Do you have friends who think Christians are crazy – perhaps, sometimes, in a bad way? How have you as a Christian responded to the culture around you – which may not always support your belief in God? Matt Chandler’s Take Heart: Christian Courage in the Age of Unbelief is a book about how followers of Christ can respond to the secular society that we live in today – a society in which Christians are often described as traditional and stubborn, and may even be called hateful because of their views on sexuality and marriage. The “intolerance of tolerance” may be more apparent in the West compared with places like Hong Kong. Nonetheless, no Christian is completely immune from disapproval from the post-modern society. Instead of being intimidated, angered, or paralyzed by the hostile culture around us, Matt Chandler urges Christians to live with a courage that looks to God’s power and grace.
A famous saying goes: “courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than one’s fear.” Through discussing how the early church grew despite persecution, this book helps Christian readers understand our cause to have courage by pointing to our powerful yet loving and merciful God. As Paul says in Romans 8:37, “But in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Matt Chandler guides readers to look further back in time to find even more evidence that God is an unrelenting warrior who fights for his people. What’s more, God has won the battle through Jesus’s death and resurrection. And it is because of this victory that we can live courageously as followers of Christ. This is a courage that seeks holiness and integrity, a courage that demonstrates devotion and speaks the truth, a courage that is unafraid to engage with the world and sees hope in this age of unbelief.
I strongly recommend this book because it is filled with great reminders of how mighty and loving a God we have put our trust in. Not only does it provide a convincing framework to understand Christian courage by looking at the history of God’s powerful deliverance through the ages, but it also illustrates how courage practically looks like in our day-to-day lives — all within 120 pages! I really hope this book can convince you that the church can thrive in this age of unbelief and secularism, and that you can live courageously for God with hope and joy.
Zoe Lau
