Seraphim's Struggles on the Way

I must start off by saying I think that Len Sweet is improving with age. His newest book, Out of the Question Into the Mystery is very different from his earlier book "Soul Tsunami" and subtler than "Carpe Manana". One of the most telling ways that this book is different is in it's simplicity. Len is usually so complex, and it is wonderful to see him, as an author is able to return to truth in simplicity, not in prophetic catch phrases or catchy titles.

This is a book about following Jesus and being the church. If I had to use a 'catch phrase' myself it would be 'relational theology'. Meaning that any theology or belief about God that is not lived out relationally is not the kind of Faith or Life that is the God Life. Len offers a solution to the problem of Christianity as folk who read the Map (i.e., the Bible) but never use the Map to take any journeys.

The book starts out with a chapter called "Where did we miss the person and get the point instead?" and grows from there. Len easily goes on to prove that Christianity wasn't founded on a proposition. God sent Jesus to deliver a proposal: "Will you love me? Will you let me love you?"

Len then goes on to say many profound but true and useful things like:

"Over a two-thousand year period, but especially in the last two hundred years, we have jerked and tugged the Christian faith out of its original soil, its life-giving source, which is an honest relationship with God through Jesus the Christ. After uprooting the faith, we have entombed it in a declaration of adherence to a set of beliefs. The shift has left us with casual doctrinal assent that exists independent of a changed life. We have made the Cross into a crossword puzzle, spending out time diagramming Byzantine theories of atonement. How did the beauty of Jesus atoning work get isolated from the wonder of restoring an authentic relationship between God and humanity?"

How indeed. Len then goes on to explain the difference between 'belief' and 'faith' and shows what a faith that is lived out rooted in the GodLife looks like. This book is about how to get about being on the Journey of the Christian life. It shows how Christianity is a Way to be Walked, not a place to sit and be stagnant.

This is truly one of Leonard Sweet's best works. A good read, and something that you wouldn't be ashamed of or cringe to give to your 'non-Christian' friends, as a good introduction to what Christianity is supposed to be.

I'shalom

Love4theword