Review: One.Life

Last updated on: January 16, 2011 at 5:08 pm by Michelle Van Loon

Review: One.Life 2011-01-16T17:08:00-06:00 Michelle Van Loon

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Every time the single-moment act of accepting Christ becomes the goal instead of the portal, we get superficial Christians. And every time personal practices of piety wiggle away from the big picture Jesus sketches before his followers, it becomes legalism.”

In his newest book, Dr. Scot McKnight wants to help us move away from these shallow ideas of what it means to follow Jesus. One.life: Jesus calls, we follow (Zondervan, 2010) could easily be called, “Your idea of discipleship is too small. Wayyyy too small.”

McKnight is the rare Biblical scholar who is as adept as communicating with popular audiences as he is writing for his ivory tower’d academic peers. His Jesus Creed blog has long been a mainstay of my online spiritual diet – this site’s wide-ranging, intelligent and wholly civil discourse about everything from theology to Crocs is a model of what it can look like to have a thoughtful, gracious online conversation. In fact, I won my copy of One.life by participating in a contest on his blog. (Yes, the cranberry-chocolate chip ribbon cookies did it for me once again!)

But I would have probably purchased this book. It is that good – and is desperately needed. The premise sounds simple, but the ideas in One.life are anything but simple. McKnight explores what it means to follow Jesus – and shows us that the call to discipleship will require a “yes” from every area of our lives – heart, soul, mind and strength. There are 14 chapters in this 200-page book covering themes including committment, justice, church, sex, vocation, eternity and more. Instead of creating a rah-rah, you-can-do-it, go-team call to discipleship, McKnight instead builds his case the way that Jesus did – by inviting people to experience his kingdom, insisting that the usual definitions of kingdom used in most corners of evangelicalism these days are selfish, small copies of the real thing. He notes, “This word kingdom is being used so often today it’s getting muddled and fuzzy. It has been internalized by some into an inner experience, it has been socialized by others into a program for ending poverty and creating better laws and saving the planet, and it has been downsized by yet others into little more than a personal spirituality.”

The truth is that few of us want to give our lives to something smaller than us – and these ways of presenting the kingdom have attempted to shrink it into something we can carry and manage. Each chapter in One.life attempts to unhook our popular notions about how the kingdom works in order to show us that the kingdom is so much bigger than any of these wee components. McKnight closes each of the first few chapters of the book by developing a working definition for the kingdom invitation that is firmly rooted in the words and works of Jesus. Between each chapter is a one-page “interlude” section designed to do kingdom work by busting the invitation out of the pages and into our heart, soul, mind and strength.

Though this book would be an ideal gift for someone in their twenties or thirties, I believe readers of all ages will benefit from possibly having a few of their own sacred ideas challenged about what kingdom life is. This would be a great book for a study group to tackle as well. Recommended.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 13, 2011

Of Sarah and shoddy semantics

Next Post

January 24, 2011 It's not a small world after all

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Baggage Books Calendar Church and Ministry CVID Ecclesiology Everyday Christian life Faith Falling Upward From The Margins Housing Jesus Movement's Unintended Consequences Midlife Midlife Survey #1 Midlife Survey #2 Moments and Days Out To The Margins Pilgrim's Road Trip Regret Seminary Spiritual Formation Uncategorized What's A Nice Jewish Grandmother Like You Doing In Seminary? When The Heart Waits Writing

Select a Month June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Great is your faithfulness! Your mercies are new every what?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Season Morning Hour Day