Two Thoughts On Two Books

I’ve already commented on the books Radical and Fast Living, but I want to add a couple additional thoughts.  I missed two very important things.

In Fast Living, Todd suggests that people living on less than $2 per day are extremely poor.  I don’t think too many of us would disagree with that.  However, he feels that saying  all people in the USA are also poor, just in other ways,* tends to minimize the tremendous difference between being materially poor and poor in “other ways”.  I agree.

Are there some people in the USA who suffer daily because they are intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually poor?  Absolutely.  Do they all suffer to the same degree as those living in extreme material poverty?  Probably not.   Material poverty has unique consequences.  One of them is a lack of options to help their condition.  People in the USA who are intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually poor have options for help.  True, they may not use them, but options are available.

I think it is important to acknowledge the fact that human beings can be in need spiritually, intellectually, or emotionally.   These are real needs that need addressed.  But calling them “poor” tends  to do a disservice to the materially poor.  Is there a way to describe these conditions without using the word “poor”?  Perhaps it’s as simple as a synonym.  Here are a few nominees: needy, weak, challenged, or feeble.  Just a thought.

*concept  drawn from When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert

As for the book Radical, I realized that I failed to mention one of Platt’s most clear presentations – the Americanization of Christianity.  My first thought was to politics.  There seem to be a lot of Christians with some pretty strong opinions about how the government should handle certain national issues.  On occasion I’ve asked the opinion giver, “As far as you understand Jesus’ words and life, how do you think he would respond to this issue?”  The replies are usually, “I don’t know BUT…” and they repeat something they heard on talk radio or 24/7 TV news.  Who are we listening to?  Who do we follow?  What are we to do?

Honestly, I don’t know how Jesus would respond either.  And that bothers me.  I am so ignorant of my Lord that I can’t apply his principles to everyday life.  Or maybe deep inside of me I do know how he would respond and I don’t like it.  So I ignore it.  I’m not sure which is worse – neglectful ignorance or deliberate disobedience. 

Platt’s book has pushed me to become more knowledgeable and obedient to the one I declare as my Lord.  For me, any other choice is a fraud.

Fast Living

The secondary title to this book by Scott Todd is “How the Church will end extreme poverty.”

Basically the first half of the book does two things: it tells what causes extreme poverty and it gives us a pep talk.  I’m really glad for the pep talk because ending extreme poverty sounds impossible.  But he does a great job showing our progress in eliminating poverty and explaining our roles for the final leg of the journey.  I really think it’s worth the read, but pray before you read it.  It has the potential to end up like one of those “starving children” ads on TV that is just easier to turn off than face the reality.  So pray that God will give you the will and courage to read it with an open mind.

For much more on the book and movement, see www.live58.org.

Radical

This book by David Platt has created much chatter in the Christian subculture.  He was supposed to have some extreme views of Jesus’ teachings.  Having read books such as Juan Carlos Ortiz’s book Disciple, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be startled by anything Platt had to say.  I was wrong.

Here’s just a sample of  things that stung me:

• Everything in all creation obeys God except humans.
• USA Christianity has reduced being a good Christian to not doing a list of things.  Godliness, however, is determined by what I do.
• I must say “Yes” to the words of Jesus before I hear them.  Otherwise I’ll never truly hear them.

But what really threw me for a loop was the fact that some of the people at Platt’s church actually try to live this way.  Imagine that – church goers whose lives show that God is more important than the American Dream.  Not only that, but Platt dared to give five points of action for me, the reader.  I plan to alter my 2012 to accommodate those five actions, with some modifications, and I’m eager to identify the results.

My notes on this book can be downloaded in MS Word format from the blue “FILES box” in the left side-bar of this blog.

Man, Science, and God

Three sentences in the October 3, 2011 edition of Time magazine gave me reason to pause.  They enlightened me to how some people think and where they place their hope.

First, there was a two-page advertisement by Dow Chemical Company which contained a sentence that made me gasp.  I was stunned.   It read, “Together, the elements of science and the human element can solve anything.”

Then, page twenty had a commentary by Lisa Randall who teaches Physics at Harvard.  In 2007, she was voted by Time magazine as one of the one-hundred most influential people.  Let me quote the two sentences that caught my attention, “Adherents who want to accept both religious influences on the world and scientific explanations for its workings are obliged to confront the chasm between tangible effects and unseen, imperceptible influences that is unbridgeable by logical thought.  They have no choice but to admit the inconsistency – or simply overlook the contradiction.”   I’ve read those sentences a few times, and here’s what I think she means.  Religion and science are incompatible because science is logical and religion is not.

I don’t intend to argue about these two statements.  I’m still reeling from them.  I want to consider what this means for those who hold such beliefs, and what does this mean for me, someone who does not.

Christianity Beyond Belief

Todd D Hunter has written an engaging book.  In my opinion, the foundation of the book is the idea that the goal of the Christian life is not to get into heaven but to live like Jesus.  I venture to say some of you are saying, “Of course!”  But there are many in the USA church who do not live that way.  It’s actually an interesting clash in most of us.  We certainly want to go to heaven, and we’re counting on going there, but our minds and lives are rooted deeply in this world.  The concept Jesus mentions in his most famous prayer, “thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”, doesn’t really get fleshed out.

I really enjoyed Hunter’s concept of living in God’s story.  The Bible starts with creation and ends with the eternal river of life.  All of human history falls between those two events, and that includes my life.  And yours.  We are part of God’s story.  We have been given a speaking part in a story that includes some of the greatest characters of all time.  I awake in God’s story every day.  All I have to do is play my role as it’s written.  Yet, even though all of us have gone off script, he keeps us in the story.  He keeps pointing to the script that’s prepared especially for me.

I’ll close with a couple more of my favorite thoughts from the book: 1) My need is not so much to add spiritual activities to my life, but to make my daily activities spiritual.  2) Learning to walk with the Spirit includes some stumbles and falls.  Keep walking.  Trying and failing is success.  Not trying is failure.

My notes on this book can be downloaded in MS Word format from the blue “FILES box” in the left side-bar of this blog.