Book Review: The Ragamuffin Gospel

Here's another book that articulates my understanding of the gospel as a free GIFT of God, not something dependent upon what we DO (aligning our will to God's will consistently). If we must do something to earn it, it is not a gift. Grace is a gift! It is not of works, lest any man should boast. Brennan Manning, in The Ragamuffin Gospel, asserts that those who believe their behavior is key to their salvation trust in themselves and turn God into a bookkeeper tallying how often we bend to His will, or a customs officer rifling through our moral suitcase. 

I loved this quote from Donald McCullough:

"Grace means that in the middle of our struggle the referee blows the whistle and announces the end of the game. We are declared winners and sent to the showers. It’s over for all huffing, puffing piety to earn God’s favor; it’s finished for all sweat-soaked straining to get ahead of others in the game. Grace means that God is on our side and thus we are victors regardless of how well we have played the game. We might as well head for the showers and the champagne celebration…. We can’t save ourselves. What Jesus did was sufficient."

Manning emphasizes the importance of honesty. "How difficult it is to be honest, to accept that I am unacceptable, to renounce self-justification, to give up the pretense that my prayers, spiritual insight, tithing, and successes in ministry have made me pleasing to God! No antecedent beauty enamors me in His eyes. I am loveable only because He loves me." His prayer reflects this understanding that we can do nothing to secure or maintain our salvation: "Lord Jesus, we are silly sheep who have dared to stand before You and tried to bribe You with our preposterous portfolios.... We must choose either Christ or the law as author of salvation."

This book hit me between the eyes, too. Manning speaks of our fear of failure. He declares God expects our failure (just as He expected Peter's denial). We are the unfaithful, through whom God continues to work. He says our fear of failure causes us to offer thousands of excuses for doing nothing. (Ouch!) "We put things off, waste the energies of life and love that are within us." (Guilty!)

I pray with Nikos Kazantzakis: “I am a bow in your hands, Lord. Draw me, lest I rot. Do not overdraw me, Lord, I shall break. Overdraw me, Lord, and who cares if I break?” I want to be an authentic disciple. Manning says that authentic disciples "may have stumbled and frequently fallen, endured lapses and relapses, gotten handcuffed to the fleshpots and wandered into a far country. Yet, they kept coming back to Jesus.”

Manning has many critics who view his assertions of the freedom God gives as mere licentiousness. Trusting in God for salvation does not lead a believer to throw mud in God's face and see His atonement as license for running wild. Instead, God's grace blows us away and causes us to bow in humble adoration for His undeserved gift. Manning sums it up well: “Ragamuffins are simple, direct, and honest…. They are slow to claim, ‘God told me….'”

My copy of this book includes bonus material at the end. I wish I had realized this while reading daily during my devotions. The "Guide for Reflection and Prayer" leads you to reflect on each chapter (either in group discussion or individual use). It offers prayers, scriptures, and questions to challenge you to live by the gospel of grace. 

In a final section, written ten years after its publication, Manning quotes a prayer of St. Augustine, who prayed, "Lord Jesus, don't let me lie when I say that I love you... and protect me, for today I could betray you." For ragamuffins, darkness drives us to the heart of God. Without His mercy, we might be tempted to despair. With it, we acknowledge our internal poverty and praise Him for His sufficiency on our behalf.