Book Review: Gentle & Lowly {+ Ragamuffin Gospel}
The Heart of a Parent for His Child
From birth, my son suffered from severe asthma. Asthma didn’t keep him from playing soccer and joining a swim team, but it did land him in the ER a few times. As he grew, he had to learn to manage his asthma on his own. The day came when I took his inhaler from my purse and watched as he put it in his swim gear bag. I drove away from the pool that day feeling mixed up. I was proud of him—Look at how much he’s grown and matured. But I was also concerned for him—I know he’ll be scared the next time it happens.
As parents, we are often required to carry a confounding mix of emotions.
I understand this. So it confuses me when I don’t immediately assign the same parental feelings of love and concern I have for my son to my Father God as he parents me. Why don’t I see his Father’s heart of pride when I am walking in step with Jesus, and his Father’s heart of compassion when I’m in the scariest situations?
This is why I needed Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. In his beautiful descriptions, Ortlund describes the heart of God in a way I had not understood.
The Heart of God for Sinners
The 23 short chapters in Gentle and Lowly are packed with wisdom from some of the earliest Puritans to the wisest theologians of our time. Each chapter focuses on a different passage of scripture in which God’s heart is described, beginning with Chapter 1 in which Ortlund reminds us that in only one place does Jesus describe his heart, Matthew 11:29, "I am gentle and lowly in heart."
"What helium does to a balloon, Jesus’s yoke does to his followers. We are buoyed along in life by his endless gentleness and supremely accessible lowliness" (p.23).
Over and over, Ortlund makes his case that God is delighted with us. When we come to him in our need, it fills him up. He is tender, merciful, and loves us to the end. Honestly, these are thoughts beyond our understanding. But Ortlund helps us get a bit further along the way.
"In other words, when we come to Christ, we are startled by the beauty of his welcoming heart. The surprise is itself what draws us in… So let the heart of Jesus be something that is not only gentle toward you but lovely to you. If I may put it this way: romance the heart of Jesus. All I mean is, ponder him through his heart. Allow yourself to be allured." (p.99)
Gentle and Lowly broke me—in the best ways. How can I keep even a fragment of my heart from One so utterly for me? I can’t.
MY RATING
Gentle and Lowly gets 5 Stars from me and a place on my Favorites shelf at Goodreads. (I’m picky about what goes on that shelf.)
If you are like me, this book will completely change the way you read the Word of God. The tone in God’s voice has not changed, but your ears will hear it differently. Where once you may have heard anger, frustration, or disappointment behind every word, now, you will hear love, gentleness, and a desire to draw you near.
Ragamuffin Gospel
Gentle and Lowly reminds me of a book by Brennan Manning which changed the way I view the grace of God. In Ragamuffin Gospel, Manning makes a strong case for how utterly depraved we are, even "the good" people. Then he beats us over the head with the overwhelming-ness of God’s grace. God’s grace is a paradox. We can only grasp bits of it but the bits we understand will bring us to tears.
I love sending my subscribers special goodies and encouragement straight to their inbox. One of those goodies is a list of 12 Verses to Help You Endure. Let me send it to you.
In Dr. Paul Brand’s book The Gift of Pain Brand says pain is the body's built-in warning system that something is wrong and needs to be fixed. Time and again, he found that lack of pain was his patient’s worst enemy. I nodded, understanding and wishing I didn’t.