Today's book review is of an interesting little book, by Owen Strachan. Strachan is, as well as being a theology lecturer and prolific tweeter, the director of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Complementarian, if we are being specific). This book, however, is not about complementarianism specifically (though, perhaps unsurprisingly, it does come up) but instead about living a risky life for the sake of the Gospel.
To get a feel for what Strachan is trying to accomplish here, its worth checking out this brief summary of his aims for this book over at the Centre for Pastor Theologians, of which he is also a fellow.
First things first, this is an incredibly enjoyable book, unlike some Christian books I've read (and I've read significantly more than I've reviewed on this blog) and this should count for something in an age when there are dozens of hundreds of Christian books vying for our time. I honestly think that this book should be read by pretty much everyone who wants to live a Gospel-focused life, and desires to risk it all for the sake of God's mission.
Strachan writes with two audiences in mind - the emerging and rising generation of Gospel-focused Christians, and those who have grown up and are disillusioned by a lot of what passes for Christianity in the USA, and the West generally. This is seen in the brilliant (And accurate) title to Chapter 1; "Weak Christians: Your Stressed Life Now". It is a fair and helpful riff on Joel Osteen's famous phrase... Essentially, then, Strachan recognises that there are many who are trying to live a life following Jesus, yet find themselves not 'recieving the promises' of a myriad of charlatans and over-eggers. What Strachan is offering in response is not new, but it is true.
The book, having been introduced, can be broadly divided into two parts - you, and the rest. It's all good stuff though, hence all the corners I turned in my copy...
I would understand the first part, dealing with the way that the individual disciple can live a risky life for the Gospel, as comprising chapters 2-4, or to give you a flavour of the content, "Risky Faith: The Call to Risk", "Risky Identity: The Power of the Believer", and "Risky Spirituality: Building a Stronger Faith". In the first of these, Strachan sets out powerfully his call to a full-bodied, full-life Gospel, a discipleship that demands a shift and change of Identity (chapter 3) and the way in which that identity is lived out in faith, in Spirituality (chapter 4). This is good, New Testament stuff, and it is, as I said, rather readably written.
The meat of this book - as in my mind at least many other books (well, some others, such as Simon Ponsonby's 'MORE' and 'Pursuit of the Holy', and Kevin DeYoung's 'Just Do Something') echo the risk/personal element of Strachan's argument - is to be found in what can be seen as the way in which the individual Risky-Gospeller engages with the world beyond the individual. This covers chapters 6 through 9 (chapter 5 is a bridge, "Risky Families: Building a Legacy), where Strachan goes through "Work: Building a Vocation", "Risky Church: Building a Godly Community", "Risky Evangelism: Building an Evangelistic Witness" and finally "Risky Citizenship: Building a Public Witness". The common threads that run through these are helpful, spot on, and echo the fact that Christianity is a faith for all of life. It is good to read a book that thinks Christianly through the whole of life!
Whilst reading Risky Gospel, I am encouraged and excited to say that I was reminded of a book by one of the greatest evangelicals of recent years, John Stott. John Stott's "The Radical Disciple" is a book that in some ways (and in a very English tone!) covers similar ground to Risky Gospel. I'd seriously recommend reading the two in parallel. Here, though, Strachan offers a helpful call to a Gospel-focused-whole-of-life faith. And this is true, and deep, and beautiful. And very needed. I hope this will get read in the UK especially. I'm pleased to be able to recommend this book, and look forward to seeing what Owen gets up to next*!
*writes...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hey! Thanks for commenting. I'll try to moderate it as soon as possible