I'm just about finished reading Kyle Beshears' new book: Apatheism: How We Share When They Don't Care. It's a tremendous volume which accurately diagnoses the prevalent spiritual malaise of the Western world (apatheism: lack of interest in God questions) and proposes numerous suggestions for engaging our apatheistic neighbors with the Gospel. I highly recommend the book!
But this short post is to share one particular nugget from Apatheism, in which Beshears talks about the power of sharing the Gospel as the story which has transformed our life to bring us enduring joy.
Stories compel us because they draw on the power of imagination to penetrate our hearts and minds. They have an uncanny ability to sneak past our barricades of belief, invade our buffered selves, and change us without our permission and sometimes even our awareness. (p. 105)
Earlier, Beshears talks about the centrality of joy in the Christian life and witness, and the necessity of incarnating and communicating joy in our interactions with apatheists (who themselves are pursuing joy but cannot find it amid the transient happiness that worldly goods obtain).
We as Christians have joy because of what God has done through the Lord Jesus Christ, and we rejoice in spite of our circumstances, whether we are healthy or hurting, satisfied or suffering, glad or grieved. With Christ, it's possible to smile amid poverty, to rejoice in the face of cancer, and laugh through tears. (p. 78)
Kyle Beshears' Apatheism is the fruit of over a decade pondering contemporary spiritual disinterest. It is a worthy, convicting, and encouraging read. Highly recommended!
No comments:
Post a Comment