Issue 23 Chaos and TruthBlog | Chaos into Truth – Essential reading for preachers
Chaos into Truth – Essential reading for preachers
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 11.06.20
My church leader friend and I found our usual quiet corner in the busy coffee shop and it was not long before we moved beyond the friendly-fire football banter to more serious concerns. He was facing a range of challenging pastoral issues including how to best support a teenager in the church who was wrestling with her gender identity, whilst simultaneously handling the wide range of responses from the very diverse congregation. I asked him for advice on how to help my son who had phoned home late the previous evening upset and confused about his church’s teaching on ‘soul ties’ and how to be spiritually released from ungodly or demonic bonds with other people. The sermon had divided the congregation on whether or not there was biblical justification for this. Pretty soon I was downloading onto my friend the angst I was feeling about changes in the UK’s response to refugees, immigration and race. We then started on about global geopolitics and by the time I left, my mind was also spinning about how Christian leaders should respond to the huge technological shifts that are going on, the environmental threats and the coronavirus. Our church and our world are facing huge challenges. How can our preaching help people navigate chaotic times without either adding to the chaos or promising over-simplistic solutions? Perhaps the following books can give us tools to help us.
BREAKING ANXIETY’S GRIP Dr Michelle Bengtson (Baker: Revell, September 2019)
One response to the feeling that we are living in chaotic times is increased anxiety. Dr Michelle Bengtson is a trained neuropsychologist with 25 years of clinical practice. She also has faced significant trauma in her own life; her father died when she was a teenager, she was one of the first responders to the Oklahoma bombing, and her husband has had cancer three times. In her most recent book she brings her personal, clinical and theological experience to bear on the pressing issue of anxiety. According to the World Health Organisation, anxiety disorders are the sixth largest contributor to global disability and affect some 40 million adults in the US alone. After providing an overview of different types of fear, Bengtson seeks to build a biblical framework for talking back to anxiety. This book could provide a helpful start for preachers seeking to build resilience, care and faith in their congregations.
