Blogging Theologically

Theology for real life

Five of my favorite quotes from The Imperfect Disciple

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books

One of the best spiritual formation books I’ve read in ages is The Imperfect Disciple. This book did my soul so much good, largely because Jared Wilson wrote for normal Christians. Unradical people living their average life now, and feel like they’re generally messing everything up. Y’know, people like me.

Today, rather than offer a detailed review of this book, I want to share just a few of my favorite quotes from the book. Some of them are quotes that I just love the way they’re phrased. Others are moments where I felt ministered to as a reader. Hopefully they’ll be helpful for you, too (y’know, until you go get a copy of the book):

Stuart Smalley was wrong:

In the end, as in the beginning, it is not our good intentions or even our good deeds that will get us out of the muck of ourselves. It is God’s rescuing hand. It is his enduring announcement over us messed-up creatures, “I love you,” that changes everything.

Now, some Christians don’t think this way. It seems too easy. But if it really were easy, more people would do it. No, it’s very difficult because it means, essentially, admitting we don’t have what it takes. (30)

Actually, meekness really does mean weakness:

I once read one of those self-helpy quasi-Christian leadership books for type A personalities where the author turned “Blessed are the meek” into law. Instead of being an announcement it became an action point. Being meek is how we get the blessing, he was saying, but in doing soe he had to redefine everything else about the Sermon on the Mount, including turning Jesus’s promised blessings into success in our project or workplace—basically, anything that Jesus’s wasn’t referring to.

This writer also had to assure us stupid readers, as so many who teach on this passage do, that being meek was not about being weak; it’s instead about “power under control.” You know, because God forbid anybody admit they’re weak or deal with weakness or wrestle at all with Paul saying in 2 Corinthians 12 that, strengths be damned, he’s going to boast in his weakness. (41)

Don’t just look, behold:

 

Every day when you encounter God—in your devotional time, in your time of worship, in your community groups or classes, or in any other moment in which you spend time with Jesus—you face the choice of simply looking at him or actually trying to see him. (60)

Why we need to get the order right:

With this gospel in proper perspective, followship of Jesus dos not cease to involve effort. But it does place effort in its proper proportion to the true credit in our spiritual account. We are not holy because we work. We work because we are holy. If we don’t get this order right, we don’t get Christianity right. And we will always struggle with the so-called spiritual disciplines—struggle against them, even. (84)

When real words are too weak:

Similarly, I think heaven is way beyond our mental bounds. Heaven is where we finally fell and experience—really, literally, tangibly—the love that is greater than our capacity to love and to even think about love. It’s when glory swallows up existence as we know it, and all hte beauty and wonder and grandeur and exquisite graces of this awesome created world become somehow more, some way deeper and more resonant.

Love wins, sure. But really, lurv wins. (215)

Awaiting a Savior: now available in Spanish

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Back in 2011, my very first book, Awaiting a Savior: The Gospel, the New Creation, and the End of Poverty, was released. It was an ambitious one: exploring how we should understand and respond to the issue of where poverty really comes from, and what God has to say about it.

Rooted in the story of redemption, Awaiting a Savior is a reminder that we’re not responsible for ending poverty, but for loving those who are trapped in it. With a message you don’t typically read in most books on the subject, it’s proven to be one of the great joys of my life, as readers experience the freedom to care for the poor that comes from it. And now, it is available in Spanish as A La Espera De Un Salvador. Here’s a little taste of the English edition:

Awaiting a Savior - Spanish edition

The Law drew a distinction between God’s people and the surrounding nations, even in matters of economic compassion. God’s expectations for interactions between Israelites are entirely different. This does not mean, however, that those outside the covenant community could be conveniently ignored—only that concern and care for those within the covenant community takes precedence. (It is the same way today within the Church.) Indeed, the Law included a radical concern for the “sojourner,” the foreigner among them, (Ex. 22:21, 23:9; Lev. 19:10, 23:22) a concern that stems directly from the heart of God: “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial . . . and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were in the land of Egypt.” (Deut. 10:17-19)

God loves the “sojourner,” and God’s people are to love him as well. That’s why, although we must be wise in how we help those in need, (cf. Prov. 6:10-11, 21:25, 24:30-34; 1 Tim. 5:8) we must avoid notions of anyone being “deserving” of our help. None of us deserve the grace of God, yet he freely gives it! (44-45)

If you haven’t read the book, I’d love it if you picked up a copy. And if you know someone who would be blessed by reading the Spanish edition, grab them a copy of that, too.

