Book Review: Abba's Child

I had forgotten I also own this Brennan Manning book, Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging. Manning's call for authenticity is so important in a world marred by sin. The consequences of sin make it hard to remember that God dearly loves us. He wants us to bask in that love. God wants our full trust, and that trust only comes when we recognize a love that desires our very best, even when that best appears as trial or restriction. God's commandments stem from deep love. Our obedience comes from acceptance and faith in that love.

So many outstanding quotes:

- "God made man in His own image and man returned the compliment." - Blaise Pascal

- "Our courteous Lord does not want his servants to despair because they fall often and grievously; for our falling does not hinder him in loving us." - Julian of Norwich

- "Quit keeping score altogether and surrender yourself with all your sinfulness to God who sees neither the score nor the scorekeeper but only his child redeemed by Christ." - Thomas Merton

- "All things work together for those who love God, even our sins." - Augustine of Hippo

Manning articulates the very reasons that drive me to my a-political stance. I align with neither side. God's inerrant Word is my source for instruction, inspiration, and identity. Manning writes, "The anything-goes morality of the... Left is matched by the sanctimonious moralism of the... Right. Uncritical acceptance of any party line is an idolatrous abdication of one’s core identity as Abba’s child. Neither liberal fairy dust nor conservative hardball addresses human dignity, which is often dressed in rags. Abba’s children find a third option. They are guided by God’s Word and by it alone. All religious and political systems, Right and Left alike, are the work of human beings. Abba’s children will not sell their birthright for any mess of pottage, conservative or liberal. They hold fast to their freedom in Christ to live the gospel—uncontaminated by cultural dreck, political flotsam, and the filigreed hypocrisies of bullying religion.” (There is much truth here, but we must be careful not to throw away the transformation the gospel induces in a quest to take neither side.)

Finally, I basked in Manning's encouragement about Christian witnessing. Often, the perennial struggle over whether I am witnessing enough rears its ugly head. It is hard to share the gospel with caustic unbelievers. Manning admits, “To own my unique self in a world filled with voices contrary to the gospel requires enormous fortitude.” But God rewards obedience. "Perhaps when the final curtain falls, you will have told the story to only one person. God promises that one cup of living water drawn from the Fountain and passed on to another will not go unrewarded.” This sin-sick world desperately needs our Savior. They do not see their need. Indeed, they believe they have it under control. But God! May He open eyes and ears, soften hearts of stone, and send us to live authentic lives to impact others and win them for the Kingdom of God.