Having the Mind of Christ: Eight Axioms to Cultivate a Robust Faith

Christian leadership coaches Sternke (Oikonomics) and Tebbe deliver an enlightening guide on how Christians can bolster their faith. The authors outline eight principles to guide Christians in practicing “faith as an agile, here and now, moment-by-moment awareness of God in everyday life, centered in the love of Jesus Christ.” For example, the fourth axiom, “God meets us in our messy reality,” cautions readers against hiding from God, because even when one feels sinful or ashamed, “God loves the actual you.” To illustrate the axiom “God is always present,” the authors note that God’s conversations with Abraham, Jacob, and Moses all focus on God’s connection with humans, suggesting that “God’s desire is to be with them” and that readers should believe in God’s presence even when they don’t sense it. Sternke and Tebbe provide exercises for each axiom, recommending, for instance, that readers take deep breaths and imagine God flowing in and out of them to underscore that “God is love.” The exercises are vague but the theological discussions edify, such as when the authors detail Jesus’s challenges to Roman oppression as evidence of God’s investment in promoting social justice in the mortal world. The advice may not break new ground, but Christian living fans will find much to ponder. (July)