A Stone's Throw

A while back, I signed up to review this book and place that review on my blog.  I received the book in the mail a couple of weeks ago and I have read it, but am just now getting around to writing the review.

I was really excited to begin reading the book, because Mark Batterson’s first book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day was a huge book in my pilgrimage.  I read it all in one sitting…in the middle of the night.  His style is very similar to his writing style on his blog, which I read all of the time on my RSS reader.

The Billing:

Back Cover–
Our Generation needs a reformation.  But a single person won’t lead it…A single event won’t define it.
Our reformation will be a movement of reformers living compassionately, creatively, courageously for the cause of Christ.
This reformation will not be born of a new discovery.  It will be the rediscovery of something old, something ancient.  Something Primal.

What would your Christianity look like if it was stripped down to the simplest, rawest, purest faith possible? You would have more, not less.  You would have the beginning of a new reformation–in your generation, your church, your won soul.  You would have primal Christianity.

This book is an invitation to become part of a reformation movement.  It is an invitation to rediscover the compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy that turned the world upside down two thousand years ago. It is an invitation to be astonished again.

Front Dust Cover–
Be Astonished Again.
We have a tendency to complicate Christianity. Jesus simplified it: Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If we are to live out the essence of Christianity, we must commit to being great at this Great Commandment.

In Primal, Mark Batterson explores the four elements of Great Commandment Christianity: compassion, wonder, curiosity, and power. Along the way, he calls you to be a part of God’s reformation, starting in your own life.

As Mark writes, “Is there a place in your past where you met God and God met you? A place where your heart broke for the things that break the heart of God? Maybe it was a sermon that became more than a sermon. Maybe it was a mission trip or retreat. Maybe it was a vow you made at an altar. In that moment, God birthed something supernatural in your spirit. You knew you’d never be the same again. My prayer is that this book would take you back to that burning bush—and reignite a primal faith.”

Primal will help you live in light of what matters most and discover what it means to love God. It will help you become great at the Great Commandment.

The Review:

I think, honestly, I was looking for this book to be like “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day.”  That book was very influential to me when I read it in one sitting.  I am draw to Mark Batterson because he is a church planter and he talks about his time spent at college at Central Bible College in my home town of Springfield, MO.

He sets out on a “quest” for authentic, or “primal” Christianity.  Jesus explained the primal tenet of Christianity in the Great Commandment (Mark 12:30). The problem, though, with the modern church, Batterson writes is that we aren’t doing the Great Commandment.  He writes, “My answer is simply this: we’re not great at the Great Commandment.  In too many instance, we’re not even good at it….That, I believe, is our primal problem.  That is the lost soul of Christianity.”  He continues “The quest for the lost soul of Christianity begins with rediscovering what it mean to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Jesus used those four kaleidoscopic words to describe four dimensions of love.”

The book is then laid out by further discussion of each of these four “primal elements” in the Great Commandment:

The heart of Christianity is primal compassion.
The soul of Christianity is primal wonder.
The mind of Christianity is primal curiosity.
And the strength of Christianity is primal energy. (Italics mine)

No, the book did not make as large an impact as Batterson’s first book, but it is definitely worth the read.  My copy has a lot of “dog-eared” pages, highlighted passages, and notes scribbled in the margins…a good sign of a good book (in my own humble opinion.) I really enjoy Batterson’s writing style as well as his illustrations along the way.  He is a very widely read person and that shows on the variety of the illustrations and thoughts he has in the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone in our church.  I think I am going to recommend this book to our Life Groups as well.  So, if you have any gift cards for books, make sure you go and get this book! It is also available on my beloved Kindle, on December 29th!

Mark Batterson has a good post on a book coming out called UNChristian.  Looks like an interesting book on a subject that I am really interested in lately.  I like what Batterson says about this concept:

All I know is this: I’m not called to be a Christian. I’m called to be Christlike. And those are very different things. And the more Christian and less Christlike we are the bigger turnoff it is. 

What would it be like if we all were more Christlike and less Christian?  Because of our “Christian” culture and subculture that we have in the Church these days, I don’t know if Jesus would be even noticed because he probably would be at the Church of What’s Happnin” Now, but out in the community doing ministry.  It is really hard to de-program yourself from the Christianeese that we all have.  I have been really trying hard lately in my preaching to not assume people know too much about the Bible.  I have tried to stop and show where the books are in the Bible, for example.  People who are new to this whole thing wouldn’t even know where to start to find a book.  Plus, we put the verses on the screen, but we don’t want it to stop there.  We want them to find it in their “own” Bible–even provide one if they don’t have one.

Where in your life are there “turnoffs” to Christ because of your Christianity getting in the way of people finding Christ?