Two Books from Sunday

During our morning worship service at Bethel last Sunday, I mentioned two books, and pledged to post information on them.

Most Christian books for men that I have read fall into one of three categories. The first is what I call non-Christian Christian books, books that are often filled with powerful illustrations and personal reminiscences, and at the same time are void of biblical truth. The second are how-to Christian books, packed with Scripture references but reducing being a Christian man to 40 things you need to do to be a godly man. The third are bash-the-church Christian books, which describe everything that is wrong with our churches, and sometimes offer practical but not always biblical advice on how to change things.

Tender Warrior by Stu Weber does not fit into one of these three categories. Weber is a pastor in Oregon who himself defies our expectations. On the one hand he is a former high school athlete and Green Beret, and still bow hunts. On the other hand he is a family man who married his high school sweetheart and raised three sons. His book combines biblical truth with helpful personal stories, and each chapter is concluded with study and discussion questions. Our monthly men's group will be reading this book together.

Christians know we need to be humble. In one sense, humility defines what it means to be a Christian -- confessing that you are a sinner and coming to Jesus Christ through faith require humility. But in another sense, humility continues to be elusive even after coming to Christ and having His life at work within you to transform you. In the sermon yesterday on Mark 10:32-45, we learned that humility cannot be reduced to a set of principles or maxims. Humility begins with regarding yourself as ransomed, as no longer belonging to yourself but to the one who bought you, and regarding Him as of greater value than anything or anyone else.

Reducing humility to maxims and principles is precisely what C. J. Mahaney does not do in his excellent little book Humility: True Greatness. He describes the importance of humility in God-centered, cross-focused terms and describes the exercises he employs to cultivate humility, all while freely confessing he has not arrived. I recommended this book during the sermon yesterday, and recommend it now to any readers of this blog.