drbobcornwall's review against another edition
4.0
Mark Labberton is the new President at Fuller Theological Seminary -- the seminary from which I received my M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees. The seminary sent my a copy of the new book -- as is true, I assume, of all alumni. I wanted to read it because I wanted to get a sense of his vision for the church and for the seminary. Fuller is an evangelical seminary, though one with a significant mainline presence. I'm always wondering where I fit into the mix.
The book is focused on our calling to follow Jesus in our daily lives. It is evangelical in orientation, but it is an open evangelicalism. I felt pretty comfortable with what he had to say. It is a call to live a life of divine abundance, but a calling that is rooted in following Jesus -- even in the midst of suffering and discouragement. It is an outward faith, embracing God's realm and living it in the midst of a world that is in many ways lost -- not lost in the sense of being condemned, but lost in the sense that the world is struggling to find its way forward. It is, to quote scripture, sheep without a shepherd. We are invited to participate with Jesus in the shepherding task.
It's a good read -- and should enlighten us on what Labberton intends to be as President.
The book is focused on our calling to follow Jesus in our daily lives. It is evangelical in orientation, but it is an open evangelicalism. I felt pretty comfortable with what he had to say. It is a call to live a life of divine abundance, but a calling that is rooted in following Jesus -- even in the midst of suffering and discouragement. It is an outward faith, embracing God's realm and living it in the midst of a world that is in many ways lost -- not lost in the sense of being condemned, but lost in the sense that the world is struggling to find its way forward. It is, to quote scripture, sheep without a shepherd. We are invited to participate with Jesus in the shepherding task.
It's a good read -- and should enlighten us on what Labberton intends to be as President.
annebennett1957's review
4.0
A study book. We read this book in Bible study and had such good discussions.
lilylovesbooks's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
This little book gives some great insights about what God calls His people be and do in a painful, scary world.
waveycowpar's review against another edition
4.0
This book was given to me when I was in Fuller (it is written by the President of the college) and I've only read it now.
It's a great book. Talks a lot about how we Christians think we live in the Promised Land but we're actually in Exile and need to reorient our thinking to match our reality.
The main point: follow Jesus! What a great point. Love it
Next main point: make the first things first. Those things like following Jesus should be our concern. I don't think he quotes it but a good summary might be "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added onto you also."
It's a great book. Talks a lot about how we Christians think we live in the Promised Land but we're actually in Exile and need to reorient our thinking to match our reality.
The main point: follow Jesus! What a great point. Love it
Next main point: make the first things first. Those things like following Jesus should be our concern. I don't think he quotes it but a good summary might be "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added onto you also."
scottsterpa's review against another edition
5.0
This was truly an excellent book. The writing style was skillful, smooth and engaging. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because of some repetitiveness and jingoistic wording--but it's supremely worth the read anyway.
Labberton clarified many issues of "call" that have caused stumbling, anxiety and angst to many Christians, including myself in adolescence and early adulthood. There is the pervasive idea that all of us have a unique call from God--a particular niche that He wants us to find for our lives' work. But here's the catch -- it's a secret. We have to want it really bad, pray really hard, demonstrate faith and earnestness, fast...offer a bull upon the altar...find a feather from a rare bird atop a Himalayan peak...(not really). But the sense of it being a strange spirit-quest, which we may or may not complete (probably not), is the same. If we find this elusive vision, we'll be all set to marry the spouses and do the work we were divinely equipped to perform. But if we miss it, we'll fail in discovering God's best for our lives, eke out a defeated and unfulfilled life, and hope that God will find some value in the second-best path we chose. Sound familiar? Of course that all sounds ridiculous the way I hyperbolized it, but really, that's very close to the mystery we subconsciously perceive at the heart of finding God's divine and particular will for our lives. It's like searching everywhere for a burning bush in a sopping-wet rainforest in a thunderstorm. It's not likely to work.
Labberton demystifies the concept of call in a way that I hope many will find liberating. First and foremost, nearly all we need to know about our calling is found through deep fellowship with Jesus, making our home in God's Word, living in authentic Christian community, and simply cooperating with the Holy Spirit in His work to transform us in becoming more like Jesus. It's about loving God with our whole heart, and loving our neighbors, right exactly where we are, right now, right where God has planted us. This is what Labberton calls putting first things first. If we look around us, and ask what it means to incarnate Jesus' love to the real people and real situations we see, we will know God's calling upon us for today.
