A number of our readers came up with the same good idea. Why not ask Christian leaders to tell us about the books which hare influenced them most over the lust five years? One of our interviews was with Vernon Grounds; here’s what he told us.
I look for books to broaden my vision and sensitize my spirit to the problems and needs around me. The best books remind me that, despite technological transformation and increasing knowledge, human life and human nature do not change. There are a few basic verities, and these shine through good books which recall me to the essentials.
Jacques Ellul’s Ethics of Freedom (Eerdmans) is the most probing analysis of the subject I’ve come across. Ellul examines political freedom, but also talks about working it out in all human relationships. In a kind of dialogue with the Bible, he relates the Christian concept of freedom as rooted in the liberating work of Christ. It’s an original and brilliant work that I’ve found of practical value in implementing freedom in my own life.
I’ve found that biographies encourage and reinforce me in my daily struggles. I feel uplifted when I realize other Christians confront the same dilemmas and maintain consistent discipleship through them.
A recent biography, Lonely Walk, The Life of Senator Mark Hatfield (Christian Herald Books), explores the spiritual development of a man who has achieved national prominence, and depicts his struggle to apply biblical principles to the issues he faces. The book is a portrait of honesty and courage-qualities which are essential in my own struggle to lead effectively. In today’s roughand-tumble arena, I need to see other leaders face the agonizing difficulties of implementing Christian values in their profession.
Of all twentieth-century human conflicts, none is so awesome as the struggle with death. I looked for a book on this subject not only for my benefit, but so l could have greater insight for counseling others about facing death. Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death (New York Free Press) focuses on the human predicament: man- both as a human person and a biological animal-aware of his destiny to die. Becker explains that in today’s existential society, the protective illusions of redemptive ideology have been eroded by the rejection of God and absolutes. Consequently, man is at an all-time weak point in facing the reality of his situation. This is not a philosophy book, however. Rather, it portrays the psychological ramifications of death, how it affects people’s behavior. And, although it doesn’t claim to be an apologia for Christianity, it points to Christianity as an answer to the predicament.
A book which has been invaluable to me for its practical portrayal of day-to-day persistence is Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, by Phillip P. Hallie (Harper & Row). (The title makes reference to the Old Testament cities of refuge where people could find shelter from oppressors-“lest innocent blood be shed.”) Under the leadership of Huguenot pastor Robert Trocme, the inhabitants of a small French village, LeChambon, turned their town into a harbor of refuge during World War II. The Petain government, under firm control of the Nazis, had launched a program against the Jews; and this handful of simple, French mountain people saved hundreds of Jewish lives in the cause of Christian truth. Trocme’s firm opposition to violence served as the mainspring by which the people were inspired. On any given day, the whole town could have been wiped out by Nazi soldiers for harboring Jews. In this book I have seen a sparkling, compassionate, true-to-life portrait of a brand of leadership that produces loyalty in the worst of times.
As leaders, we deal with people, and I’ve found that books which reveal the intricacies of human nature are helpful in my ministry. Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago (Harper & Row) is a good example. The book has been labeled an indictment of the communist system; and it is pulverizing as an indictment. Yet its beauty lies in its depiction of the heights and depths of human nature. It is replete with sketches and narratives of how human beings treat other human beings and how tenacity and faith can endure under intolerable pressures. Glimpses of how people can be loving and self-sacrificing, as well as demonic, give this book tremendous impact. I find its insights profoundly important as I seek to know myself and those to whom I minister.
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