New Way to Be Human, by Charlie Peacock

I remember Charlie Peacock as one of the most thoughtful and creative Christian musicians in the 1980s and 1990s.  He jumps into practical theology, expanding his song writing to book writing in New Way to Be Human: A Provocative Look at What It Means to Follow Jesus.  

Like the artist he is, Peacock takes Christian discipleship and projects it through a lens that will help you see your faith a bit differently.  As student-followers of Jesus, Christians take part in God's Story.  The Christian life is a story, and should be evident in the life of a Christian.  I don't want people to wonder whether or not I am a Christian.  As Peacock writes, "If people want to know why you head in one direction and not another, tell them who you're following. . . . I want people to ask, 'What's the deal with him?'  Answer: 'Him?  Oh he's with Jesus.'" (93, 95)

One of the more challenging sections addressed the question of work.  As a clock puncher in a secular job, it's hard for me to maintain a focus on my work as Christian service.  Peacock leans hard against working a basic job for a paycheck.  "Neither the need for money nor the need for goods and services defines work for the man or woman following in the new way. . . . Can it really be that our work is to do good and that's all?  Yes. . . . Honestly, this is just too good to be true for most followers, and so in matters of work and money, we think and behave as practical atheists." (171)  I have to say he's right.  As much as I say I rely on God's provision for my life, I'm really relying on my work ethic and skills, not on God (although I can attribute those things to God).  Honestly, I have known very few, if any, Christians who really model what he writes here.  Most of us are practical atheists on this score.

Equally challenging but more attainable was Peacock's perspective on marriage.  Marriage should be a "world-changing art of God."  He calls Christians to view marriage as a joyful, passionate partnership.  There are so many ways we get distracted in our marriages--and the rest of life--that detract from and distract from God's Story.  "When we build lives or marriages of our own design, structure church of our own design, and allow some other story than God's to control life, we accept something short of the agenda of God." (191)  

New Way to Be Human is worth picking up, worth reading again, and worth reading with a group of believers.  New believers can establish lifestyle foundations for living their faith, and with his unique perspective, even seasoned believers will enjoy a new way of looking at established elements of Christian discipleship.