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Radical. Crazy. Transformative and restless. Every word we read these days seems to suggest there’s a “next-best-thing,” if only we would change our comfortable, compromising lives. In fact, the greatest fear most Christians have is boredom—the sense that they are missing out on the radical life Jesus promised. One thing is certain. No one wants to be “ordinary.”
Yet pastor and author Michael Horton believes that our attempts to measure our spiritual growth by our experiences, constantly seeking after the next big breakthrough, have left many Christians disillusioned and disappointed. There’s nothing wrong with an energetic faith; the danger is that we can burn ourselves out on restless anxieties and unrealistic expectations. What’s needed is not another program or a fresh approach to spiritual growth; it’s a renewed appreciation for the commonplace.
Far from a call to low expectations and passivity, Horton invites readers to recover their sense of joy in the ordinary. He provides a guide to a sustainable discipleship that happens over the long haul—not a quick fix that leaves readers empty with unfulfilled promises. Convicting and ultimately empowering, Ordinary is not a call to do less; it’s an invitation to experience the elusive joy of the ordinary Christian life.
- Sales Rank: #42701 in Books
- Brand: HarperCollins Christian Pub.
- Published on: 2014-10-07
- Released on: 2014-10-07
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.39" h x .63" w x 5.47" l, .45 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 224 pages
About the Author
Michael Horton (PhD, DD) is Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California. Author of many books, including The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way, he also hosts the White Horse Inn radio program. He lives with his wife, Lisa, and four children in Escondido, California.
Most helpful customer reviews
53 of 54 people found the following review helpful.
Should be required reading for every pastor and congregation.
By Lucas V. Woodford
What's sensational about the ordinary? How can the average sell? What's extraordinary about the normal? Our culture, and the church that allows itself to be positioned by it, says "not much." Our culture is constantly looking for the next big thing, is always selling something new, and is ever lifting up the radical, epic, and revolutionary ways of life. Therefore the cry of some in the church today is that new, radical, epic, and revolutionary ways of ministry must rise to the top if the church is to be successful. Christians must become superstars by selling everything for Jesus, celebrity pastors need to lead the way to the next big thing, super (modern day) Apostles need to be over the top and always at it for Jesus, and contentment is to be shunned liked the plague. As a result, tricked out, emergent, everything must change, hyper-missional, extraordinarily ambitious and audacious Christians and churches have become the modus operandi in much of North America.
True, ordinary is simple, isn't flashy, has no bells and whistles, and doesn't sell. However, Michael Horton reminds us that the ordinary means of grace is precisely how Christ has worked for over 2,000 years to bring the extraordinary gifts of the forgiveness of sins, and the promise of the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting to people bruised, beaten, and battered by their sins, and the sin of the world.
Full of wisdom and ever winsome, Horton takes the reader through the challenge facing the North American Church today--letting the culture set the tone for the life and ministry of the church. He explores the over sensationalized church with all of its law oriented demands and juvenilization, and points her back to the beauty and the joy of the ordinary manner of her existence where the extraordinary message of the Gospel is routinely, regularly, and ordinarily proclaimed, delivered, and administered through Word and sacrament: "Why do we seem to think that churches need to imitate the perpetual innovation of Microsoft instead of the patient care of a good gardener? Chasing the latest fad for spiritual growth, church growth, and cultural impact, we eventually forget both how to reach the lost and how to keep the reached. The ordinary means of grace become yesterday's news. Like pay phones, so we are told by the emergent entrepreneurs, ordinary churches may still be around here and there, but nobody uses them. In olden days believers may have gathered for `the apostles' teaching and the fellowship...the breaking of the bread and the prayers,' but that was before iPads. In past generations, Christ's fruit-bearing vines may have been tended with daily family disciplines of catechism, Bile reading, and prayer, but with my schedule? And to say that the apostolic method of church growth--in breadth as well as depth--is preaching, teaching, baptism, the Lord's Supper, and accountability to elders is likely to provoke the response: `are you serious?' "(p.178-179).
Horton insightfully tracks how the evangelical church has gone from understanding the "ordinary" to demanding everything be "extraordinary;" how "ambition" was historically and biblically always a vice (and sin), but has not been elevated to a virtue; how "contentment" was always a biblical virtue but has now been made into a vice (of mediocrity); how the "contractual" American mentality and way of life has replaced the "covenantal" biblical mentality and way of life; and how "passing away" is the preferred mode of speaking rather than talking of the death and resurrection. All these ordinary ways of talking about and proclaiming the Good News have been remade and replaced.
