I remember being at a circus and watching the performers toss and juggle sharp knives like they were pencils. I was amazed at their skill amid such obvious potential danger. However, their familiarity actually lessoned the impact of the feat. I, myself even became somewhat used to their act after time went on.
I think there is a similar affect upon us when we come to familiar narratives in the Bible. And there are not many narratives more familiar to Christians than the narrative of Jonah and the fish…err…whale. But, have we lost the drama of the story? Have we become too familiar with the main themes? Are we complacent with such a God of justice, grace, and mercy? And are we even clear about Jonah and his deal?
Tullian Tchividjian is convinced that we need to be surprised. In his new book Surprised by Grace Tullian aims to get us to slow down a bit as we read and interact with the story, characters, and most importantly, God himself. In this vein Tullian does a good job getting out of the way, so to speak, and giving us the narrative. Himself a pastor, he walks us through the story making appropriate observation and application along the way. In so doing he helps to surprise us again with the rebellion of sin, the wrath of God, the mercy of God, and the powerful grace that pursues, rescues and transforms rebels.
I want to point out a few things I liked about the book:
1) The author aims to stick to the story. He gives us valuable historical details while making very helpful pastoral observations. In a very readable way he takes both an ancient book and a familiar book and makes it fresh.
2) The book aims to incorporate the Bible’s story. Tullian resists the urge to hunker down in this Old Testament narrative alone. He is noticably intentional about incorporating the entire Bible’s story into this one story. In other words, Tullian uses this story to point to God’s big story, the work of redemption through Jesus Christ. All of this to say, he uses this Old Testament book like a Christian should.
3) Tullian is a good writer. I found myself engaged as I enjoyed reading this short little book.
4) The art. There are about 15 full color prints of the most popular renderings of the Jonah story. They are very interesting. It is great to have these in this book along with the exposition.
5) The emphasis upon grace. I love how practical and clear this was. This proposition was hit throughout: Christians too easily forget grace and must be reminded and surprised by it.
One critique I have is the number of quotes that Tullian used. Some authors do this, I know it is a style thing, but I wish he did not. I felt like just when he was getting going he would quote someone else. Many of the quotes were good but not necessarily better than what I was writing. All I am saying is that it sometimes slowed down the momentum he already had without adding significant value to the bottom line.
Here is a great quote from the author:
We need to be able to truthfully say, ‘God plus nothing equals everything; everything minus God equals nothing.’ We need to be able to say from our hearts, ‘I’m with God because he’s God, and not because he can do for me the things I want him to do.’ (p. 59)
Overall, I liked the book and look forward to revisiting it again, especially when I become forgetful and need to again be surprised.
Discounted copies are available at Westminster or Amazon.