Go For Meaty Books

I love to read. Sometimes I like to read a happy little fiction story. Other times, I am wrestling with theology by reading books by Bonhoeffer and C.S. Lewis. Sometimes I read books that encourage me when I am weary. Other times, I need a book to motivate me to get outside of myself and my problems so that I can better serve those around me. Some of my favorite books are the books that challenge me and send me back to the Bible to not only to double-check the author, but to cause me to re-examine what I believe & why.

I pointed out to my husband that a lot of Christians in the Western world don't seem keen to do tough introspection. There are a lot of Christians who go for what I have termed "books of fluff": these are 'Christian' books that applaud you for being awesome as you are instead of spurring you on and encouraging you to be more Christlike.

When I think of the Church in the Western world, I realize that we have become complacent and comfortable, instead of pushing on to achieve our goal, which is spreading the Gospel.

To borrow an example from nature, if a river creates a side stream, that later gets cut off from the main river and prevented from flowing onward down the stream, than that side stream will soon become a stagnant pond and a breeding place for mosquitoes. When new water isn't flowing into a stream, it runs the risk of drying out. When water isn't flowing out of a stream, even if a little trickle is flowing into the stream, it runs the risk of stagnating.

It is the same way in the lives of Christians. When we cut ourselves off from the Source, we start to dry out spiritually. It becomes exhausting to live according to the Bible.

When we cut ourselves off from growth and outreach, we stagnant. We may get a trickle from the Source, but we are becoming self-absorbed, bitter, and just all-around icky.

There's a lot of books out there that congratulate you for being so godly and being a better person than the non-Christian culture around you. So instead of continuing to strive after becoming more Christ-like, we begin to pat ourselves on the back for being so awesome and silently judge the culture around us for their sinfulness. We are looking down at the very people we should be reaching out to in compassion.

But when we read the meaty books, that hold up Christ as our example, we still see the progress we have made from our first day as a Christian, but we are more aware that we still have a ways to go to be fully Christ-like.

I challenge you to read meaty books-biographies, auto-biographies, stories of the saints.  Read the hard truths that make us uncomfortable or challenge us. And allow the Holy Spirit to grow you.