Permission to be Imperfect: How to Strive Less, Stress Less, Sin Less

Bible teacher Winkler (Shut Up, Devil) recalls in this candid guide how, nearly 10 years after he reconnected with his faith, he felt tormented by unfulfilled promises of inner peace and pressures to display flawless religious devotion. Eventually, he realized the pursuit of perfection is “the opposite of what God really desires,” because “who you are as you are is as right as you can be,” and “since you are in Him, you are also where He is.” Winkler explains how as a young minister he came to appreciate his extreme introversion as a God-given trait that helped him reach those who shared his insecurities (“my greatest contributions to this world have come from leaning into the things that make me, me”). Readers who identify as “unchurched” or “dechurched” may take issue with the assumption that they are “giving up on God,” as Winkler seems to imply at one point, but they’ll appreciate his steadfast conviction that religious devotion need not be an endless, hamster-wheel-esque quest to please God, since “your real self—your spirit—is already at rest with Him.” Self-critical Christians will find Winkler’s assurances a breath of fresh air. (Apr.)