“When it comes to  cultural creativity, innocence is not a virtue. The more each of us knows  about our cultural domain, the more likely we are to create something new  and worthwhile.”

-From Culture Making, by Any Crouch

As I have been reading Culture Making, this thought has popped up a few times.  The idea that we should root ourselves in the various traditions and skills of the culture around us is an idea that I am somewhat sympathetic to since it encourages us to be excellent in our given fields.  As I read, however, I have trouble thinking up biblical support for this point.  If anything, arguments to the contrary are ready at hand: what of Paul’s condemnation of the excellencies of this world in 1 Cor 1 and 2? What of God’s demand that the people of Israel absolutely destroy all aspects of Canaanite culture?  And yet, what of Augustine’s point that it was not that scriptures that taught him the language by which he can read the scriptures?  Where do we draw the line between continuity and discontinuity with the world around us?

It is important to first point out that this book presents itself in a rather unusual fashion. It was not really written by Brother Lawrence, but rather compiled after his death by his good friend Father Joseph de Beaufort. The first section of the book consists of accounts by friends of conversations which they had with Brother Lawrence throughout his life. The second section consists of letters written by Brother Lawrence to friends. The third part is the only part which Brother Lawrence actually wrote as anything to be read. This is a collection of spiritual maxims that he has found to be true. Finally, the book ends with a short account of his life by Father de Beaufort. This format is actually rather encouraging. All to often I have been discouraged by books that present high and lofty ideas that are detached from the author’s actual life. In this book, however, the simple ideas are presented within the context of the life of a man who actually walked them out.

Brother Lawrence’s method is fairly simply. He advocates simply keeping in touch with the presence of God. His practical method of achieving this is to simply remember God and his presence as often as possible and spend as much time as possible with our attention fixed on him. This seems a little obvious or trite, but as he explains his daily life, it becomes clear that what may seem obvious is hardly practiced by all of us. He speaks of always striving to remain in the presence of God and actively avoiding things that would draw us away. I like the fact that he doesn’t really address theological issues, such as “what exactly separates one from God and how?” We all know of things we do that draw us away from God, yet we do them anyway.

Reading this book made me think about several issues that come up in the Bible quite often. I think that we often treat verses like “abide in me and I in you.” as some overly mystical theological concept. However, I am slowly learning that many of the things we read in the Bible are immediately applicable, practical facts of life. Phrases like “draw near” often turn up when I am reading the Bible, and I often skip past them without asking myself “how exactly do I draw near to God?” or more importantly, “am I drawing near to God, or have I missed something important?” Brother Lawrence, however, exhibits a life that is close to God and his presence, and he shares simple and practical ways of living it out.

Abiding in the presence of God is becoming increasingly sweet to me as I dwell with him. It is impossible for our hearts to fall in love with Christ when we do not spend time with him. Long distance relationships are tough and usually end in flames. I am also learning that abiding in Christ does not mean having a 15-minute quiet time in the morning then forgetting him the rest of the day. To ‘abide’ means to ‘dwell’ or ‘remain.’ We can be with Christ and live with him throughout the whole day.

One of the most helpful things that I learned from this book is the idea that we can remain in God’s presence even while we do other things like work. Prayer and worship are simply special times that we can use to give him all of our attention and offer our time to him. This does not mean that when the time of prayer comes to an end we leave his presence. It was also helpful for me to read about the need for simple sincerity in our relationship with Christ. Brother Lawrence warns against having a set of special devotions that simply become a memorized prayer with little heart. Rather, he advocates that we pour out what is really on our hearts at all times to him.

More and more I am realizing that Christ is a real person. When we treat him as some abstract concept written about in a book, it is easy for us to create dead religious ritual. However, the ideas that I am learning now are easily discovered when Christ is treated as a real person. I have a real relationship with him, and he really loves me. I put all those “real”s and “really”s in because it is important to stress the immediacy of his presence, rather than the concept of his presence.

I encourage everyone to read this book.  It has been quite profitable and inspiring for me.  If you are looking for an easy and quick read I recommend the version on Amazon that I have linked to on the side bar and the picture at the top of this article.  I recommend this because it is has been updated into modern English and is much easier to understand.  However, the original text is available online here.

I read this book this past semester for my Russian literature class, and I really enjoyed it. I thought it would be useful to review here, because one of the central characters is a nihilist. In the novel Turgenev paints a very intriguing picture of the nihilistic life lived out by the character Bazarov. As I learned in class, when the book first came out it was rejected by the liberals because the portrayal of Bazarov was too extreme, and they did not want to be associated with his ideas. However, it was also rejected by the conservatives, because they claimed that the portrayal of nihilist attitudes was too attractive. We see this in our society today where we are oddly attracted to people who live out the implications of their philosophy, but we are scared to be extreme.

All of the relationships in the book fan outward from the basic father/son relationship between Arkady and Nikolai Kirsanov. Arkady has been idolizing the nihilist Bazarov for some time, and Bazarav has taken him as a disciple of sorts. The novel begins with Arkady bringing Bazarov home to his father for the summer while their university is out. The father, Nikolai, and his brother, Paul, are principled individuals of the old order. The conflict in the book arises from the clash between the nihilist ideas of Bazarov and Arkady and the principled ideas of Nikolai and Paul. The book contains several stimulating dialogs between Bazarov and Paul, who are the real intellectual players, while Arkady and Nikolai throw in their two cents’ worth.

