{"id":289,"date":"2020-09-14T11:39:40","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T16:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/seminary\/?p=289"},"modified":"2020-09-14T11:39:40","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T16:39:40","slug":"the-best-book-of-the-21st-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/seminary\/the-best-book-of-the-21st-century\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Book of the 21st Century"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The best book of the 21st<\/sup> century is Dane Ortlund\u2019s Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers<\/em><\/a>. The best book of the 21st<\/sup> century\u2014<\/em>that\u2019s saying a lot! Let\u2019s put that in perspective.<\/p>\n

R. Bowker LLC, which issues the ISBN numbers used by librarians to track individual titles, says that 3 million books are published annually. So, in the twenty years of the 21st<\/sup> century we\u2019ve had 60 million books published. And Google estimates that 200 million books are currently in circulation. That\u2019s a lot of books.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I\u2019m saying. Of the 60 million books published in the 21st<\/sup> century, the #1 book is Dane Ortlund\u2019s Gentle and Lowly<\/em>.<\/p>\n

By the way, I\u2019m saying that as the author of twenty books in the 21st<\/sup> century. And I wouldn\u2019t put any of my twenty books in the unique category of Ortlund\u2019s Gentle and Lowly<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What Makes Gentle and Lowly<\/em> So Unique and Special?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shirley and I are reading Gentle and Lowly<\/em> together. I asked Shirley for her one-sentence summary. She captures well the unique value of the book.<\/p>\n

\u201cGentle and Lowly <\/em>opens your eyes to learn more about God than you\u2019ve ever known before.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is being said by a mature Christian woman\u2014Shirley\u2014who has been a Christian for half-a-century. I agree with my wife.<\/p>\n

In his book, The Knowledge of the Holy<\/em>, A.W. Tozer famously writes:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat comes into our minds when we think about God is the\u00a0most important\u00a0thing about us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gentle and Lowly <\/em>is renewing my mind about who God is. I\u2019m saying that as a Christian for half-a-century, and as a pastor, biblical counselor, and seminary professor for thirty-five years. It seems like in every chapter in Gentle and Lowly<\/em> I\u2019m saying to myself, \u201cI\u2019ve taught on this verse; I\u2019ve shared it in counseling. How could I have missed this rich insight about the gentle, good, and gracious heart of Christ!?\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a primary purpose of Ortlund in Gentle and Lowly<\/em>\u2014to renew our minds about who Christ is. Ortlund describes this purpose throughout his writing. Here\u2019s one example, in a chapter on the richness of God\u2019s mercy.<\/p>\n

\u201cNowhere in the Bible is God described as rich in anything. The only thing he is called rich<\/em> in is: mercy. What does this mean? It means that God is something other than what we naturally believe him to be<\/em>. It means that the Christian life is a lifelong shedding of tepid thoughts of the goodness of God<\/em>\u201d (172).<\/p>\n

When you think about God, does it naturally come into your mind that He is gentle and lowly? If not, then Gentle and Lowly <\/em>is the proverbial \u201cmust read\u201d for you\u2014as it has been for me.<\/p>\n

The Heart of Christ<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ortlund introduces chapter 1 like this, beginning by quoting the central verse from which he draws his title\u2014Matthew 11:29.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018I am gentle and lowly in heart<\/em>\u2019 (Matthew 11:29). My Dad pointed out to me something that Charles Spurgeon pointed out to him. In the four Gospel accounts given to us in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John\u2014eighty-nine chapters of biblical text\u2014there\u2019s only one place where Jesus tells us about his own heart\u201d (17).<\/p>\n

Imagine someone asking you, \u201cCould you tell me the core of your heart, the essence of what makes you who you are?\u201d What comes out of your mouth next is going to be quite essential. This is what Jesus does for us in Matthew 11:29\u2014He tells us the essence of who He is. And this is what Dane Ortlund does for twenty-three riveting, relevant chapters\u2014Ortlund exegetes the heart of Christ\u2014the gentle and lowly heart of Christ.<\/p>\n