But make no mistake about it. Horton is clear that ordinary does not mean mediocre. "In fact, far from throwing a wet blanket on godly passion, my goal is to encourage an orientation and habits that foster deeper growth in grace, more effective outreach, and a more sustainable vision of loving service to others over a lifetime. This is not a call to do less, but to invest in things that we often give up on when we don't see an immediate return. The fact that `ordinary' has come to mean mediocre and low expectations is a sign of the problem I want to address" (p.28). Always focused on the next big thing, movement, or fad in the church, Horton says the church actually fails to focus on the truly next big thing--the second coming of Jesus. Until Jesus returns, Horton reminds us that the ordinary things like catechesis (catechism) and liturgy (hymnal), Word and sacrament, are part of the wonderful ordinary way that faith has been passed on and taught for centuries and invites the reader to celebrate the ordinariness still today.
Sadly, what is often given up on is the "ordinariness" of the Good News itself. Namely, that Jesus Christ came to atone for the sins of the lost and the found; that baptism is a gift of God's grace; that the Lord's Supper gives the forgiveness of sins. When these ordinary means just don't seem to be doing what we think they should be doing in the right now, at this moment, immediate demands of our time, they are abandoned for something more flashy, more relevant, and more radical.
However, Horton takes joy in lifting up the ordinary message that so many Christians find as inadequate: "The power of our activism, campaigns, movements, and strategies cannot forgive sins or raise the dead. `The gospel... is the power of God for salvation,' and, with Paul, we have no reason to be ashamed of it (Rom. 1:16). That is why phrases like `living the gospel,' being the gospel,' and `being partners with Jesus in his redemption of the world' are dangerous distortions of the biblical message of good news. The gospel is not about what we have done or are called to do, but the announcement of God's saving work in Jesus Christ. `For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake,' (2 Cor. 4:5)." (p. 40).
Amen to that! There are far too many well-intentioned but misguided methods, manners, and techniques that in the name of innovation, accommodation, and determination disparage the ordinary means of God at work through his Word and sacraments, and yes even in the liturgy, catechesis, and the pastors of the Church. "They're not enough" we're told. So something new must be invented and remade. However, Horton unequivocally, biblically, and theologically demonstrates that they are indeed powerful and more than enough: "CNN will not be showing up at a church that is simply trusting God to do extraordinary things through his ordinary means of grace delivered by ordinary servants. But God will. Week after week. These means of grace and the ordinary fellowship of the saints that matures and guides us throughout our life may seem frail, but they are jars that carry a rich treasure" (p. 149).
What is more, not only are they enough, but Horton also points to how the ordinariness of our daily lives (the ordinariness of our daily callings/vocations) is also something to be celebrated as part of God's good creation, and are in fact the means of maintaining a "faithful presence" to "enjoy our neighbors" rather than using them to achieve superstardom in the new ways of doing church: "It is easy to turn others in instruments of our ambition rather than loving them for their own sake, as fellow image bearers of God. They become supporting actors--if not props-- in our life movie. Loving actual neighbors through particular actions every day can be a lot more mundane as well as difficult than trying to transform culture. Regardless of the role or place in society to which God has assigned us by our calling, we are content. Our identity is already determined by our being `in Christ,' not by our accomplishments. The measure of excellence is daily love for our neighbors during this time between Christ's two advents" (p.161).
Horton has provided an absolute gem for our times. As one who reads every new thing out there, this book was a breath of ordinary fresh air to fill my lungs. This book is a phenomenal and encouraging read! Before any pastor thinks he needs to start new, join the latest fad, or hire a consultant, he needs to read this book. In fact, it should be required reading for all pastors and aspiring pastors, it's that good and that timely. Thank you Michael Horton for putting out such an important, needed, and ordinary book!
Rev. Dr. Lucas V. Woodford (LCMS)
lucas.woodford@gmail.com
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful.
Interview with the Author
By David George Moore
Moore: What made you pick up the pen and decide to tackle a book on this subject?
Horton: I was motivated by a general sense, over many years of being part of and observing a long string of movements and personalities encouraging The Next Big Thing that will change us and/or our world. I gravitate toward a big game-plan and I want to make a difference, so I get the attraction. But I’m worried that it’s leading more to burn-out and dissatisfaction with long-term discipleship.
Moore: You do not mention them by name, but works by David Platt and Francis Chan seem to be among your concerns. If that is correct, why didn’t you directly interact with their books?
