No Small Change by Charles E. Johns
This collection of is a series of short pieces designed to
bring an awareness of God’s grace to its
readers. The writings include pieces
that go along with the church calendar events including Advent, Easter, Lent,
Pentecost and Ordinary Time. Drawn from
his experience, God’s Word, and his time as a pastor, Charles gets at the heart
of what it means to live out a life of grace in the muddied waters of brokenness. Whether it is racism, repentance, hell or the
homeless, Charles sets his gaze upon bringing wisdom and sensitivity to the
situation.
One of my favorite pieces in the book was his piece called
Repentance. After reflecting on his
boyhood, growing up in a family without a sense of racism in it, he also
recalls the popular mythology he grew up around about people with color: their
athletic ability, work ethic, musical ability and intelligence (98). Yet, as he reminds us, Charles writes, “But
racism is an equal opportunity infection that does not pass over good people
for their goodness and settle only upon the evil for their sins. In ways I did not even understand I was
infected. I still live with symptoms of
that infection. When I have personal experience
with people of color,….I respond in ways that I do not believe” (99). The uncanny thing is that you can’t shake the
race issue even if you try, and Charles indicates that racism is frequently
subtle having a thousand disguises. Yet,
as Charles points out also, working this side of heaven will always involve
repenting of our sins to God for the smallest and biggest of things that we get
caught up in.
I think many of these pieces of writing are very pointed to
remind us as Christians where our hope lies, how we fall short and how
journeying on the Christian life is a process of dying so that we might
live. Rather than see this book as a
series of daily devotionals, the book looks at larger themes that the church
faces. The only drawback in the book is
an infrequent usage of Scripture throughout the book.
I hope these pieces encourage and help those desiring to
walk with Christ.
Thanks to Book Crash and CrossLink Publishing for the
complimentary copy of this book in exchange for review.
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