Review of Gospel Wakefulness by Jared C. Wilson

I’ve shared this story before but I think it is a fitting illustration of what Jared Wilson’s book Gospel Wakefulness is all about…

One morning as I was taking a shower this text came across my mind:  “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”  I didn’t give it much thought until a few days later…

There I was sitting in the bath tub at a spiritual crossroad.  I felt as if all of hell was pulling at my soul.  Tempting me, sifting me…sifting me…wait, was God communicating something to me a few days ago.  I had no idea.  Everything was cloudy.

Here I was a youth pastor.  I am supposed to be leading teenagers.  I was preaching about the glory of God and having satisfaction in Christ alone.  Yet inwardly, I was so screwed up.  I had thoughts that a believer should never have.  I had doubts that ravaged my soul.  And with that came dejection, depression, and deep feelings of condemnation.  I wanted to hide but knew there was no place to run.  There I was alone, cowering in the bath tub.

This time in my life was perhaps the most intense period of temptation that I have faced.  I felt as if I were seconds away from turning my back on Christ and running in the other direction forever.  I’d have to quit as a youth pastor.  My marriage would be altered forever.  My relationships with others rocked.  I’m not sure if it was good or not but I kept going through the motions trying to hang on to what little faith I seemed to have left.

Then the lights came on.  Suddenly I felt as if the sifting had subsided and I was able to see the beauty and sufficiency of Jesus.  Actually its not as if I had somehow returned to normal.  Actually, through this experience I was utterly transformed.  The gospel became so much sweeter.  I was slowly being stripped of every vestige of self-righteousness, and I saw Christ as the only home for my tattered and tempted soul.

What is Gospel Wakefulness?

This experience is what Jared Wilson would call Gospel Wakefulness.  For some people it happens simultaneous with conversion but for others, like me, it happens at a time after conversion.  What is gospel wakefulness?  Wilson defines it as “treasuring Christ more greatly and savoring his power more sweetly”.  (24)

It is not a second conversion experience nor is it equivalent to the new birth (24).  It is a strengthening of the affections for Christ alone that comes through beholding the glory of Christ at an intersection of profound brokenness (32).  It is Wilson’s contention that those that are bored with the gospel say such things because they have never experienced gospel wakefulness. 

If I understand Wilson correctly he is saying that gospel proclamation is its own catalyst.  Rather than being afraid of the monotony of the gospel we should proclaim it over and over and over and over and over again.  The more it is proclaimed the sweeter it becomes.  Rather than becoming boring and drab the gospel actually gets better the more it is experienced and beheld.  (Perhaps it may be better to say Jesus becomes sweeter the more He is experienced and beheld). 

As Wilson weaves stories, illustrations, and biblical defenses throughout this book he is making one simple point Jesus is big enough to captivate our every affection so rather than assuming the gospel let’s proclaim it over and over again.  The gospel is what drives sanctification.  The gospel is what ties a broken and depressed person to a strong and faithful Christ, so let’s proclaim it in the midst of darkness.  The gospel transforms our hearts and therein also transforms spiritual disciplines.  It brings confidence as it links us to Christ. 

This book, then, is a simple passionate and emboldened plea to keep the gospel central in our lives and in our churches.  It’s not a formula or a magic potion.  In fact, Wilson admits up front that gospel wakefulness “can’t be learned” (34).  He explains:

…all I mean is, neither I nor anyone else can say to you, ‘Be awed by the gospel,’ and have you say, ‘Okay,’ and make the decision of awe.  I can and should tell you to ‘Behold!’—and that is the major function of this book—but whether you will truly see is up to God , and it is usually dependent on how dim all your earthly hopes have grown for you.

Critique? 

There have been a few cordial concerns from other reviewers that Wilson’s book “could easily lead to unhelpful division and categorization” (Trevin Wax and also Aaron Armstrong).  While I understand the point that Wax and Armstrong are making I think Jared’s position is one backed up by the apostle Paul. 

It seems to me that in Ephesians 1:1-14 Paul is laying the ground work of what has objectively happened in the life of every believer.  But then in 1:15-23 Paul essentially prays that the Ephesians will “have the eyes of the hearts enlightened” in such a way that they will come to increasingly enjoy all that Christ has already purchased.  Certainly this process of “enlightening” and “knowing the hope to which he has called you” is not a uniform process in every believer. 

