Thoughts on “After You Believe” . . .

I’ve been reading N.T. Wright’s book, “After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters.” It is excellent so far and I already want to recommend it to every Christian I know.

Wright addresses many issues but mainly he emphasizes the importance of transformation in the Christian life. It seems the trend in the West is to become either hypocritically legalistic or ignore the scriptures all together. Wright does a beautiful job of explaining why both extremes are equally damaging (though he does not condemn anyone who believes either extreme which I respect) and often miss the point of the gospels.

What I love about this book is that it isn’t just a piece of “religious” literature. It is most definitely not filled with “Christianese.” Wright talks about many subjects, using real situations to explain his points (very much like Jesus did with his parables). Although I recommend this book for all Christians, I think anyone could benefit from reading it, especially if someone has been frustrated with Christians/Christianity. Many people, including Christians are confused about what the gospel means and how it affects their lives. This book is perfect for anyone who wants to go deeper.

I hesitate to even begin to type up what I consider to be the “highlights” so far because I do not want anyone to browse through and think they have the general idea of what Wright is trying to say. The book is so rich that it is impossible to get the full message without starting from page one and pressing through, especially because he uses so many real-life examples that I will not be typing up to make his points clear.

Here is a link where you can watch or listen to a talk by N.T. Wright. It’s basically a 45 minute summary of the book. But again, one must read the book to full appreciate/understand the message in its fullness. My favorite part? “You are only a shadow of what you will be.”

—-

“Though many Christians in the Western world have imagined that the aim or goal of being a Christian is simply ‘to go to heaven when you die,’ the New Testament holds out something but richer and more interesting. Yes, those who belong to Jesus in this life go to be with him once they die . . . but that’s only the start of it.”

” . . . In the last analysis, what matters after you believe is neither rules nor spontaneous self-discovery, but character.”