Reader's Review (in 500 Words or Less): The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith

The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith is the first in a series of three "Apprenticeship" books that aims at cultivating a "robust discipleship" for Christians, something that I as an Anabaptist deeply appreciate.  This book on spiritual formation is meant to help guide and re-shape our minds and hearts to conceive of God correctly.  Simply put, Smith shows God through Jesus' eyes and understanding.  Through the use of Scripture, short stories, and rich metaphors, Smith cultivates this image of God in us with the purpose of helping us relate to God in clearer ways so that we can be spiritually formed by Jesus.  Smith offers very helpful spiritual disciplines and practices to help us to live out the new narrative being spoken into us and whispered to us by God.  These exercises are very helpful.  I appreciated that James made his book very understandable without technical jargon.  This makes the book approachable and helpful.

One of the most meaningful sections of this book for me is Smith's understanding of how God transforms us.  He says the first and foremost thing is to know (deep down heart level) that, since we have turned our lives over to Christ, Jesus dwells in us and in Christ we have been raised up with Jesus to new life.  He states that Christians are no longer sinners, i.e. those who are dominated by and ruled by sin.  Instead, we are ruled by Jesus.  However, sin stills holds rebellion in us (hence why we still sin), but we are no longer identified by, defined by, or bound in the power of sin because Christ rules in us and through us.  I found this to be a crucial shift in my own thinking, life, and action (page p. 149-165).

While this book is meant to be read in a small group, it can also be read individually.  Since I do not have a small group at this time, I read it individually and can still say that it has profoundly impacted me.  I read the book quickly in order to have an opinion of it for a meeting that is coming up shortly, but I can't wait to read it slowly over again. 

One Line Summary: Go buy this book. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Beautiful-James-Bryan-Smith-ebook/dp/B006NZ6744/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400787925&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Good+and+Beautiful+God

Book Reviewed: Smith, James Bryan. The Good and Beautiful God. Downers Grove: IVP, 2009.  

Here is James' Apprenticeship website in case you wanted to check out more information:

https://apprenticeinstitute.org/

Aftertaste: The Narrow Way

This past week I preached on Matthew 7:13-14.  We heard the call to obedience and to choose the narrow path which leads to life, recognizing the need for God's grace along the way, to spend time with Jesus by reading Scripture and in prayer, and to encourage one another to hold tightly to the faith.  However, I left out one essential piece: how is the path actually walked?

The path is walked through our everyday life choices.  The things we do day in and day out are those things which our paths in life are made up of.  It's not really about an "epic" story as we might imagine it (like Lord of the Rings) nor is it about mighty "victories" that we have, although some may have epic stories and mighty victories.  For the most part however, the narrow path is walked as we might normally suspect: one step at a time. Each step is a choice, an action, done in a normal and seemingly ordinary day that leads towards everlasting life.

This is hard to imagine and even tougher to enact.  This thought has paralyzed me at times, rendering me almost unable to make a choice because I feel so much weight is placed upon the choice that is bothering me right now: "Should I go with the salad that points towards a sustainable lifestyle and stewardship of nature or eat the cheeseburger which probably points to a lack of sustainability in lifestyle and lack of stewardship by eating higher upon the food chain? WHAT WOULD JESUS EAT?" my mind screams. 

It's not about being paranoid, or being scared of our choices.  But it does mean that we purposefully think about the actions we take and the choices we will choose.  Working out beforehand, "what is a sustainable way of eating?" or "how should I interact with my boss who is a bit on the angry side?" can free us to act like Christ in the moment.  That is why theology and reflection is so important: our everyday lives and actions become shaped by what we think and believe.

Finally, it comes back to God's grace and transformation. I am convinced that our efforts to "perform" by meeting the "standards" doesn't go far enough - it is done out of passion and desire but eventually leads to burnout. Instead, time in God's presence leads to transformation because of God's character which leads to right behavior because of a transformed inner being. This is what leads to the narrow way and to life - time with God. That time with God will be difficult however; it means dying to self and rising into Christ's new life for us, more us than we ever we before (as C.S. Lewis puts it).