Love and wrath. Sovereignty and responsibility. Victory and suffering. Some of the truths we read in the Bible seem to be in opposition to each other. We naturally tend to gravitate towards a side, but when we lose sight of one truth in order to protect the other, we are in danger of becoming proud, creating division, and diminishing our faith.
In this compelling, inspiring, and at times provocative book, Adam Mabry urges us to stop taking sides and refuse to participate in tribalism by mapping out a way to hold in tension truths that we so often divide over.
You’ll discover how our joy and our witness rest on us learning to hold to all that the Scriptures teach and growing in virtue as we do. You’ll learn how to wrestle with all that the Scriptures say, to embrace mystery, to listen closely, and to speak with clarity.
1. Sovereignty and Responsibility: Finding Humility
2. Us and Them: Showing Kindness
3. Image of God and Inherently Sinful: Living with Prudence
4. Word and Spirit: Developing Diligence
5. Suffering and Victory: Growing in Perseverance
6. Politics and Kingdom: Caring for Justice
7. Love and Wrath: Displaying Charity
8. Already and Not Yet: Choosing Patience
9. Sometimes, You Have to Take a Side
Provocative, refreshing, and compelling reading. This book will expose unhelpful and unnecessary divisions, and enable healthy, gospel-empowering unity. A must-read for staff teams, lay leaders, and any thinking Christian.
Paul Dale, Senior Pastor, Church by the Bridge, Sydney
This book is so needed today! Our age has been called the information age, but it could equally be called the outrage age, the anxiety age, the fear age, or the tribalism age. Pastor Mabry has served us well by helping us see the necessity of embracing clarity, argumentation, listening, and mystery, as we seek to avoid these problems and live with a renewed mind and for the good of neighbor, Christian unity, and the advancement of Jesus’ mission.
Tony Merida, Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Imago Dei Church, Raleigh, NC
I love how this book models how to think by addressing complicated and pressing questions of theology, discipleship, and cultural engagement with thoughtfulness, openness, and a dedication to biblical truth. You will be challenged as you read, and come away encouraged and chastened. You’ll encounter issues that make you uncomfortable and won’t be let off easy with pat or myopic answers. You’ll be pulled time and again into the path of the Spirit speaking through Scripture. And you will be better for it.
Barnabas Piper, Author, Hoping for Happiness; Director for Community, Immanuel Church, Nashville, TN