Though there are those that are sensitive to such language (and perhaps rightly so) I am perfectly fine with praying over every brother and sister in Christ that their experience of enjoying what Christ has already purchased would become sweeter and sweeter.  I do not think Wilson’s intention is to draw a fine line between “wakened” and “unawakened” but rather it is to say that what will cause us to increase in our affections for Jesus and increasingly wake up to the beauty of the gospel is indeed the gospel itself. 

My only criticism (actually concern) is one that Wilson mentions in his conclusion.  He notes that his friend voiced concern over the constant use of the term gospel.  The friend said, “I feel like all the gospel-centered this and gospel-driven that is just our version of ‘smurfy’.” (213)  And as Wilson notes, this is a very valid concern within the gospel-centered movement.  I think Wilson answers this charge quite effectively.  I found the conclusion helpful but perhaps more so his response to a Fuller quote I shared.  

My only critique is that I wish the concern addressed in his conclusion had been given a full chapter worth of treatment.  We have to be cautious not to make the gospel the end but as a means to the end; namely, God Himself.  I would have liked to see this potential danger fleshed out a little more.  (See Piper’s God is the Gospel). 

Should You Buy It?

Absolutely.  As I shared earlier through a period of intense brokenness God began the process of awaking me to the beauty of his gospel.  But for some silly reason I occasionally decide to shut my eyes or fall asleep to the beauty of Jesus.  I echo the sentiment of Matt Chandler when he says of this book, “My eyes filled with tears and my heart flooded with joy on numerous occasions.” 

Wilson is correct in his thesis—the more the gospel is proclaimed the more it awakens the heart.  God used this book to strengthen and dare I say re-stimulate the sufficiency of the Christ and His gospel in my own heart.  Through reading this book I began to ache for more of Christ.  My heart was truly stirred. 

I’d buy this book simply because it is filled with gospel proclamation.  At every turn you see Wilson pointing to Jesus and saying “Behold”.  Eventually, it’s gonna click and we’ll catch glimpses—beautiful, brilliant, radiant glimpses—of the beauty of Christ.  Eventually we’ll simply become fixated.

You can buy the book for 10 bucks at Amazon or on the Kindle for just over 7.  Get it here.

Review of What God Thinks When We Fail

I received this book free from IVP in exchange for a review.  I thought about failing to review it for the irony of it, but then realized everyone would fail to catch the irony because only my wife and the online publicist from IVP knows that I got the book to review.  If you think this review or any of my jokes up tot his point can be considered a FAIL, then take heart I’m not offended I’ve read this book and I’m okay with it…really. 

Rather than trying to summarize myself I’ll treat you to the IVP Press Release:

What does God think of us when we fail?

Does he think

• You're a loser.
• There's no hope for you.
• What a wimp!
• You're good for nothing!

Or does he think something very different?

If you've ever lost a job or a relationship, let your friends down, seen your finances collapse, found your ministry crumbling or failed to meet your own ethical standards, you might wonder if recovery is possible. Perhaps you've wondered if you can ever repair the damage done to others, to yourself and to your relationship with God.

Steve Roy has good news for you. He had to face his own failures, but his failures also drove him deep into what God thinks about us and success, especially in Christian ministry. He searched deeply in Scripture and listened carefully to the stories of others. He found that God's view of success is very different from ours. And that a biblically grounded view of success and failure challenges our preconceived notions but leads to hopeful renewal that goes beyond what we often ask or think.

Roy’s book is simple but not simplistic.  His main point is that what really matters is what God thinks of us.  That is good news because God is not concerned with our performance He is concerned with our faithfulness and obedience. 

If done poorly this book would have been dangerous.  And many have veered off the gospel path on this point.  Many would agree with Roy’s thesis statement that failure is only failure as determined in the eyes of God.  They would agree further that would God is really concerned with is our faithfulness and obedience to him.  But then once the “moralistic therapeutic deism” that we call modern Christianity is inserted into the equation, Roy’s thesis ends up being a sledgehammer to bludgeon and already downtrodden “failure”. 

