How to embrace the tensions in the Bible in order to overcome division, anxiety, and fear.
Love and wrath. Sovereignty and responsibility. Victory and suffering. Some of the truths we read in the Bible seem to be in opposition to each other. We naturally tend to gravitate towards a side, but when we lose sight of one truth in order to protect the other, we are in danger of becoming proud, creating division, and diminishing our faith.
In this compelling, inspiring, and at times provocative book, Adam Mabry urges us to stop taking sides and refuse to participate in tribalism by mapping out a way to hold in tension truths that we so often divide over.
You’ll discover how our joy and our witness rest on us learning to hold to all that the Scriptures teach and growing in virtue as we do. You’ll learn how to wrestle with all that the Scriptures say, to embrace mystery, to listen closely, and to speak with clarity.
Introduction: Why We Love Taking Sides
1. Sovereignty and Responsibility: Finding Humility
2. Us and Them: Showing Kindness
3. Image of God and Inherently Sinful: Living with Prudence
4. Word and Spirit: Developing Diligence
5. Suffering and Victory: Growing in Perseverance
6. Politics and Kingdom: Caring for Justice
7. Love and Wrath: Displaying Charity
8. Already and Not Yet: Choosing Patience
9. Sometimes, You Have to Take a Side
Contributors | Adam Mabry |
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ISBN | 9781784985493 |
Format | eBook |
First published | September 2020 |
Language | English |
Publisher | The Good Book Company |
© Adam Mabry/The Good Book Company 2020
I suspect this provocative book will be received with delight and suspicion in equal measure. But for those who long for Christian relationships that go beyond the combative or tribal, and that are instead marked by grace and truth, there’s a lot here to make you ponder and pray, with hope and joy.
Challenging, stretching and in some places quite uncomfortable. Adam challenges us to grow in humility towards Scripture and other Christians, especially those who understand things differently to us.
One of the more important skills for the 21st century is learning how to hold our theological convictions without giving in to divisive controversy. The body of Christ is so much more than the sum of its divisions, and Adam Mabry has given us wise guidance on how to maintain unity and disagree agreeably when it comes to complex theological topics.
Mabry helpfully unpacks a number of things in a bit more depth to help the reader think through the implications of their thoughts and actions regarding a particular truth.... continue reading
This book was a difficult read for me – not because it was poorly written, but because it was written so well. I was convicted and challenged. I tend to see things in black and white, I make my own boundaries, and I wall myself in. But this book shows me a better way: let go of our tribes and cling to Christ.... continue reading
Loved it!