Book Review

Hard to Believe by John MacArthur

Ouch. It's been a really long time since I've done a book review. Yes, this is the first book I've finished since July. I started one book that just became tedious to finish about half-way through (perhaps some day, I'll finish it and let you know) and little Kari coming right when we entered the "Grace Anatomy" series really put a crunch on my reading time.

I humbly confess that I used to dislike John MacArthur. I found him to be a legalist and too narrow in his approach. I also got so frustrated with "MacArthurites" who seemed to trust however he interpreted a passage like little lemmings. But I kept finding myself exposed to his ministry and couldn't escape the fact that he exegetes a passage as well as anyone, and is faithful to the passage, even if the results are unpopular.

If I ever meet MacArthur, I hope he'll understand I've matured, and I would owe him an apology.

While chapter one is entitled "Tastes Great, Less Filling," this book is hardly intended for pop culture. Rather, MacArthur lays out that the seeker sensitive gospel just prepares people for disappointment. MacArthur takes us through statement after statement (though this book does not address all of them) by Jesus about how being His disciple is hard.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. For those of us in ministry, I think we would all have to confess that there are times we worry about how the audience will respond (by the grace of God, however, hopefully we don't let it dictate what we say). This book will serve as encouragement to continue to be faithful to the Word, even if the results aren't applauded by the world. Even if you are not in the ministry, this is a great book to read to make sure you aren't presenting a diluted down gospel to co-workers and friends. Sadly, it's important for you to read to make sure your pastor isn't preaching "Christianity Lite" to the congregation.

MacArthur does a much better job of saying what I tried to say. If our gospel message is popular with the world, we are pulling off something that Christ Himself wasn't able to accomplish.

In the end, trusting Christ that "narrow is the road" that leads to salvation actually heightens grace. Grace is not cheaper, but rather more wonderful, when I acknowledge that my own works are not acts of righteousness. Any other thought but grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, is truly relying on my own works. Any thought of "legalism" I once attributed to MacArthur was due to my own misunderstanding of that word (as I believe much of Christianity misunderstands and misuses). The narrow message, is actually that of grace. But salvation is not found without repentance, submission and trust in Christ (As MacArthur shows the Bible teaches). Faith is not something cheap that comes by simply raising your hand, or signing a card. MacArthur even covers the issue of "What happens to people groups who die without hearing the name of Jesus?" in one of his last chapters.

Thoughts about MacArthur: Did you know he was a decorated collegiate athlete? Granted, I've never read any of his other works, and really haven't listened to him that much, but I just pictured him stuck in a library, never having anything to do with sports. I now realize he'd probably be a pretty fun guy to sit next to at a game, if he brought even a tenth of the passion for the Word to rooting for a team. That passion is also seen at one point when he states that he sometimes prays the imprecatory psalms about certain individuals that distort the gospel. While I share his absolute aversion to this (as does God) I think statements like that in print may be what gives him a bit of a bad rap.

In the end, I'd call this one a "9-point Caribou." I'm looking forward to reading more of his work sometime.