As we are increasingly formed to be like Jesus, and as a faithful character takes root in us, God will lead us to be passionate about and engage with people and issues that fit with who He has created us to be. But we must not rush this process. We must, like Abraham, trust that the God who invited us on this journey has the map, and an unfailing sense of direction. He will make sure we get where we are supposed to go. All we must do is follow Him today, where we are. Then we do the same thing tomorrow. Instead of a great mystery that we are supposed to deduce, our calling becomes a place we will unfailingly reach if we trust our Father to take us there.
Labberton engages in some serious talk about the crisis of following Jesus in our current situation. Many people, desperately searching for the light of God, seek it in the lives of those who profess faith, and discover in them the same confusion and compromise from which they are seeking escape. The difference is that people of "faith" are smug and self-righteous toward those honest enough to live how lost they are. No wonder so many outside the church want nothing to do with us.
What people need more than anything else today is practical wisdom that will actually make a difference in their lives and direction. They see a world, a society, and their own lives, reeling with confusion and darkness, and collectively they cry out, "FIX IT!" to anyone with a solution. They give the organized church a chance, and they get only spiritual platitudes that are completely irrelevant to the pain they are experiencing. Labberton points out that spiritual knowledge and wisdom are completely different things. If there is no action, there is no wisdom. If it doesn't work for real people with real problems, there's no wisdom that will actually help them. God is calling us to offer realistic, workable, scriptural wisdom to the world. But we are so compromised ourselves, we have none to offer. We've relativized, spiritualized, and philosophized Jesus' commands that were meant to be lived out, quite literally. We didn't want to make the sacrifice of obedience. But if we haven't actually tried out Jesus' wisdom, and discovered that it truly works, we can't help others, let alone ourselves. This has to stop. It's time for Christians to reclaim the heritage of wisdom bequeathed to us, stop living our lives a million directions at once, and start living out the practical wisdom of Jesus. Then, and only then, will we have something to offer.
Labberton believes that we have gotten so flaccid because we have assumed such privilege and power in a Christendom, civil-religion America. We've assumed we're on top, that we have the dominant position, so all we need to do is relax and enjoy the privilege. This is what Labberton calls a "Promised Land" mindset--we have it made; the war is won. What is truly pathetic is that so many still believe this. It's astounding that so many people can continue to live in this delusion that the church is still a dominant voice in society; that we still have clout. In truth, we have been increasingly pushed to the margins for a very long time now. That isn't simply because of all those "evil, godless people" out there, by the way. We have reached a position of irrelevance, in great part, because we have made ourselves so. Labberton urges that we wake up from our "Promised Land" dream, and embrace a new mindset, based on where we are in reality. We must adopt a position of "Exile," in which we no longer arrogantly assume dominance or clout. We are, once again, but one, tiny voice in a great multitude of voices. If we wish to see others coming to find their answers in Christ, we must do so with genuine love and humility, compassion, and service. Instead of being arrogant and entitled, we must promote the new and living way Jesus proclaimed by actually living that way ourselves. It is not our job to judge or coerce anyone; it is our job to live and tell the love of Jesus, to shine our light and let others decide for themselves whether to follow that light. Instead of seeing our neighbors as evangelistic prospects, and additional parts in the ecclesiastic machinery, we see and treat them as they are -- people lovingly created in the image of God, worthy of infinite value, love and service. That is a mindset I can get behind, a posture I can adopt, a mission I can live--because it looks, to me, very much like Jesus. I hope legions of Christians wake up, as soon as possible, and have the courage to carry out these lives of loving exile and service
Labberton clarified many issues of "call" that have caused stumbling, anxiety and angst to many Christians, including myself in adolescence and early adulthood. There is the pervasive idea that all of us have a unique call from God--a particular niche that He wants us to find for our lives' work. But here's the catch -- it's a secret. We have to want it really bad, pray really hard, demonstrate faith and earnestness, fast...offer a bull upon the altar...find a feather from a rare bird atop a Himalayan peak...(not really). But the sense of it being a strange spirit-quest, which we may or may not complete (probably not), is the same. If we find this elusive vision, we'll be all set to marry the spouses and do the work we were divinely equipped to perform. But if we miss it, we'll fail in discovering God's best for our lives, eke out a defeated and unfulfilled life, and hope that God will find some value in the second-best path we chose. Sound familiar? Of course that all sounds ridiculous the way I hyperbolized it, but really, that's very close to the mystery we subconsciously perceive at the heart of finding God's divine and particular will for our lives. It's like searching everywhere for a burning bush in a sopping-wet rainforest in a thunderstorm. It's not likely to work.