Five books I forgot I even had (but still really want to read)

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books

One of the dangers of having a lot of books is… well, having a lot of books. But a second danger is forgetting what books you actually have. Thankfully, I’ve yet to purchase a book twice in recent years. But there are some that I knew I wanted to read that I forgot about entirely. Which is a shame because I remember being really pumped about them. Today, I’m going to share with you five of those:

Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis by George Sayer. What intrigued me about this book from the get-go wasn’t the fact that it was a biography of C.S. Lewis, although that alone is enough for me to want to read it. What got my attention is that Sayer was a contemporary of Lewis, a friend who went on many walks with him and still never got to the bottom of him. This is one that’s going back into the pile of travel reads. Should be fun!

How to Write Short by Roy Peter Clark. I’m always on the hunt for useful books to help hone my craft. This is one a friend recommended a long time ago, I picked up on my Kindle, and never got around to digging into. Given that there’s never not a need to write concisely, this is sure to be a valuable read.

Playing God by Andy Crouch. I’ve appreciated everything I’ve read from Crouch, which is why I bought this one. The problem is, I never got past purchasing it before it fell off the radar. The concept is especially intriguing—an exploration of human power and how we can use it without being corrupted by it.

What to Expect When No One’s Expecting by Jonathan V. Last. This book was all about deconstructing the overpopulation myth—a myth that still holds sway in the minds of the general population, as well as academics and politicians. What Last argues is that we actually have the opposite problem: our issue is not overpopulation, but a population deficit. (Can you tell why I wanted to read this?)

Preaching in a Post-Everything World by Zack Eswine. I bought this book largely for two reasons: one, I find Eswine helpful on many fronts; and two, because I am always on the lookout for helpful preaching books. Like everything else, the problem wasn’t the book—just that I didn’t get to it before something more urgent demanded my attention.

There are more books like these, of course, but this is a good starting point for me to begin exploring what’s languishing in my Kindle and on my bookshelves. What’s one book like this on your shelf? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.

Theology, worship, and rabbit trails

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Sunrise

Not too long ago, I started working my way through John Frame’s Systematic Theology with a group of folks from my church. And by not too long ago, I mean about a week ago. This book is an absolute beast, and not just because you can use as a home security system. It’s a big book, a meaty book. I’m only about 100 pages in and there isn’t a single page where I haven’t underlined, marked, or commented on at least one entire paragraph.

(Seriously, outside of my Bible, this stands to be one of the most marked-up books I own.)

Part of this is because I love how Frame takes readers through his thought process. One paragraph, commenting on Isaiah 25 and angels and demons in the context of the universal covenant1 vs the Edenic covenant, was fascinating to me, particularly because of where he ended. After working through a couple of options, he comes to a fairly simple conclusion: it doesn’t really matter anyway because all the covenants are applications of the universal. (Actually, you probably have to read it to get why I enjoyed this.)

Rabbit trails aside, I think the thing I most appreciate in this giant book so far is the sense of worship that comes through on every page. This isn’t a dry read—it is devotional. Frame is in awe of his Lord and Savior as he explores the incredible truths of God. And that’s what good theology should inspire. Theology should always lead to worship, both in the one writing and in the one reading.

