Impossible Christianity
In the last three decades, our horizons expanded far beyond what our forefathers could even imagine. In a matter of seconds, we can track an Amazon purchase, read the local news of a faraway place, and check in on a gaggle of friends instantaneously. However, a famous line from Jurassic Park comes to mind: Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” With each of these modern advances comes spiritual retreat. The slow and steady progress of the Christian life is no longer compared with seed and sower; instead, the current language of technology presses upon us metrics and data of which we feel impossible to achieve. What has been the result? Guilt, misery, and a lack of satisfaction in the Christian life. In this current climate, Kevin DeYoung has provided us a helpful reprieve.
Impossible Christianity can be explained by the subtitle: “Why Following Jesus Does Not Mean You Have to Change the World, Be an Expert in Everything, Accept Spiritual Failure, and Feel Miserable Pretty Much All the Time.” To do so, DeYoung draws forth the spiritual ailments which have plagued the modern age and applies theological and biblical prescriptions accordingly. Or to put it another way, he provides theological barriers to our technological advances.
Let me provide one brief example. One, social media have provided us access into the lives of loved ones near and far. However, social media have also provided us access into the loss of loved ones near and far. Within the last year, teenagers were able to livestream the bloody carnage of foreign wars from the comfort of their own home. Daily, our phones bring tragedy after tragedy to our minds with far greater rapidity than our grandparents could fathom. Speaking of grandparents, technology forces us to reckon with their injustices as well. Whether it be in the past or around the world, we suffer from “compassion fatigue.” Faced with these ills, we feel as if we must respond. This tension has created “the infinite extensibility of guilt.” Our souls cannot sustain our feeble attempts at omniscience, can they? To this problem, Kevin DeYoung provides a helpful discussion of moral culpability. “Am I responsible for these ills? At what level do I need to respond? If at all?” God understands our finitude and inability to cope with a world full of injustice; therefore, His Word provides a framework for our handling of these ills.
Other questions involve “Have I done enough?”, “Is failure the norm of the Christian life?”, “Should I feel bad about having wealth?”, and many more. In our rapidly changing world, Scripture provides us with the tools necessary to be both happy and holy. Because of these honest questions and warm answers, I cannot recommend this short book enough!
Over the next eight months, our Women’s Ministry will be studying these very questions! If you would like a copy of Impossible Christianity, you can purchase them here.
