This book is part memoir, part how-to. Its focus is on interpersonal conflict among those in the Christian community. Ted Kluck, one of the authors, is a professional writer. He has written or co-written many books. These include Why We're Not Emergent, a bestseller. His work has appeared in ESPN the Magazine, Sports Spectrum Magazine, and at ESPN.com. He's an assistant professor at Union University. Ronnie Martin is an internationally known Dove Award-nominated recording artist. He has more than 20 album credits that span three decades. He is the lead pastor of Substance Church. The authors open this book with their Prologues. They alternate chapters, over nine chapters. They end this book with Acknowledgements of those who made this book possible. Both authors include their credits. Then they wrap it all up with notes crediting outside sources they used.
In the literary sense, I found this book very easy to read. I read it in two days. Emotionally, it's very hard to absorb. I didn't expect this book to be so convicting and focused on the inherent corruption and wickedness of the reader. This is true whether we are the ones being wounded or are doing the wounding. This isn't a soothing, feel-good book. I rather expected it to be. I have read other books on this same topic which were more soothing and less convicting than this book. As I read, I was taken back to hurts I experienced in the Christian community that were based on cliques, church politics and favoritism. In fact, our family left one congregation because of my interpersonal conflicts with some members whom I got to know really well. I fully agreed with the authors when they point out that we need to lower our expectations of fellow Christians. I do wish he had addressed the reality that not everyone who attends church possesses saving faith. Being part of a church fellowship doesn't make us believers. In fact, Rev. Billy Graham one said that he believes that only five percent of members in any American local church fellowship are true Christ-followers. He needed to point out that many people we attend church with may not know Christ. And that may be the biggest reason that they act unChristian--they don't have the Holy Spirit living inside them. But the authors are 100% right in asserting that we are to relate to people based on appreciating the underserved grace that God extends to us in His Son Jesus. Then with this appreciation of knowing that we are the recipients of God's grace, we extend this same grace to others. I would have liked to see more examples of the authors' principles but I understand they may have felt that the excluded them because of confidentiality, space and readability. One of the authors briefly mentioned "the horrors of abortion" as part of the depravity of our culture, which is behind church conflicts.
I recommend this book for all pastors. Above all those in any congregation, they and their families have to deal with the Christian community. This book will give them talking points for preaching on interpersonal relationships in sermons. This book is for every Christian. We all need the foundation of the knowledge of God's grace toward us in the face of our sins and wrongs. Without this understanding, the principles in this book and in the Bible, are foolishness. There is no earthly reason to obey many of the Bible's precepts, except love for God and knowing His grace toward us. Because of bullying in schoold and online, a youth version of this book needs to be written.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through BloggingFor Books in exchange for my honest review of this book. The book I received was an uncorrected proof. It was not the finished product. I was not required to give a positive review of this book.
More Info
Author Info
No comments:
Post a Comment