the blog
Which books inspire you?
by bruce
February 19, 2010 | Books, Faith | 3 responses
102 years ago, G. K. Chesterton wrote a pivotal work that influenced an entire generation of British writers. The work, Orthodoxy, was a Christian apologetic and spiritual autobiography. For the first half of the 20th Century there were many writers whose work paralleled and borrowed from Chesterton’s, not the least of which was C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity.
Early in Orthodoxy, Chesterton tells us this parable (I’ve edited this for brevity):
I have often had a fancy for writing a romance about an English yachtsman who slightly miscalculated his course and discovered England under the impression that it was a new island in the South Seas…. The man, who landed (armed to the teeth and talking by signs), began to plant the British flag on that barbaric temple which turned out to be the Pavilion at Brighton. I am not here concerned to deny that he looked a fool. But if you imagine that he felt a fool, or at any rate that the sense of folly was his sole or his dominant emotion, then you have not studied with sufficient delicacy the rich romantic nature of the hero of this tale. His mistake was really a most enviable mistake; and he knew it. What could be more delightful than to have in the same few minutes all the fascinating terrors of going abroad combined with all the humane security of coming home again? What could be more glorious than to brace one’s self up to discover New South Wales and then realize, with a gush of happy tears, that it was really old South Wales.
Not only do I find it interesting that Orthodoxy was such a major work that it heavily influenced Christianity in its day, but I see parallels to it today as the Church is remaking itself and rediscovering its roots in fresh and meaningful ways. And this leads me to wonder about Christian readers 100 years from now—what are our books that will be definitive statements of Christian life in the early 21st century? Are we allowing ourselves to be inspired and influenced by God’s prophets now?
What are the pieces that are having the biggest impact on your spiritual life today?
As a church planter, I've read a lot of progressive things from today's trendy younger leaders, but most influential to me are two unlikely books, from two unlikely authors:
Present Future : Reggie McNeal – a SBC bureaucrat who is more widely known for "church growth movement" books broke wrote a book that is anti-church-growth (pro Kingdom Growth) and was life changing in my understanding of ministry. He rescued from organizational dogma with that book. It's been a few years now since he wrote it, but I still re-read it to invigorate my view of "church". His theme: it's the Kingdom, stupid – not the organization.
Simple Church : Thom Rainer. This guy leads Lifeway, one of the most recognizably stodgy brands in protestantism. Again, what a surprise. He makes his living from selling materials for church programming, but wrote a book saying that churches need to do less programming. I could not have survived being a church planter if someone had not introduce me to this book at the planning stages of Thrive Church. His theme: effective churches are fanatical about their stated mission, have a clearly defined, focused process for making that mission happen, and iconic values that everyone can easily understand and support – all three of these things are aligned and streamlined.
Thorn Rainer — I believe — is IN the system, but not OF the system. He realizes (through the tenants of his book) that the Traditional Church has lost it "relativity." He is right. The believer is the "church," and as the believer(s) come together to assemble — it is called the ecclesia.
The goal is to win over those trapped in the church system, not drive them farther away. I am attempting to bridge the gap at:http://www.v2tm.org and through my book (no publisher yet): Get Real! RU Relevant.
May God help us seek and save that which is lost by equipping the Body of Christ with RELEVANT ministry tools.
Live OUT LOUD!
Mark Harrell
Sorry … it's Harrell, not FHarrell (although that is pretty cool)!