TAKE HEART:
Christian Courage in the Age of Unbelief
By Matt Chandler
The Good Book Company. 123 pages. £6.79
ISBN 978 1 784 983 161
‘It’s a great time to be a Christian.’ So Matt Chandler’s latest book, Take Heart begins. Some Christians might immediately respond somewhat quizzically, ‘Is it?’
Chandler follows up, only a couple of pages later: ‘Welcome to the age of unbelief. What are we going to do in it? I believe we can thrive.’ How can he make sense of such a paradox?
Biblically optimistic
This is a great little book, easy to read, with a high view of God, and a biblically optimistic vision for Christian living in an increasingly secular, post-everything world. Chapter One contains challenges to some alternative models of reacting to contemporary culture; without being judgmental, Chandler has words of correction for everyone, whether they are tempted to withdraw from the surrounding culture, confront it, or just consume its products.
Chapter Two gives a brief tour of the decline of Christendom and of Christian influence (perhaps a little too easily conflat-ed), and Chapter Three leads us back to God, unchanging, supreme and central, amidst patterns of chaotic cultural change.
But Chandler then really hits his stride and takes us from the God described in Chapter Three to the mission of God’s people, equipping them with a biblical vision of God, empowering them to adopt a biblical pattern for thriving in a world moving away from him. His sixth chapter, on hospitality, is especially welcome.
In times when many Christians are tempted to feel more fretful and anxious, Chandler reminds us that courage isn’t the absence of fear, but the decision to act despite those fears, because of our values and goals. By frequently reminding us of God’s character, Chandler gives Christians great reason to ‘take heart’ and act and speak in God’s name.
