April 08, 2022 | Resources by Elder Team
In Gentle and Lowly, the author Dane Ortlund focuses on the heart of God, specifically found in his merciful compassion towards the sinner and sufferer. At GBC we try not to shy away from the problem of sin and its deadliness, and so when a book comes along that emphasizes God's love of even the sinner, we can be slightly cautious. We agree and rejoice that God savingly loves the sinner (otherwise we're doomed) but may be concerned whether the author understands sin rightly and therefore presents the actual solution to it.
To that concern, across the board there seem to be at least three ways to attack the deadly problem of sin:
- Downplay sin — We can downplay the seriousness of sin or the reality of our participation in it; justifying our sin by holding to the fact that everyone is a sinner, and labeling ourselves as “sufferers” rather than “sinners” whenever possible.
- Overplay ability — We can overplay our ability to deal with sin; recognizing that sin is deadly and calling all people to fight it, but becoming hypocritically judgmental towards sinners and sufferers because we fail to recognize our hopelessness outside of God’s intervention.
- Humbly Rely — We can recognize the seriousness of sin, our participation in it, our suffering because of it, and our personal inability to release ourselves from its penalty, power, or presence, and respond by looking to the merciful and compassionate God who can and does save us from sin.
It's no surprise that this book is not perfect, but from our assessment the author takes this third approach to sin in a manner I think many will find helpful and invigorating. Thoroughly meditating on the heart of our Savior should put sin in its right and deadly place, humble our self-reliance, and bring us to exult in the loving, sin-defeating God whose very heart is to save His people for His glory.
A few additional comments We'd take into reading:
- Keep in mind that this look of Jesus doesn’t take away from Him being King and sovereign, and driven to righteous indignation. Since we desire the full truth, it is good that we see Him in all of his glory which includes both his Kingliness and his compassion.
- Our sinful flesh can twist the book's heavy emphasis on God's love for the sinner, and ask "what then, shall we sin that grace may abound?" Our answer, as always, is "God forbid!" As you read this book in the Spirit, let the Scriptural meditations on God's nature feed your reliance and love for God instead of licensing your dead man.
- This book is fairly individualistic. Much of the application is to you, the reader, without much attention given to the corporate body of Christ. As you read, we’d encourage you to push the applications more broadly to God's compassion and mercy for all those who call on the name of Christ as well.
- Given point 3, consider reading the book along with somebody else to allow for helpful discussions about discernment and right heart application.
