by: Michael Horton
Pastor’s Monthly Book Selection – May, 2020
We find ourselves now living in very unordinary times. Due to being locked-down because of COVID-19 and unable to carry on our normal routines, we are faced with wondering how we can reach the world and minister to others in meaningful ways. Perhaps the circumstances surrounding the Coronavirus is an opportunity for Christians to reflect on our view of ministry in general.
Many of us have been connected with churches and para-church organizations throughout our spiritual journeys that have given the impression that a true Christian walk is one filled with radical and adventurous ministry. In light of that all-too-prevalent mentality, Michael Horton’s book Ordinary might be just what many of us need to read in these times.
The author lets us see that normal Christianity isn’t a quest for an exceptional life or mountain top ministry. In fact, a lack of these things isn’t an indication that one’s walk with God is anemic. Rather, biblical Christianity is one where ordinary participation in the means of grace (i.e. word and sacrament) is actually God’s normal method of growing our lives, reaching those around us, and even impacting our world. Horton makes a good argument that the ordinary practice of the Christian faith is the only sustainable way to serve the Lord.
If you haven’t read this work before, this is a time to do so and to rejoice that even a virus cannot stop us from seeking our God, loving our neighbor, and looking to the future of what God is accomplishing through the ordinary. Although, as one brother pointed out, I struggled with some of Horton’s illustrations, the premise of the book hits the mark and makes it well worth the read.