Bonhoeffer on visible signs of the cross
One of the books I decided to read this year for Lent is Dietrich Bonhoeffer's classic on Christian community, Life Together. This was my fifth time reading it, if memory serves me right. Each time I'm struck by something different, and each time I'm both challenged and encouraged.
I'll just share one passage that stood out to me this time around. It seems to me that our spiritual lives and our churches are to a large extent shaped by cultural norms like individualism and efficiency in significant if subtle ways, and our understanding of faithfulness (or success) in those areas take shape accordingly. I think that's concerning. Consider Bonhoeffer's take on "interruptions" and what Christian community and service really mean:
We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and cancelling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps -- reading the Bible. When we do that we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised athwart our path to show us that, not our way, but God's way must be done. It is strange fact that Christians and even ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them. They think they are doing God a service in this, but actually they are disdaining God's "crooked yet straight path" (Gottfried Arnold). They do not want a life that is crossed and balked. But it is part of the discipline of humility that we must not spare our hand where it can perform a service and that we do not assume that our schedule is our own to manage, but allow it to be arranged by God.
In the monastery his vow of obedience to the abbot deprives the monk of the right to dispose of his own time. In evangelical community life, free service to one's brother takes the place of the vow. Only where hands are not too good for deeds of love and mercy in everyday helpfulness can the mouth joyfully and convincingly proclaim the message of God's love and mercy.
- Life Together (HarperOne, 1954), pp. 99-100.
What can Western Christians in the twenty-first century do to pinpoint and correct the ways in which individualism and efficiency have undermined our ability to proclaim and embody God's love?
[Image credit: "Parable of the Good Samaritan" by Jan Wijnants, oil on canvas, 1670 via Wikimedia Commons]
My top 11 books from 2011
Last February I shared some thoughts on the merits of reading both widely and wisely, and I shared my own reading goals for the year. Specifically, these:
- At least one book about/from every continent in the world (plus Central America and the Middle East)
- At least one book by an adherent of every major world religion
- At least 25% to be written by dead people
- At least 40% to be written by women or non-white males.
Well, how closely did I stick to those goals?
- I had each of the continents (plus Central America and the Middle East) covered
- Though I read a lot of books written by Christians and a range of non-Christians (including Alice Walker, a Buddhist, and others I presume to be either atheists or agnostics), I don’t think I read anything by Hindu or Muslim authors.
- 20 written by dead people; only 21%
- 26 written by women or non-white males; only 27%
So I did better in some areas than in others. I’ll keep the goals more or less the same for 2012. But in the meantime, as is the custom (sort of), here are my picks for the top eleven books I read in 2011. Like last time, these are in no particular order, and include books not necessarily published this year. When applicable, I include a link to what I've already written about it.
Timothy Keller, Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just
A must-read on following Jesus and doing justice. I reviewed this one for PRISM and blogged about it here.
Eugene H. Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir
If you are a pastor, know a pastor, or have opinions about pastors, read this. I blogged about it here.
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
It's a classic, and I should have read it a long time ago. I'm guessing you already have.
Michael Casey, Che's Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image
A fascinating look at how the iconic "Che" image has been reproduced and re-appropriated for countless causes -- and has paradoxically come to represent global capitalism.
Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
This biography of the great German theologian who was part of a failed assassination plot against Hitler won all kinds of awards last year. I blogged about this here.
Michael J. Sandel, Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do?
In this book the Harvard political philosopher put the cookies on a relatively low shelf, helping you and I wrestle through different understandings of justice in the world around us. I blogged about it here.
Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
One of the most inspiring, funny and heart-breaking books I read this year. I blogged about it here.
Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era
From what I understand, this book never really took off, which is a shame, because it's a wise, nuanced, an intelligent handling of the two topics none of us seem to know how to discuss in polite company. I blogged about this here.
Robert Lupton, Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help
An important book on doing no harm when seeking to do good. I blogged about this here and it was also picked up by the Values & Capitalism blog.
Richard Mouw, He Shines In All That's Fair: Culture and Common Grace
I haven't had a chance to blog about this yet, but I plan to in January. In this slim book, Mouw articulates a wonderful theological and practical vision of common grace.
N.T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters
For Christians unsure about what's supposed to happen between being "saved" and dying, this is an important book on ethics and cultivating virtue. I blogged about it here.
How about you? What were your favorite books of 2011? What are your reading goals for 2012?
Radical Together
Last fall I shared some thoughts on David Platt’s first book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream. In the book, Platt urges readers to consider the ways in which the gospel is at odds with a materialistic, narcissistic American way of life, and to commit to living ‘radical’ lives for Christ.
He has since written a sequel called Radical Together: Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God. If you've read the first one (or if you’ve read John Piper’s Let the Nations be Glad or Don’t Waste Your Life, for that matter) it's likely that nothing in Radical Together will come as a surprise. Rather, Platt takes the themes from Radical and explores the implications for congregations rather than individuals. He seeks to show “how a right understanding of the church fuels radical obedience among Christians.” Churches, he rightly argues, aren’t meant to be consumer-oriented bubbles; instead, each Christian is to be equipped for the work of the church both locally and globally. This is an important affirmation of the historic Christian belief in the “priesthood of all believers,” and a critique of what is too often the norm: inward facing churches, full of consumers of religious goods and services, administered by professionals.
Platt writes about the difficulty in letting go of good programs in order to channel a church’s resources and attention more purposely based on what we believe to be true about the mission of God in Scripture. In the case of the church he pastors in Birmingham, Alabama, that means a particular focus on northern India. While understandably encouraging Christians and churches to take seriously the great needs overseas, I wish he would have done more to affirm both local and global ministry as equally vital expressions of Christian faith. As it is, one is left with the impression that the further away our neighbors are, the more worthwhile it is to seek to love them. I know from experience that even in churches with vibrant global ministries, local ministry does not happen automatically, and I suspect Platt's readers would be led to replace one kind of lopsided ministry with another. Also, though he affirms the importance of serving the poor, he particularly emphasizes sharing the gospel (verbally) with the “unreached.” Again, the influence of Piper is evident, though as a call for holistic ministry, I think it falls a bit short.
On the whole Platt’s book is a welcome critique of easy-breezy suburban religion and, not unlike Dietrich Bonhoeffer at a different time and place, it’s a new call for Christians to consider the cost of discipleship. And it’s a good reminder that “God doesn’t involve us in his global plan because he needs us; he involves us because he loves us.” It would simply be a shame to miss out.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. The introduction to the book is available free here, and also check out other resources including videos at the WaterBrook Multnomah site.
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