Book Review: Connecting

First off - sorry for all the Book Reviews in a row! As some of you know, I've had serious back issues this past week. Short version: I've been through x-rays and an MRI and advised not to do much this week. Can't work. Can't sit very often. Serious doses of Vicadin (as well as a handful of other drugs). Anyway, with all this time on my hands, I've been catching up on my reading. So you're stuck with all my reviews!

Anyway, Connecting is a significant departure for Larry Crabb. It represents his moving from one group to another - apparently many of the folk that once loved him and his counselling theories no longer do, but many that once wouldn't give him the time of day now love him. Go figure!

Fundamentally, Crabb is arguing that the local church has given up way too much responsibility for the "soul care" of the believers within their community. I think he's right. As a culture, we've decided that "psychological" problems always require "professional" help. While Crabb certainly acknowledges that this is sometimes true, it is his considered opinion that we - the body of Christ - can be of terrific (to use a buzzword of his) benefit to one another. We must be willing to "enter the battle" of believers against sin.

Like in his previous work - Understanding People - Crabb defines sin primarily as a quest for independence from God. At the root of so many of our problems is a desire to do it on our own. This can be motivated by fear of the unknown, general lack of trust, overconfidence in our own abilities, impatience, or a host of other issues. But at it's core, the battle we fight for what some might call "emotional health" is in reality a struggle for our own independence. Crabb is calling for the community of Christ to pour their lives into just a handful of other Christ-followers in such a way as to encourage the Spirit's work of making us more like Jesus.

If you've read much of my blog, you know how high I am on the value of community, and how much I think it's been missing in local churches. Crabb's appeal therefore naturally resonates with me. It's something I'd love to see churches - especially elders - thinking long and hard about.

Why have we (the local church) marginalized the problems of our people to the realm of merely "mental", when in truth they are so often mental symptoms of a profoundly spiritual problem? Give Crabb credit for asking and attempting to answer this question. If he's right, he's added yet another reason for local churches to fearlessly pursue authentic Christian community.

Hatushili