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A review by thewildnorry
A Gentle Answer: Our 'secret Weapon' in an Age of Us Against Them by Scott Sauls
4.0
I’m a good person. I am mindful of where I buy my goods. I actively seek to be anti-racist. I consider myself a feminist. I work with the youth group at my church. I volunteer in kids Sunday school. I attend to community group and Sunday service every week. I have lots of righteous anger towards many of these things and was reading this book to help Others with their us vs. them hearts. You know, those conservative republican family members who were blind to the injustices in our country. Those friends who think Jeff Bezos earned his worth. Everyone who thinks America needs to be great again.
And then, reading this book, a part of my heart changed.
Scott showed me myself in characters I'd never before connected with. I found myself in the pridefully praying Pharisee rather than the earnest tax collector. I saw myself as someone who hates Zacchaeus rather than the wee little man in the tree. It hurt, but it was a surgical pain--one that I knew was for my benefit.
While I knew in my head that we are all sinners, what I never put together before A Gentle Answer was that God doesn't draw his line there. He doesn't mark people as good or bad, as Scott points out, he sees us as proud and humble. And boy, am I proud of how "gracious" and "merciful" I am. Realizing this, it's helped me view those I disagree with in a new light--one that makes me less prone to disassociate them from their humanity and identity as image bearers of God.
Now, this book doesn’t call us to sit and mitigate the importance of #MeToo or #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd. It calls us to speak out with love. Not to demonize the other side and call names and turn them into monsters. We can disagree and argue against people while recognizing they are as loved and cherished by God as we are. This is not an out but a new plan of attack. It’s an effective way forward because as we all know and hate to admit, no one has ever changed their mind because someone argued and called them names and made them feel less than.
In the book, Scott states "When something brings meaning to our lives, our enjoyment of the thing is made most complete when we share it with others" (27). And so, it's in light of this that I recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves taking a side, whatever that side may be.
(I was provided an ARC by the publisher, but I got to write all of the words of this review.)
And then, reading this book, a part of my heart changed.
Scott showed me myself in characters I'd never before connected with. I found myself in the pridefully praying Pharisee rather than the earnest tax collector. I saw myself as someone who hates Zacchaeus rather than the wee little man in the tree. It hurt, but it was a surgical pain--one that I knew was for my benefit.
While I knew in my head that we are all sinners, what I never put together before A Gentle Answer was that God doesn't draw his line there. He doesn't mark people as good or bad, as Scott points out, he sees us as proud and humble. And boy, am I proud of how "gracious" and "merciful" I am. Realizing this, it's helped me view those I disagree with in a new light--one that makes me less prone to disassociate them from their humanity and identity as image bearers of God.
Now, this book doesn’t call us to sit and mitigate the importance of #MeToo or #JusticeforGeorgeFloyd. It calls us to speak out with love. Not to demonize the other side and call names and turn them into monsters. We can disagree and argue against people while recognizing they are as loved and cherished by God as we are. This is not an out but a new plan of attack. It’s an effective way forward because as we all know and hate to admit, no one has ever changed their mind because someone argued and called them names and made them feel less than.
In the book, Scott states "When something brings meaning to our lives, our enjoyment of the thing is made most complete when we share it with others" (27). And so, it's in light of this that I recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves taking a side, whatever that side may be.
(I was provided an ARC by the publisher, but I got to write all of the words of this review.)