Book Review: Genuine

This review was written for Evangelicals Now, and can be found on their website here. EN kindly provided a review copy.

When this slim but attractive little book thunked down on my doormat, I was happy to see it! Having worked with teenagers as a volunteer for several years, it was often frustrating reconciling those with a church background and those without. The understanding of the Biblical narrative, and the importance of the individuals relationship with God, often was not there. So I’m grateful to C.B.Martin for writing this great little book that looks at six biblical characters in their teenage years.

Martin takes as his theme for the book the idea of being ‘Genuine’. In a world where our culture is changing and often superficial, this sends a radical message. But it is a very helpful one, and grounding the teenagers desire for authenticity in biblical examples is an inspired idea.

We also implicitly trace out the storyline of the Bible, going from Joseph (“The Dreamer”) all the way through to Jesus (“The Perfect Teenager”). The mini-biographies of each of the biblical characters are excellent, but for me (as someone with a passion for students continuing with and meeting Jesus) the final chapter, “Live it Out” was the most helpful. Martin builds on the characters we’ve met with - and emphasises the role of the Holy Spirit and the pursuit of God’s Glory as being the central ways of living it out. There is a good chunk of honest, open writing about prayer - something many teenagers struggle with - as well as about Bible reading, which again is a common struggle for many! The third ‘tool’ that Martin identifies the Holy Spirit as using to work in our life is suffering, which is of course a crucial idea to get into our hearts as young as possible.

The closing words of ‘Genuine’ sum it up well; “Be a genuine teenager! Be the person you were created to be, the person you were bought by Jesus’ blood to be. A fake Rolex looks good for a while, but soon breaks. The genuine article lasts a lifetime. Be Genuine!”. I think this book does what it sets out do do, and could be a powerful influence for God’s Kingdom. It is my prayer that it will inspire teenagers and young people to live authentically, biblically, prayerfully, and for Gods Glory. 

Another great review can be found on this blog here.