen to sit on.

Mark Batterson issues a rallying cry for a different kind of nonconformity—not withdrawal from culture but engagement with it on entirely different terms. In Not My Circus, he draws on Romans 12:2—“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed”—to show how to resist cultural pressure without retreating from cultural engagement.

After nearly thirty years pastoring just steps away from the halls of power in Washington, DC, Batterson brings hard-won wisdom to the defining challenge of our moment. You’ll learn how to cultivate a non-anxious presence by developing

• holy courage—the boldness to stand firm in your convictions without being controlled by others’ opinions
• spiritual discernment—the sense to know which battles are yours to fight and which ones aren’t
• amazing grace—the ability to engage those you disagree with, maintaining your witness without taking on their anxiety

For anyone ready to stop reflecting culture and start transforming it, Not My Circus offers a road map to escape the cult of conformity—and live for the applause of nail-scarred hands.