So…disclosure time. I didn’t do as well as I wanted to reading books in 2018. I managed to squeak out a few more than I did in 2017…and I was slightly less diligent in publishing reviews. Hence, I’ll have a few reviews that are stragglers of books read in 2018. That being said, here is the first such review.
I have not read personally anything from Jen Wilkin, other than her tweets and a few postings on TGC. My wife has benefitted greatly from her books, as have other ladies in our church as she seems to have a solid grasp on the Word of God and theological application. This book verified all that for me.
Subtitled “10 Ways that God Calls us to Reflect His Character” you knew right away that we were headed into a survey of God’s attributes. What was helpful about this book was how Wilkin weaves his character into our quest to “know God’s will” for our lives. One of the top Christian cliches and misunderstandings that American Churchianity has every produced.
Wilkin poses the better question in response to “What should I do?” – “Who should I be?” [13]. And as you can probably see what’s coming – who we are as Christians has everything to do with who Christ is, as we are united with Him.
This speaks to our fallen natures – the sin, selfishness, weakness that resides in us all – and thus there is only one answer to that: the gospel. “The gospel transforms us to who we should have been. It re-images us.” [14].
“What is God’s will for your life? Put simply, that you would be more like Christ.” [16]
AMEN. Thank you, Jen Wilkin. Not that we finally answer our true calling and find our purpose by unlocking some secret plan for our destiny with a new job, or new mission. Rather that we live out our highest calling – to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
Wilkin then walks through 10 aspects of God’s character that we should be:
- Holy. God is holy, so we are to be holy. [1 Peter 1:14-16] “Holiness permeates the entire Christian calling. It lies at the very center of the gospel. We are not merely saved from depravity; we are saved to holiness. Creation entails consecration.” [25]
- Loving. Modeled after “agape” love – “a selfless, purposeful, outgoing attitude that desires us to do good to the one loved.” [34] It’s worth noting that everything rolls up under #1 – so as Wilkin rightly points out “if I seek to be holy without agape, I addd nothing, I am nothing, I gain nothing.” [1 Corinthians13:1-3; 37]. The ultimate example of love is what God did for us by giving us His Son, Jesus on the cross.
- Good. “As those who are the recipients of the good and perfect gifts of God, goodness toward others means generosity. It means were recognize that God gives us good things no so that they might terminate on us, but so. that we might seared them on behalf of others.” [51]. “Be the person who seeks the welfare o others. Be the person tho ives without counting the cost. Be the person who serves joyfully with no expectations of thanks for recognition. Be good employees, good next-door neighbors, good parents, good children…” [52]
- Just. Stop score-keeping. Stop attempting to self-justify. There is only one who knows all things and has acted perfectly to right all wrongs. Jesus is both just and the justifier. [Romans 3:21-26] “Be just as he is just, delighting in his law, extol his good government, do justice daily as children of your Heavenly Father.” [69]
- Merciful. “Justice is getting what we deserve. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting what we do not deserve.” [72]. I like the way Wilkin writes…clearly and powerfully…”the fact that you are currently inhaling and exhaling at this very moment means that you are a recipient of mercy.” [73]. God expresses his mercy towards us in Jesus, so we ought to be merciful.
- Gracious. God’s grace is everything. Without it, we are only left with his just wrath for sin. Even after conversion, his grace empowers us to grow in Christlikeness. “Those who enjoy such abundance can afford to deal abundantly with others.” [93]
- Faithful. “God is incapable of infidelity at any level.” [99] We are not, yet God like faithfulness should be a life goal. Being faithful is an intentional chasing to be like God, and not the sinful desires of our hearts. Talk about God’s will for our lives, it doesn’t get much more practical and nitty gritty than choosing to follow his way in the 1.78 trillion thoughts, words, and actions every single day.
- Patient. I’m not a patient person. God is perfectly patient. Any questions? But seriously, to make it worse – God is all-knowing and perfectly patient. I know only a microscopic slice of my life and I’m impatient. That means we have to trust him with our lives because he knows best.
- Truthful. We have to remember that any of these things we know because they are comparison items. We know what is good, because we compare it to something known to be good, etc. However, God is the very definition of these characteristics. He is truth. He created truth. He is truth personified in Jesus. This flies in the face of our current “what’s true for you is cool” moral relativism culture. I love that Wilkin goes all worldview by pointing out there are actually answers to the big questions of “Where did we come from?” “Why am I here?” “What’s wrong?” and “What fixes it?” [125cf]. This world, in all it’s blessings, is a false reality. The truth is God and we know him thru the Word of God.
- Wise. So many times we pray for wisdom in a situation. I wonder how much of that would be informed if we diligently, honestly, and humbly pursued #1-9? In order to know God’s wisdom, we need to know God. We need to spend time with him in prayer, in his Word, and following it. the Bible is very clear the road to wisdom, sometimes it’s a lack of desire and submission on our part.
Wilkin rolls all of this up into what we were created to do – worship. “The motive of sanctification is joy…fullness of joy results when we seek to reflect our Maker. It’s what we were created to do. it is the very will of God for our lives.” [148]
May we focus more on being like God himself this year and less of our own “mission quest” – let the world see God in you. “God’s will for our lives is to become living proof.” [153]
Thanks Jen Wilkin.
Mike Ruel 