Good News for Thos Trying Harder by Alan Kraft

I loved this book 10 years ago when I first read it, and I've loved every time I've read it since. It starts on this quote from Keller and then goes on to talk about the "twin melodies that comprise the good news of the gospel: brokenness and faith."

"You are a lot more sinful than you ever dared believe and a lot more loved than you ever dared hope." --Tim Keller (quoted on page 91)

One thing that is still revolutionary to me is the ideas from the section "Does God Turn Away?" (page 110). "Many of us believe we are resting in the finished work of Christ, but here's a quick question to help discern whether or not we truly are: When you are committing a willful sin, what do you feel is God's attitude toward you in that moment? What do you imagine God doing when you sin? For many of us, we envision God standing at a distance from us, turning his face away, and saying 'How could you do that again? I'm so disappointed.' He's shaking his head in disgust" (110). If this were the case, Kraft says, then we're only obeying out of fear of disappointing God, and when we mess up, we feel shame and distance from God. "Do you see what is missing from this equation? The gospel. The gospel says that when Jesus died on the cross, He took all of our sin upon Himself--not some of it or most of it. All of it. Not only that, as Jesus hung on the cross, He experienced the horror of absolute separation and isolation from God, crying, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' (Matt. 27:46). At that moment God the Father turned His face way because He couldn't look upon sin. Think of what that means: Jesus fully experienced the Father turning His face away so that we wouldn't have to experience it ever again. Jesus bore our shame so that would never have to be ashamed before God again...That is the gospel! If we think any sin we ever commit, willfully or not, causes God to distance Himself from us and turn his face away from us, we're losing the wonder of the gospel" (111-112). He goes on to say suggest "...a different picture. What if, while we are sinning, the Holy Spirit is whispering to our souls, 'I love you. I am always with you. Do you really want to do this? Will this really satisfy and bring life? You and I both know the pain this will cause. Do you really want this? Trust me. Let it go.' Do you feel the difference between these two perspectives? Both may encourage obedience, but only one is rooted in the finished work of Christ" (113).

Actually dealing with sin, then, takes figuring out what is the "sin underneath the sin." "The sin beneath every sin is our desire to be God" (57). Kraft is the one who taught me this concept, mostly through his sermons, and wow, it is a game changer.

Other quotes I like:

"When we define spiritual growth as us becoming more like Christ, as us becoming less and less sinful, what we are actually pursuing is a spiritual growth path in which we need Jesus less and less" (33).

"Sin is not just a little inconvenience we struggle with periodically, a minor thing in our lives. Sin permeates our beings. Our motives are self-centered. Our agendas are self-driven. Our lives are self-absorbed. We are a lot more sinful than we ever realized" (49).

"To realize our brokenness is to open the door to experience Jesus more fully" (53).

"In our own power we are unable to hear the melody of brokenness. We do not naturally see the depth of our sinfulness. As we have already discussed, our instinct is to hide our brokenness..." (72).