You see knowing that success is determined by God is not freedom unless you rightly understand the gospel.  One particular area that I see many Christians fall in concerns the “finding the will of God”.  What do you do when you have made a really dumb decision and somehow find yourself “outside of the will of God”?  (Read my review of Kevin DeYoung’s excellent book Just Do Something for a little more perspective on this).  This is the area where many Christians feel like failures.  They assume that they have somehow failed in the eyes of God (obedience and faithfulness) and therefore must clean themselves up, dig themselves out of the hole of their own making, etc. before God can truly like them again. 

Thankfully Steven Roy doesn’t take that path.  Roy takes the narrow path of the gospel.  He helps us “failures” come to realize that our identity is in Christ.  He even helps us to see that our screw ups can be used by God to make us more holy and even to further His kingdom.  His advice for confronting failure is simple really, believe the gospel and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. 

The final chapter is also helpful and I am glad that the book does not end at chapter 7.  It seems to me that God often uses our failures and our sufferings to help others to cling to Jesus and fix our eyes on Him.  In the final chapter Roy speaks to ministers (but just as easily to anyone that has failed and knows somebody else that has a heartbeat) when he urges us to share our failures with other failures.  That is helpful.  Many ministers want to keep their weaknesses hidden.  Roy follows the apostle Paul in reminding us that it is in our weakness that the power of God is shown. 

So what does God think when we fail?

He’s not surprised by it, it doesn’t change his love for us, it doesn’t even change His ability to use us to further His kingdom.  Failure is only really a problem if it’s not covered by the gospel.  Or perhaps if we refuse to move on and live in the forgiveness that Christ has already purchased.

Should You Buy It?

I would recommend this book to about anyone.  Roy helpfully applies the gospel.  He writes in a compelling fashion.  He gives solid theology but does not do it in a boring way that many often associate with “theology”.  It’s a good read and a helpful reminder that God is faithful even when we blow it.  Throughout the book Roy points to Jesus and encourages the struggler to look there.  And that always makes a book worth handing to somebody else. 

I will keep this book in my library and I’m guessing I’ll be giving it away to some “failure” that comes into my office because they’ve assumed they’ve blown it. 

Don’t fail to buy this book.  You can get it from Amazon for about 10 bucks in Kindle and paperback.  Buy it here.

Preparing for When the Light Goes Out

I’ve shared in the past that I struggle with depression, discouragement, or if you’re feeling extra Elizabethan “fits of melancholy”.  I loathe these times. 

I know what it is like to live in the enjoyment of what Christ has purchased.  I know what it is like to be “on fire for the Lord”.  In these times I figure I see things rather clearly.  I see gospel metaphors everywhere.  I see the beauty of Jesus all around me.  In these times I am feasting on the goodness and greatness of God.  I cherish these times. 

But then for some unknown (at least to me) reason the lights go out.  Sometimes it is because of a stupid choice.  Sometimes it is personal sin.  Occasionally it will be circumstances.  But many times I just wake up discouraged and I cannot seem to shake it.  My head feels fuzzy, my body feels tired, my affections feel cold. 

When the Light Goes Out

In these times it is as if I find myself in a really dark room where all the things that I know are real appear much different than they really are.  You know that feeling that you had when you were a child and as soon as the lights went out the trees outside your window turn into monsters with long dangly arms, the dresser becomes a giant blob of death, your wardrobe is Frankenstein, and your toy chest is now a portal to the depths of the underworld.  That’s what real life feels like to me sometimes.

My wife’s expression which a day before would have been rightly interpreted as love is now interpreted as disdain.  The harmless jokes from my friends which I would have laughed at yesterday are now darts that rip at the very fiber of my identity.  The sin that I could have dealt with yesterday, seeing it rightly covered by the blood of Christ, now seems insurmountable.  The confidence that I had yesterday, the passion for writing, preaching, studying, etc. to make Christ the only boast of this generation now turns on me and convinces me that any work I do will probably bring shame upon the risen Lord.  The open arms of Jesus that yesterday seemed like an invitation for loving embrace now seem like that grappling position that wrestlers have before one is thrown down to the mat.

I know my eyes (perhaps, more so my heart) are playing tricks on me.  I know that any wrestling Jesus does is for my good.  I know my wife loves me, my friends respect me, God uses me, and His blood is sufficient for even my thoughts in this darkness.  I know that.  But yet that tree sure does look like a monster. 

