Sunday, August 19, 2012

Review: Jesus+Nothing=Everything

Jesus + Nothing = EverythingJesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm sure that my friends on Facebook and the readers of my blog are both grateful that I've been so profoundly moved by "Jesus+Nothing=Everything" and also relieved that I've finished it, as I've inundated them with quotes from and thoughts prompted by this book.  Tullian Tchidivijian (I've even learned to spell his name!) wrote a masterful treatise on the myriads of ways the Gospel will radically transform US as well as our lives if we give it the room it deserves.  He demonstrated by citing a difficult phase in his life and ministry how we are in a position in which we cannot be threatened or shaken by suffering -- although certainly we shall feel its pain, there is nothing that anyone can do to us because of the permanency and immutability of our position in Christ.

As Pastor Tullian remarked at several points in the book, "Christ did not come to make bad people better but to make dead people alive."  He radically shifted the ground under my feet as he demonstrated with plentiful Scripture corroboration, that my worth is not measured by my performance.  God does not love me more if I sin less.  These sound like radical departures from our society's (and sadly, our churches') understanding of our faith...and indeed they are.  However, those statements are NOT heresy but indeed are central to our Bible.  This is the ground trodden and torn up by Martin Luther in the Reformation. 

As Pastor Tullian unwrapped the beauty of my standing in Christ; as I felt the shackles of performance and failure fall from my wrists--I was amazed at the scope of the impact of these thoughts.  I am sure that I am not done learning from this book.  It has opened my eyes to the beauty of what Scripture has to say about the Gospel and clarified for me the answers to questions I did not realize  I had.  This is a must read book for anyone who has been touched by or needs the touch of the Gospel  (and yes: I meant everyone).



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