Irresistible Faith by Scott Sauls reads like a conversation between great friends over coffee as they challenge each other to truly live out the gospel in every facet of their life…leaving no stone unturned. Sauls challenges us to look forward to Revelation 21…and to practice living that way now, “The identifying mark of the City of God is when citizens of the heavenly city become the very best citizens of the earthly one. To be on the side of Jesus is to be on the side of the world and its flourishing. The gospel of John tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This doesn’t merely describe Christ and his mission; it also defines our purpose as his ambassadors to a lost and fractured world. To put it plainly, we are to love this world” (p. xxiv). The Kingdom of God is a matter of the here and now.
What would it look like to live out the Christian life in such a way that would clearly draw people to want to know more? Can people truly come with their mess and be welcomed? Why do we assume that previous question is for other people and not for ourselves? I’m reminded that John 1:16 points us to our need for “grace upon grace.”
I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…
- As one who longs to see Christianity return to a place of life-giving, contagious presence in the world, I am both haunted and motivated by the characterization in Acts of the early church. That description compels me to ask: What would it look like for Christians to be reignited in this kind of faith for our time? What would it look like for us to become those who live most beautifully, love most deeply, and serve most faithfully in the places where we live, work, and play? What would it look like, as Tim Keller has said, for us to live so compellingly and lovingly in our neighborhoods, cities, and nations that if we were suddenly removed from the world, our nonbelieving neighbors would miss us terribly? What would it look like for Christians to become the first place people go for comfort when a life-altering diagnosis comes, when anxiety and depression hit, when a child goes astray, when a spouse files for divorce, or when a breadwinner loses a job? “What would it look like for a woman with a crisis pregnancy to see the local church, not the local clinic, as her trustworthy source for love, non-judgment, practical support, wise counsel, and much-needed encouragement? What would it look like for the local church to become the most diverse and welcoming—rather than the most homogeneous and inhospitable—community on earth? What would it look like for Christians to become not only the best kind of friends, but the best kind of enemies, returning insults with kindness and persecution with prayers? What would it look like for Christians, en masse, to start loving and following the whole Jesus and the whole Scripture, the whole time, into the whole world?” p. xxi
- The identifying mark of the City of God is when citizens of the heavenly city become the very best citizens of the earthly one. To be on the side of Jesus is to be on the side of the world and its flourishing. The gospel of John tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This doesn’t merely describe Christ and his mission; it also defines our purpose as his ambassadors to a lost and fractured world. To put it plainly, we are to love this world. p. xxiv
- We are now, through the finished work of Jesus, invited to assume the identity that God has given us. Or as Catholic writer Brennan Manning put it, “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is an illusion. p. 14
- When you become a Christian, your new and favored position in God’s eyes is based on the finished work of Jesus on your behalf and nothing else. This reality is also the power for change. Having been declared forgiven, perfect, and loved in God’s sight, you are free to pursue obedience to God’s law. You pursue obedience not as a way to earn his favor but to start becoming the healthiest, most alive version of yourself—to become the person you already are in the sight of God. p. 14
- All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17) p. 23
- We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5) p. 23
- Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom. 12:2) p. 23
- A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner. – DIETRICH BONHOEFFER p. 59
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: Every human wish or dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial. (John de Grutchy, ed., Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Witness to Jesus Christ (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991), 182.) p. 84
- A failure to give voice to difficult truths can be very costly. For example, if a doctor saw cancer on a pathology report but told the patient that everything was clear, the patient would die, and the doctor would be guilty of medical malpractice. Likewise, we can become guilty of spiritual malpractice by remaining silent about the destructive thoughts, words, and actions of the people in our lives. Recognizing this in his masterpiece about Christian community called Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.”2 As the proverb says, “Better is an open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Prov. 27:5-6) p. 84
- As Martin Luther stressed, we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. True faith will always be followed by growth in grace and virtue (Eph. 2:8-10) p. 94
- As Sri Lankan evangelist Daniel T. Niles has said, participating in Christ’s mission is like “one beggar telling another beggar where to get food” Daniel T. Niles, That They May Have Life (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1951), 96. p. 126
- We participate in God’s work through our work. And in this, we actively participate in executing God’s creative and restorative work in the world. As the image of God, every time we participate in work that creates and restores, we also participate in God’s work of leaving people, places, and things better. How is this so? Mothers extend the nurture of God; artists and entrepreneurs, the creativity of God; government leaders and business executives, the rule of God; healthcare professionals and counselors, the healing hand of God; educators, the wisdom and knowledge of God; nonprofit workers, the mercy and compassion of God; fashion inventors and stylists, the beauty of God; attorneys and judges, the justice of God; marketers and advertisers, the evangelistic energy of God; authors and storytellers and filmmakers, the drama of God. p. 152
- Christians operating with a sense of joy, purpose, and mission in their work are integral components of irresistible faith. When our own employees, colleagues, and bosses begin to see the impact of the gospel on the way we do our work, a new and needed dimension is added to our calling as “salt and light” in the world. p. 141
- Of all people, Christians have a strong basis for this vision for work-as-mission: Because Christ worked tirelessly and joyfully for our rescue, restoration, and renewal through his life, death, burial, and resurrection, we now have the greatest reason to work toward the rescuing, restoring, and renewing of God’s world. Ideally, this understanding of Christ’s work on our behalf should compel us toward an exemplary work ethic, a zeal for producing a quality of work that will honor Christ, a life-giving posture toward all who are affected by our work, and a joyful drive to grow into our best creative and redemptive potential. p. 141
- History began in a garden and will end in a city. Every vocation is a calling from God (the word itself comes from the Latin word vocare, which means “call”) to nudge the Garden toward becoming an irresistible, life-giving City that we have been made to inhabit. And as we participate in this unfolding through our work, we don’t do just anything. We make history. p. 152
- Our irresistible faith reflects the irresistibility of God himself, in all his facets, creativity, and passions, through the work that God has given us to do in the world. p. 153
- For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast. . . Because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. (1 Cor. 1:26-30) p. 165
- What if, in the spirit of Paul intelligently and winsomely engaging Greek academics with the truth of the gospel, Christians became known for engaging in thoughtful, enriching, challenging, and honoring discourse about God, humanity, and life (Acts 17:22-34; Col. 4:6; 1 Peter 3:15)? p. 171
- What if, in the spirit of Scripture’s vision for the integration of faith and work, Christians became known as the bosses everyone wants to work for, the colleagues everyone wants to work alongside, and the employees everyone wants to hire (Eph. 6:5-9)? p. 172
- As Christ’s ambassadors to our neighbors in need, please help us live irresistible lives of mercy and justice. Shape us into the kinds of people who, because you came to us in our dire need and rescued us, give special attention to, and generously channel our resources toward, improving conditions and systems—whether spiritual, social, economic, or vocational—for the poor, immigrants and refugees, ethnic and other minorities, and others who lack resources, opportunity, or privilege. Help us embrace the idea that as conditions improve for those who have power, conditions must also improve for those who lack power, and never at their expense. For wealth, privilege, and power are given to be stewarded and shared for the benefit of all, not protected and kept merely for the benefit of some. p. 179
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