Your counsel to me might very well be “just go turn on the lights”.  I can’t.  Maybe because I can’t get myself out of bed for fear that the darkness will swallow me.  Maybe I can’t because for some reason the light switch is broken.  Maybe I’m so disoriented that I am not even sure where the light switch is anymore.  It seems as if I am in these moments at the mercy of the dawn.  When morning comes then I’ll see again. 

Making the Nights Better

I have not given up trying to make the night go away.  Though, I’ve somewhat come to grips with the fact that this may very well be my “thorn”, my “weakness”, that the Lord will choose to show His strength through.  As for now, I’m in that in between spot where I am trying to find a way to “boast in my weakness” but fight it with all the vigor I have with weaponry of Christ. 

One way that I have learned to fight the darkness is to take advantage of the daytime.  In those times when the lights are on I cannot throw my time away on trivial junk (though I often do).  In these moments I need to prepare for the darkness.  The more I become convinced of reality when the lights are on the easier it is to tell a dragon from a jukebox when the lights are out. 

This is one reason why I rehearse the gospel quite often and keep things that serve as matches quite close to me.  I know that when I’m in the dark I can call to mind Scripture that I’ve read, theological truths that have been implanted in my heart, help from the church (all 2,000 years of her history), and identity shaping gospel promises.  These are my matches.  They give me just enough light to see for a moment before the darkness overtakes them. 

Perhaps God allows the night so that I long for the day.  There will be a day when there are no more dark rooms and I am able to see the Lord for who He is.  I’ll know then who I am too.  And his outstretched arms will never be interpreted for a forthcoming throw to the mat—instead I’ll know they are love. 

I’m content hanging on to my bed post in darkness praying that the darkness doesn’t overtake me, so long as I know that morning is coming.  I take great encouragement from FLAME’s moving exhortation, “Hold On, He’s Strong, Hold On, He’s Strong, Our God is a Warrior”.  He’s fighting the darkness.  I can’t see Him but He is.  And He’ll make sure that morning comes, even when it seems like the darkness may have gotten the upper hand. 

I’m hanging on until morning. 

Doing Us Good In Spite of Ourselves

Every now and then you are going to have to put up with an abundance of Newton quotes on this blog; I read these things and they are such balm for my soul that I have to share them.  Consider this:

[The Lord] often takes a course for accomplishing his purposes directly contrary to what our narrow views would prescribe.  He wounds, in order to heal; kills, that he may make alive; casts down when he designs to raise; brings a death upon our feelings, wishes, and prospects, when he is about to give us the desire of our hearts.  The things he does to prove us; but he himself knows, and has determined before-hand, what he will do.  The proof indeed usually turns out to our shame.  Impatience and unbelief show their heads, and prompt us to suppose this and the other thing, yea perhaps all things, are against us; to question whether He be with us and for us, or not.  But it issues likewise in the praise of his goodness, when we find, that, [in spite of] all our unkind complaints and suspicions, he is still working wonderfully for us, causing light to shine out of darkness, and doing us good in defiance of ourselves.

Repeated Multiplied Goodness

I found this very encouraging.  I believe the gentleman that Newton is writing to has cancer.  Newton’s struggle is my own:

I hope you will find the Lord present at all times and in all places.  When it is so, we are at home every where; when it is otherwise, home is a prison, and abroad a wilderness.  I know what I ought to desire, and what I do desire.  I point him out to others as the all in all; I esteem him as such in my own judgment; but alas! my experience abounds with complains.  He is my sun; but clouds, and sometimes walls, intercept him from my view.  He is my strength; yet I am prone to lean upon reeds.  He is my friend; but on my part there is such coldness and ingratitude as no other friend could bear.  But still he is gracious, and shames me with repeated multiplied goodness.  O for a warmer heart, a more simple dependence, a more active zeal, a more sensible deliverance from the effects of this body of sin and death!  He helps me in my endeavors to keep the vineyards of others; but, alas! my own does not seem to flourish as some do around me.  However, though I cannot say I labor more abundantly than they all, I have reason to say, with thankfulness, By the grace of God, I am what I am.  My poor story would soon be much worse, did not he support, restrain, and watch over me every minute.  (Newton’s Works, Volume 1, 626)