Over the past week or so i have had the opportunity to read Mark Batterson’s new book entitled Primal:A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity. Batterson is the lead pastor of National Community Church and the author of Wild Goose Chase and In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day.
In his newest book Batterson invites readers to journey with him down the stairs of an ancient catacomb where we are able to strip away some of the superfluous layers of Christianity and come back to the primal heart of the faith. Throughout the book Mark explores the what that we are called to learn how to love God better (with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength). This is his take on how we live out the Greatest Commandment that Jesus reminds us of.
Batterson is a passionate follower of Jesus that offers up practical ways to put faith into action. Throughout the book i found myself captured by his stories. Truly the highlight for my personal reading was the section about loving God with your whole mind. Mark makes the point that as faithful stewards.that we must keep learning all that we can so that we may come to know God more fully. As someone who ministers to youth and young people I appreciated the way that the door was flung open on creativity, innovation and taking risks for the Kingdom. I found myself shaking my head after reading Mark’s words about the Church as a place where curiosity thrives. he writes:
The church ought to be the most curious place on the planet. We ought to be a safe place where people can ask dangerous questions, but all too often we’re guilty of answering the questions that no one is even asking. we out to be challenging the status quo, but all too often we are defending it.
I think that these words get to the heart of why people feel like the church is such a minor detail in their lives: it is not a place where they feel they can be vulnerable and ask the hard questions (it anything they feel like they need to wear a mask), and it is all to often not relevant.
I feel like this would make a great sermon series for my congregation or youth ministry. I could also see where it would be a great small group curriculum too. All in all Batterson does not disappoint and I feel like it is a book that I would love my leadership team to read together in the new year.
If you would like to check our his other books you can find them on Amazon.com through these links:
