Book Review – Worldliness

I’ve just finished reading a number of books and thought I might post a few reviews over the coming weeks.

The first is called "Worldliness" and is written by a collection of Sovereign Grace authors and edited by C J Mahaney.  It has a Foreword by John Piper and its endorsements are a who’s who of contemporary evangelicalism.

Overall I enjoyed this book.  I particularly liked the chapters "God, my  heart and my stuff" and "God, my heart and my clothes".  These are both very thorough chapters on their topic and will serve all readers well.

Clothes – well covered

As a father of three girls "God, my heart and my clothes" gave me a lot to consider – particularly as my girls are getting to the age that they will begin caring about clothes more in the coming years.  This chapter is written both to women and men and occasionally asks "do you" questions – to women, although I can’t help but wonder what proportion of the books readers will be women as compared to men.  Having said that, I hope that every God fearing woman would read this book, as I fear few seem to understand the temptation that men wanting to walk holy lives undergo on a daily basis due to the way many women clothe themselves.  This chapter is a very honest and well aimed discussion on modesty much needed in the church today.

Does it go far enough?

The biggest disappointment for me in this book was really a very minor point that I would make with regards to the chapters "God my heart and my music" and "God, my heart and media".  At the end of the day I personally would have put a little more emphasis on where entertainment fits into the daily priorities of a person seeking to honour God. The chapter on media did at least ask questions about how much time is spent watching movies and TV, but both chapters focused dominantly on the content we listen to rather than asking the believer how the Lord would like them to fill their time.

In addition some points that should have been made more of were in my opinion left hanging. For example when Craig Cabaniss recounts the following his conclusion seems to miss the point he is making:

Recently, a lady in our church communicated to me her resistance to the idea of curbing media consumption; she believed that viewing current TV programs and movies enabled her to better relate to the lost.  But she came to question her own reasoning: "Am I lowering my standards to stay up to date with our culture while not really reaching anyone by doing so?" I respect her for her humility and honesty.  She asks a discerning question (Worldliness, P45-46)

Craigs conclusion of this paragraph is summarised in the first sentence that follows it:

In reality, it isn’t necessary to be a media glutton to share the gospel effectively. (ibid, P46)

Craig is absolutely right.  However, I would have gone a little further and pointed out that we can use all sorts of excuses (such as viewing current TV programs and movies" enables us to better reach the lost), however, most Christians spend an inordinately large proportion of time consuming media compared to the miniscule time we spend doing the work of the Lord.

There is much more to be said on what media we should watch and what should guide our content decisions.  At the end of the day, I’m convinced that we are far too lax in what we watch considering what we say we believe, but I’ll save this for another post later this week.

Thumbs up

Having said this, I’d like to reiterate that this is a small thing given what the book delivers overall.  In reality taking a good look at the content we take in is a very good starting point, not to mention the transformation that will take place in the hearts of those who prayerfully consider the chapters on "stuff" and "clothes".

I recommend this book to you whole heartedly.  Purchase it from the Sovereign Grace site to support their work or click here to purchase on Amazon.