Recently I read Xealots by Dave Gibbons. It is phenomenal work on what it means to let the Gospel truly transform you from the inside out. As is the case with Monkey and the Fish, Gibbons uses a narrativesque method to convey the message of the book.
The book focuses on our response to the Gospel transforming our lives,simultaneously in how we think and how we act. There is a need to transcend the culture, both in the context of where you live and the prevailing “christian culture” that encircles us.
Gibbons not only relies on his experience and personal philosophy/ theology to communicate his points, but also intertwines the scriptures to illustrate why what he is saying is exactly what God is desiring of us.
The first part of the book deals with the mind. Gibbons deals with our need to be ever focused on the Gospel and the task at hand, missio dei. We have been charged with a task that deserves our singular focus. It deals with the need to be consumed with the Gospel, and be continually renewed by it.
The second part of the book deals with action. It is not enough for us to just be transformed in our thinking we have to equally let that transformation impact what we do on a daily basis.
This book truly is a must read. I found it to be a spiritual disciplines book, without necessarily intending to be. It is a book that I believe if you are the type of person who only reads 1 or 2 a year this should be one of them. Great work Dave.
Consider for a moment a sitting in a room knowing that there is a problem, but your are not sure how to fix it. The scenario is a church who is struggling because of a paradigm they have been living in which as been causing a gradual decline. People are locking into a way of thinking that does not allow them to use their imagination, in fact they have been thinking and acting this way for so long they don’t think there is any other way to be the church.
