Alright. Essay #2, The Bravehearted Gospel.

The basic idea behind “The Bravehearted Gospel” feels to me to be a critique of, as the author calls it, the modern church. So first a couple ideas that i do resonate with.

Idea #1. Eric strongly makes the case that the majority of the mainstream church as we know it today has been misdirected through our overemphasis on being “relevant.” He makes the case that in our attempts at becoming hip and sexy we’ve forgotten about what really matters. We “appear” to be connecting and relevant. In this regard I feel he has a point. In fact I would even say that our very attempt to relevance has made us more disconnected and loud.

Idea #2. Another idea Eric brings out, to which i feel compelled to agree to, is that we need to be more proactive. (Which Ludy likes to called, “being manly.” This type of descriptive terms kinda makes me wanna puke a little bit. But more of that latter.) To the idea that we need to be more proactive totally makes sense to me. Calls to help the oppressed. The lonely and afraid. Those who can’t pay us back. We do need more of this. (Yes. And really challenging)

And now the less interesting. (Or more interesting. Depending how honest you are. 😉 Things that bothered me.

Issue #1. As I briefly mention above, a lot of the descriptive terms used in this book bothered me. Terms like, we need to be more manly. Though Eric does explain that by “manly” he is referring to what is generally associated with the masculine. Such as being proactive. Making choices and sticking to them without compromise. I still feel like a little more creative thought could’ve been used there. But then again, maybe i’m just not manly enough.

Issue #2. Ludy makes a call to being more cut and dry when it comes to sin. He makes the case that the current church is way too mellow when it comes to addressing people who can’t “get over their sin.” Quoting Paul with “Hand him over to Satan.” And through a story about an injured horse that needs to be put down, he makes the case that “somebody needs to shoot the horse.” This imaging seems overly crass to me. First of all because sinners are not horses. (Though i don’t like the idea of shooting horses, i still feel that humans have infinitely more value.) And secondly, because I’ve seem some results of what happens when we “just shoot the injured horses” around us. And thirdly, we’re all sinners. Now, I’m not making the claim that we shouldn’t address each others sin and do nothing. I just think its really quite complicated. Differing from person to person.

CONFESSION on ‘my Guilty Pleasure’: Close to the beginning of the book Eric acknowledges that in the book he calls out a couple people by name. When I read this I have to admit that I got excited. (Bloodthirsty me.)

DISCLAIMER: This review has been challenging for me because it hits kinda close to home and i understand that you can put only so much in a single book. So please take this with a grain of salt.

    Thanks for reading

I really feel like i benefited from reading this book

and as always

love and peace always

blessings, -brad