Friday, July 20, 2007

Let's Play a Game

Name a Christian book that addresses each of the issues below (excerpted from THIS brilliant article that Craig linked to):

  • I want to feel loved for who I am, to be pitied for what I’ve gone through, to feel intimately understood, to be accepted unconditionally;

  • I want to experience a sense of personal significance and meaningfulness, to be successful in my career, to know my life matters, to have an impact;

  • I want to gain self-esteem, to affirm that I am okay, to be able to assert my opinions and desires;

  • I want to be entertained, to feel pleasure in the endless stream of performances that delight my eyes and tickle my ears;

  • I want a sense of adventure, excitement, action, and passion so that I experience life as thrilling and moving.
Edit: another excerpt from that article. What are our real needs?

  • I need mercy above all else: "Lord, have mercy upon me"; "For Your name’s sake, pardon my iniquity for it is very great";
  • I want to learn wisdom, and unlearn willful self-preoccupation: "Nothing you desire compares with her";
  • I need to learn to love both God and neighbor: "The goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith";
  • I long for God’s name to be honored, for his kingdom to come, for his will to be done on earth;
  • I want Christ’s glory, lovingkindness, and goodness to be seen on earth, to fill the earth as obviously as water fills the ocean;
  • I need God to change me from who I am by instinct, choice, and practice;
  • I want him to deliver me from my obsessive self-righteousness, to slay my lust for self-vindication, so that I feel my need for the mercies of Christ, so that I learn to treat others gently;
  • I need God’s mighty and intimate help in order to will and to do those things that last unto eternal life, rather than squandering my life on vanities;
  • I want to learn how to endure hardship and suffering in hope, having my faith simplified, deepened, and purified;
  • I need to learn to worship, to delight, to trust, to give thanks, to cry out, to take refuge, to hope;
  • I want the resurrection to eternal life: "We groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body";
  • I need God himself: "Show me Your glory"; "Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus."

11 comments:

Laura's Dad said...

John Piper's "Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist" addresses all of these concerns; but, that's probably not the book to which you are referring.

Laura's Dad

Laura said...

Sorry, I should have been more clear: I meant a purportedly Christian book that addresses one of the following concerns -- i.e., one each.

An example: for the third one, _Your Best Life Now_

GloryandGrace said...

Man, you stole my book, Laura!! :)

Laura's Dad said...

Aaaaah. Now I get it.


I'm thinking . . .

Darren Jennings said...

Ummm purpose driven life duhhhhhhhhhhh


You're dad knows what's up Laura, SERIOUSLY.

Laura said...

Haha, Darren, we need to address this Piper addiction. It's becoming a problem! So many other great authors to read and no love for anyone but Piper.

Jonny said...

I can't play this game. Too hard. I havn't read any Christian books like that. Except the ones I have listed in facebook. "Men in mid-life crisis" is one I read about 12 years ago.

Laura's Dad said...

For issue #2 ("I want to experience a sense of personal significance and meaningfulness, to be successful in my career, to know my life matters, to have an impact"), may I suggest Robert H. Schuller's 1973 self-help quasi-heresy "You Can Become the Person You Want to Be"? Indeed, you would probably find all five in this one, since it inspired many other similar feel-good books. On the Crystal Cathedral website, the younger Robert Schuller describes his dad's book as an "inspirational classic" apply to their lives "the all-loving, ever-positive message of Jesus Christ."

"Ever-positive?" What about Matthew 11:21-25; Luke 6:24-26; and Luke 11:42-47; and the entirety of Matthew 23 (see esp. v. 33!)?

Which Bible does he read?

Laura said...

Yeah, that Paul, man. What a downer. If only he had focused just a little more on the "positive" side of the Gospel instead of droning on and on about joy in suffering, thorns in the flesh, blah blah blah...

I think D's partly right about Purpose Driven Life -- the idea that God's plan is all about fulfillment. No. God's plan is all about the cross.

Laura's Dad said...

God's plan:

Ephesians 1:7-10 – In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.

GloryandGrace said...

The DVD which accompanies The Purpose-Driven Life includes moments when Warren is leading the audience through prayer. What is a prayer of salvation devoid of any mention of salvation, the cross, confession of sin? Yes, America, Jesus Christ is MORE than "CEO of your life."