I encourage people, especially Christians, to read this book, because it explores the implications of nihilism and naturalism from many different angles ranging from ennui to romance. On a broader level it is also good because it shows that whatever your worldview is, it has practical implications for how you live. So many people think up abstract philosophical systems, then live disconnected lives. Christians are just as guilty of this as atheists.

For those of you who like Russian literature, this book fits right into the tradition. Bazarov can be seen as a further extension of some of the issues explored through the character Pechorin in Lermontov’s A Hero of Our Time.

We cannot remain as children forever. When we see a new person come to Christ, they are an infant in the faith. Like an infant we expect that they will require a lot of time and attention. They need to be fed and cared for, but we expect little from them. They must be nurtured and we don’t expect anything in return. Just like the physical birth of a child, this is a wonderful thing. However, imagine the problems that would be caused if 20 years later a baby had not grown at all and still required the same resources and care from its parents. Imagine how draining it would be if they never grew up and cared for others. This is the picture that David Ravenhill paints of many people in the body of Christ today. 20 years or more after being saved they are still seeking out their own needs rather than giving their lives to the Church. They are alive, they are saved, but they are severely disabled in their ability to minister.

I like the way that David Ravenhill does not get tangled up in specific theological questions in his book. Rather he addresses the practical state of affairs and shares God’s vision for our lives. Like his father, David emphasizes a need for prayer in the individual’s life. Without prayer we will never receive vision from the father. One point that God really used to speak to me was the idea that intimacy is a prerequisite for conception. In the physical, a couple must be intimate before they can conceive and finally give birth. In the same way, we must be intimate with God before he can conceive ministry in our lives.

This book stands apart from the crowd of popular Christian books because it calls us to get over our issues and start to help other people. When I walk into the Christian bookstore I am often dismayed to see shelf upon shelf of self-help books. As my pastor often says “either fish or cut bait.” If we are going to live the Christian life, we must get over ourselves and start caring for others; on the other hand, if we are still going to mess around in our little areas of sin or insecurities, we should just get out of the boat. You can’t sit there in the middle forever.

Yesterday, I was looking for a relaxing afternoon spent reading. I saw Every Man’s Battle sitting on the shelf and I thought I might at least read the introduction. It has been popular for a few years, and with the multitude of spin-offs and all the marketing and hype surrounding the book, I was expecting a wishy-washy, pop-Christianity piece of fluff. I ended up reading the whole thing in less than 24 hours. To be honest, the writing wasn’t spectacular, and most of the content was stuff I had heard before. However, the thing I appreciated about the book was the fact that it took a pretty hard-line stance on holiness and left no room for sin to survive. I was pretty surprised to find, in our ‘nobody is perfect’ generation, a book that stressed Ephesians 5:3-5, which tells us to not even have a hint of sexual immorality.

Let’s take a closer look at this verse, “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Can you believe the legalism here? Paul is actually saying that people who are sexually immoral have no inheritance in the kingdom of God! What happened to all that “it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” stuff that I liked a few chapters back? This is what happens when a particular teaching gets blown out of proportion and then twisted by the flesh. God saves us by his grace, but that doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want. He has a pretty high standard that is set for our own good, and he demands obedience. Paul is not saying “those who go out and have affairs will not inherit the kingdom of God.” He is telling us that God demands absolute sexual purity.

One of the things that I like best about Every Man’s Battle is the fact that the book is not addressing porn addicts or people caught up in affairs. The book mostly addresses the ‘little’ stuff that is not so little in the eyes of God. The personal example that the author uses from his own life is peeking at the lingerie ads in the newspaper every week. Satan captures us on these things and we think we are fine. However, God is still demanding obedience and we are totally ignoring his standard.

One of the biggest problems in the Church today is compromise. I am so tired of Christians being a lame version of sinners. We don’t have the courage that it takes to really pursue our sin so we simply do little bits of it, but we also don’t have the courage to step up and live a holy life. The world isn’t impressed by us and neither is God. If you are going to watch the R-rated movie and get turned on by the sex scene, why don’t you just go rent a porn flick? If you are going to make out with your girlfriend why don’t you just go all the way? You are just watering down God’s standard so that you can live in a ‘little’ sin. You are in the worst place imaginable, you have made yourself an enemy of the world by rejecting total debauchery and you have made yourself an enemy of God by continuing in your sin. I have to admit here that I was in this place for a long time, but I exhort you now to choose this day whom you will serve. You are either a son of God or a slave of Satan, pick one or the other.

The other thing that I like about this book is the fact that it gives men practical advice in the battle that faces them. There are brief psychological and medical explanations for why certain things are temptations without falling into the victim mentality of “my body made me do it.” The book then proceeds to give practical advice on how to live out a commitment to total purity. It doesn’t get caught up in theological questions like “am I a Christian if…” but rather takes a practical look at how we can be as holy as possible. I would recommend this book to anyone, despite the cheesy Christian trappings surrounding it.