Why the Heart of Christ Is So Vital in Our Personal Lives<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spoiler alert! I\u2019m going to talk to you about the end of the book\u2014Ortlund\u2019s Epilogue<\/em>. He asks the question, \u201cWhat Now?\u201d \u201cBut what are we to do with this?\u201d (215). Ortlund replies like Jesus replies:<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there is one thing for us to do. Jesus says it in Matthew 11:28. \u2018Come to me.\u2019 Whatever is crumbling all around you in your life, wherever you feel stuck, this remains, un-deflectable: his heart for you, the real you, is gentle and lowly. So go to him. That place in your life where you feel most defeated, he is there; he lives there, right there, and his heart for you, not on the other side of it but in that darkness, is gentle and lowly. Your anguish is his home. Go to him. \u2018If you knew his heart, you would\u2019\u201d (216, the final sentence quotes from the Puritan Thomas Goodwin).<\/p>\n

Gentle and Lowly<\/em> is beautifully and powerfully motivating my heart to come to the heart of Christ. It can do the same for you.<\/p>\n

How does knowing the gentle and lowly heart of Christ motivate us to come to Christ? Think theologically and practically with me. Jeremiah 2 begins with a description of the first love of God\u2019s people for God.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert\u201d (Jer. 2:2).<\/p>\n

Sadly it ends with God\u2019s people forsaking their first love and now seeing God as a dark desert.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou of this generation, consider the word of the\u00a0Lord: \u2018Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, We are free to roam; we will come to you no more<\/em>?\u2019\u201d (Jer. 2:31).<\/p>\n

What intervened to cause God\u2019s people to morph from following Him into the desert<\/em> to viewing Him as<\/em> a desert<\/em>? Jeremiah 2:5 and 2:19 tell us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat fault<\/em> did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me?\u201d (Jer. 2:5).<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Consider then and realize how evil and bitter\u00a0it is for you when you forsake the Lord\u00a0your God and have no awe<\/em>\u00a0of me,\u2019 declares the Lord, the\u00a0Lord\u00a0Almighty\u201d (Jer. 2:19).<\/p>\n

The word \u201cfault\u201d in Jeremiah 2:5 means \u201cfaulty\u201d\u2014what faulty view do you hold of me in your mind? It\u2019s a word used of weights and measures in the sense of minimizing the weightiness of something or someone. It means that God\u2019s people see God as a \u201clightweight.\u201d They think insignificant thoughts about God. To use the language of Jeremiah 2:19, they have lost their awe of God\u2014their sense of God\u2019s awesomeness.<\/p>\n

This is what Dane Ortlund is talking about in Gentle and Lowly<\/em>. He\u2019s highlighting that:<\/p>\n

God\u2019s awesomeness and weightiness are seen in God\u2019s gentleness and lowliness<\/em>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the uniqueness of Ortlund\u2019s message, as I see it.<\/p>\n

Why do we forsake God? Why do we not come to Christ? Because we have faulty views of God where we\u2019ve lost our awe of God\u2019s gentleness and lowliness\u2014His perfect and infinite goodness, grace, mercy, compassion, and love.<\/p>\n

Why the Heart of Christ Is So Vital in Our Biblical Counseling Ministry<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Think about how this relates to biblical counseling and the care of souls. An anxious soul comes to us. We interact. We care. We listen. Then we journey together to 1 Peter 5:7.<\/p>\n

\u201cCast all your care on him because he cares for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

We tend to emphasize the imperative encouragement: \u201ccast all your care on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, we tend to neglect the essential motivation: \u201cbecause <\/em>he cares for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before we exhort and encourage someone to trust God, do we even know if they view Him as trustworthy?<\/p>\n

Before we exhort people to cast their cares on God, do we even know if they view Him as caring?<\/p>\n

Before we encourage counselees to entrust themselves to God, let\u2019s journey with them helping them to grasp more and more the gentle and lowly heart of Christ\u2014His perfect and infinite goodness, grace, mercy, compassion, and love for them.<\/p>\n

The Best Book of the 21st<\/sup> Century<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers<\/em> is drawing me to the heart of Christ. It is helping me to draw the heart of my counselees to Christ. Gentle and Lowly<\/em> is the best book of the 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best book of the 21st century is Dane Ortlund\u2019s Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. The best book of the 21st century\u2014that\u2019s saying a lot! Let\u2019s put that in perspective. R. Bowker LLC, which issues the ISBN numbers used by librarians to track individual titles, says that 3 million… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4566],"tags":[4566,129,34230,34231],"yoast_head":"\nThe Best Book of the 21st Century - Faith Bible Seminary Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/seminary\/the-best-book-of-the-21st-century\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best Book of the 21st Century - Faith Bible Seminary Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The best book of the 21st century is Dane Ortlund\u2019s Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers. The best book of the 21st century\u2014that\u2019s saying a lot! Let\u2019s put that in perspective. R. 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