Horton: As I say up front on the first page, I’m the target. If Ordinary is seen as an attack on a specific book, that’s a shame. It detracts from what I see as the pervasiveness of certain habits of thought, life, and ministry that are much deeper and broader. In fact, a lot of things that David Platt calls for in Radical are crucial ingredients of discipleship: interest in missions and a critique of consumer-oriented living, for example. If there are any differences between the emphasis of Radical and Ordinary, I hope they’ll be heard more in the vein of “Yes, but let’s also remember how discipleship unfolds over the long haul.” So it’s conversation, not polemics. I’m not on a soap-box, issuing a critique from on high. Everything that I call attention to for further reflection is part of my own struggle.
Moore: “Ordinary” could be misunderstood for bland or a lack of excellence, but you are not opposed to doing good work or even work which is recognized by others, correct?
Horton: Ask the proficient athlete, artist, businessperson, or homemaker what creates excellence and they’ll all agree: a commitment to long-term goals –and with a community of mentors and fellow “disciples.” It’s a marathon, not a sprint. It’s the bursts of enthusiasm that keep us from maturing, deepening, and bearing fruit that lasts. Excellence is being thwarted not only by laziness but by reckless attachment to causes, programs, and—in some cases, leaders.
Moore: You do a good job of showing the importance of faithfulness in the regular rhythms of life. I often tell people that doing free speech at places like Stanford, Cal Berkeley, and Boulder is easier to do than loving my wife when I am tired. And my wife is easy to love! Why do we fail to remember that our obedience is just as important in the regular rhythms of life?
Horton: Exactly. I say the same thing in the book. It’s a lot easier to preach and lecture in Africa than to be there—really be there—when my wife needs to be heard, or when my kids need to go to soccer practice, or when somebody at church asks me for help. Why do we think that we’re “making a difference” in the big stuff but not in the everyday callings God gives us? Why are causes easier than actual neighbors and brothers and sisters? Exploring some answers to those questions is a big part of the book.
Moore: If measuring our impact is impossible to do, why are we consumed with doing it?
Horton: That’s key. “There were 2000 pastors at that conference in China”: there’s a metric. Losing a certain number of pounds, report cards, a raise at work: these offer a sense of, “Hey, it was worth the investment!” Then we carry that into our lives as Christians and into the church: What are the metrics of sanctification? “Before” and “After” testimonies abound. They can give us a burst of enthusiasm and they can also make us feel like we’re losers. At the end of the day, we need to stop thinking about what we can make of ourselves and start thinking more about who God is, what he has done and is doing in Christ for us and for our neighbors, and how he can use us and our fellow brothers and sisters to be instruments of his gift-giving. It all comes down from the Triune God, through the ordinary means of grace, and then out through us to our neighbors. Real neighbors, not the abstractions.
Moore: Do you have any specific concern for the so-called “young, restless, and Reformed?” By the way, my wife likes to say she is “older, resting, and transformed.”
Horton: What a great line! As I point out, “young” just goes with “restless.” Only a couple of years ago, my kids wouldn’t leave the line in the water long enough to catch a fish. Now they’re developing patience, skill, and proficiency. That requires care, desiring a goal that is big enough to justify the often dull routines.
Moore: Let’s close with what you say on page 58: “If you are always looking for an impact, a legacy, and success, you will not take the time to care for the things that matter.” Elaborate a bit on this.
Horton: If you want to be an athlete, there’s no way around it: You have to go to the gym. You can’t Google your way to it. You can’t find a YouTube clip to become a craftsman, friend, parent—or disciple of Christ. It’s all of grace. And to grow in that grace, you need two things: time and community. That’s what God gives us in his church, as in other areas of our life. Forget the legacy and enjoy receiving the gifts and sharing them. We’re receiving a kingdom, not building one. It’s Christ’s legacy and he doesn’t have a succession plan.
40 of 42 people found the following review helpful.
... book is salve to the conscience for those feeling like they don't measure up
By Scott Gustafson
This book is salve to the conscience for those feeling like they don't measure up, or please God because they're not in full time ministry or they don't live in a commune devoted to the poor. So much energy has been focused on 'making a difference' through radical, life changing decisions. It leaves most of us feel like our lives are missing some level of spirituality. Ordinary, in contrast encourages the 99.99% of Christendom to revel in their ordinary lives, because this is where God works. God's mission is accomplished and the world changed in small increments, like small savings deposits over time... not by winning the lottery.
Read this if you want to be encouraged to live life to the full, right where you are.
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