For meditations on things bigger than you, pick up Do Something Beautiful: The Story of Everything and a Guide to Finding Your Place In It. R. York Moore, national evangelist for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, may not cover everything, as the subtitle so boldly states, but he has a lot of nuggets for the reader to think about.
Moore calls for Christians to seek the glory of God and his beauty in the world, especially in the "times of of darkness, above the dirty, common, ugly conditions of the world." Today's Christians are rightly concerned with issues of justice, but Moore reminds us that justice is a means, not an end. "We can often do justice without embracing anyone at all, but we cannot give grace, hope, and love without embrace. . . . Justice is merely the doorway through which we must walk to get to the experienced reality of bounty."
That bounty is the beauty of the Lord. Evangelism is our call to tell of his beauty. "Sharing, liking, and re-posting the gospel is an act of beauty that can change us and change those around us. Evangelism should be like that." Evangelism is "trying to express a light from another world, an expression of beauty and wonder that is hard to put into words, . . . making known the bounty of God and inviting people to know the person of Jesus for themselves."
Do Something Beautiful is not a book to be skimmed, but to be read slowly, revisiting passages later on for deeper insight. What a reminder to dig deeper and live fuller than "a few songs and a good homily, a plastic cup of grape juice and a wafer sliver." We should live in the beauty and bounty of the Lord, remembering that "heavenly actions impact earth."
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
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