Henry Cloud and John
Townsend are Christian
counselors. In their practice, they found that many
Christians have little knowledge of what the Bible says about
their problems. They often had been
taught religious beliefs that not only were opposed the Bible, or misconstrued
it, but were detrimental to their recovery.
They address a doze of these maddening traditions in 12 “Christian” Beliefs That Can Drive
I won’t go over all twelve
beliefs. They’re all things I’ve seen or
heard, or even thought myself, at some point.
You probably have run into them, too.
Some concepts recur throughout the chapters:
- Denial of neediness,
- Legalism,
- Over-spiritualizing,
- Underestimating God,
and
- Underestimating the importance of people.
In each chapter, the authors
describe the a false belief. Sometimes
they show its pseudo-biblical origins.
They then present the Biblical view on the subject. They offer advice on how to put this
knowledge into practice.
The overarching theme of the
book is that growth as a Christian is a process. God can change us in an instant, but more often
He changes use over time. The secondary
theme is the necessity of the church. Most of the crazy-making beliefs lead people
to isolate themselves. This is the
opposite of what God intends. It is
often through our brothers and sisters in the church that God provides for our
needs, and as we mature we have the privilege of helping others, too.
It would not be appropriate
to describe this book as self-help. Cloud and Townsend never assume that we can
make on our own. We’re not made to. First, we need God and He is the prime mover
in the transformation of our lives.
Second, the church is intended to be like a body, where the various parts
aid, support, help, and heal each other.
God uses people and He has probably provided what we need through the
church. Finally, some people need
professional help. Whatever you need,
powering through on your own is not the way to go.
This book may be useful to
Christians at any stage, especially those struggling with ongoing
problems. I wish I had had it early in
my Christian life, when its lessons might have save me a lot of struggle.
It is simple to read,
too. There is no technical, psychological
material to wade through. It is written
to the person seeking help, not as a textbook or reference for the counselor or
other professional.
If you’re interested in this
book, you may also be interested in
Google
No comments:
Post a Comment