Labberton demystifies the concept of call in a way that I hope many will find liberating. First and foremost, nearly all we need to know about our calling is found through deep fellowship with Jesus, making our home in God's Word, living in authentic Christian community, and simply cooperating with the Holy Spirit in His work to transform us in becoming more like Jesus. It's about loving God with our whole heart, and loving our neighbors, right exactly where we are, right now, right where God has planted us. This is what Labberton calls putting first things first. If we look around us, and ask what it means to incarnate Jesus' love to the real people and real situations we see, we will know God's calling upon us for today.
As we are increasingly formed to be like Jesus, and as a faithful character takes root in us, God will lead us to be passionate about and engage with people and issues that fit with who He has created us to be. But we must not rush this process. We must, like Abraham, trust that the God who invited us on this journey has the map, and an unfailing sense of direction. He will make sure we get where we are supposed to go. All we must do is follow Him today, where we are. Then we do the same thing tomorrow. Instead of a great mystery that we are supposed to deduce, our calling becomes a place we will unfailingly reach if we trust our Father to take us there.
Labberton engages in some serious talk about the crisis of following Jesus in our current situation. Many people, desperately searching for the light of God, seek it in the lives of those who profess faith, and discover in them the same confusion and compromise from which they are seeking escape. The difference is that people of "faith" are smug and self-righteous toward those honest enough to live how lost they are. No wonder so many outside the church want nothing to do with us.
What people need more than anything else today is practical wisdom that will actually make a difference in their lives and direction. They see a world, a society, and their own lives, reeling with confusion and darkness, and collectively they cry out, "FIX IT!" to anyone with a solution. They give the organized church a chance, and they get only spiritual platitudes that are completely irrelevant to the pain they are experiencing. Labberton points out that spiritual knowledge and wisdom are completely different things. If there is no action, there is no wisdom. If it doesn't work for real people with real problems, there's no wisdom that will actually help them. God is calling us to offer realistic, workable, scriptural wisdom to the world. But we are so compromised ourselves, we have none to offer. We've relativized, spiritualized, and philosophized Jesus' commands that were meant to be lived out, quite literally. We didn't want to make the sacrifice of obedience. But if we haven't actually tried out Jesus' wisdom, and discovered that it truly works, we can't help others, let alone ourselves. This has to stop. It's time for Christians to reclaim the heritage of wisdom bequeathed to us, stop living our lives a million directions at once, and start living out the practical wisdom of Jesus. Then, and only then, will we have something to offer.
Labberton believes that we have gotten so flaccid because we have assumed such privilege and power in a Christendom, civil-religion America. We've assumed we're on top, that we have the dominant position, so all we need to do is relax and enjoy the privilege. This is what Labberton calls a "Promised Land" mindset--we have it made; the war is won. What is truly pathetic is that so many still believe this. It's astounding that so many people can continue to live in this delusion that the church is still a dominant voice in society; that we still have clout. In truth, we have been increasingly pushed to the margins for a very long time now. That isn't simply because of all those "evil, godless people" out there, by the way. We have reached a position of irrelevance, in great part, because we have made ourselves so. Labberton urges that we wake up from our "Promised Land" dream, and embrace a new mindset, based on where we are in reality. We must adopt a position of "Exile," in which we no longer arrogantly assume dominance or clout. We are, once again, but one, tiny voice in a great multitude of voices. If we wish to see others coming to find their answers in Christ, we must do so with genuine love and humility, compassion, and service. Instead of being arrogant and entitled, we must promote the new and living way Jesus proclaimed by actually living that way ourselves. It is not our job to judge or coerce anyone; it is our job to live and tell the love of Jesus, to shine our light and let others decide for themselves whether to follow that light. Instead of seeing our neighbors as evangelistic prospects, and additional parts in the ecclesiastic machinery, we see and treat them as they are -- people lovingly created in the image of God, worthy of infinite value, love and service. That is a mindset I can get behind, a posture I can adopt, a mission I can live--because it looks, to me, very much like Jesus. I hope legions of Christians wake up, as soon as possible, and have the courage to carry out these lives of loving exile and service
henryhaney's review against another edition
5.0
We are all called by God. Mark Labberton does a great job in this book of simplifying what that means. He masterfully lays out the basics of how to follow Jesus in such a powerful way that even those that have followed for many years would be inspired and challenged by reading. Great book.
janegleaton's review against another edition
3.0
I read this for my Practices of Vocational Formation class at Fuller. It was good - kind of generic, but solid. I really appreciated the emphasis that we are living in exile, not the Promised Land. That thought is expounded upon throughout the book and I think it’s an important reminder. Overall, a quick, easy read.
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