C.S. Lewis understood this well. In God in the Dock, Lewis shared that he often found doctrinal books more helpful than devotional books for this very reason. There was something about sitting down with a book of this nature, “working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hands” would make the heart sing.2

That’s what I love about good, biblically faithful doctrine. Exploring it leads you down some interesting rabbit trails, without question. It makes you wrestle with hard questions. It forces you to confront your own “smallness” in light of God’s “bigness”. It always brings you to the place God intended—to your knees in praise to him.

  1. In a nutshell, God’s lordship over all creation and the covenant between the persons of the Trinity to save sinners. ↵
  2. Thanks to my friend David for bringing up this quote in the discussion group he’s leading through Frame’s Systematic Theology. ↵

Five (more) classic books we should read

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books

Last week, I indulged myself a little and started thinking about old books I love to read. Specifically, a few classic books that were particularly helpful for me as I’ve grown in my faith. But these aren’t the only sorts of classics any of us should read. There are more—a lot more, in fact. Whether for pleasure, knowledge, or spiritual or personal enrichment, we should always be looking for opportunities to expose ourselves to great works of the past. In light of this, I want to share a few more recommendations of various sorts and kinds for your consideration.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Of all the Lewis books I’ve read so far, this one is probably my favorite. Some have criticized it for being overly clever, but that’s what makes it work. You need a special sort of cleverness to pull off what Lewis did in this book, both negatively communicating truth while exposing falsehood. It’s brilliant stuff.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. There isn’t really anything I don’t love about this book. The characters are rich. The plot is compelling. The writing itself makes my heart happy. Read it, then read more Dickens. (A Tale of Two Cities is stunning, as well.)

The Iliad and The Odyssey. Telling the tales of the Trojan War, and the journey of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, as he journeyed home following the fall of Troy, these epic poems are some of the finest works of ancient Greek literature still in existence.1

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Of all the books on this list, this is probably the most difficult to read in the sense that it requires much of you. The book is filled with philosophical discussions of the deepest sort, explored through a tale of patricide in a Russia rapidly moving into the industrial era.

Again, as with my previous recommendations, there are so many others that could be added to the list: The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, A Wrinkle in Time, and too many others to mention. The point here is not to be exhaustive, but to give a starting point.

  1. Fun fact: though it’s believed these were produced originally around the 8th century BC, the earliest extant copies we have today are from the 10th century AD. ↵

Three classic books every Christian should read

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I love old books. They allow me to engage with the wisdom of generations past. To see how authors and thinkers from centuries past answered many of the same questions we ask today. But I’ll be honest, it’s easy to get caught up reading too many new books. Not that new books are bad, of course. But we do ourselves a disservice when we neglect the old. This, I believe, is the heart behind C.S. Lewis’ famous rule:

“It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between,” he wrote. “If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.”1

I don’t follow this rule slavishly, of course. But I do read old books, and I try to encourage others to read old books, too. Here are three I have found especially beneficial from a Christian perspective:

All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon. Honestly, I could choose most any Spurgeon book for this list, but I have a special fondness for this one. I first read it in 2009 while sitting in a hospital while doctors worked on keeping Emily alive. While this book is a fairly simple presentation of justification through grace alone, it is one of the most hopeful books I’ve ever read, bringing me near to tears at least once with every chapter.

Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton. Chesterton didn’t make anything simple for his readers. I suspect he respected his readers too much to write down to them. What I believe he did best, along with expecting his readers to use their minds, was play with words. His writing is fun to read, full of wit and whimsy. Do I agree with everything he wrote? Of course not. But I love his writing. It makes you want to come back for more (and you really do need to).

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. Bunyan’s classic allegory of the Christian life is beautiful to read. He is one of the first Christian authors who helped me see how important “story” is to communicating our faith, and gave a powerful reminder that easy and following Jesus rarely go together. Although the book isn’t perfect (what book is?), it is one that strengthens me each time I read it.

There are other books I can and would encourage reading: Augustine’s Confessions, Müller’s Answers to Prayer, and Ryle’s Holiness, among them. But these are ones I would always suggest trying first.

  1. God in the Dock, 200. ↵

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