Clearly Christian: Following Jesus in This Age of Confusion is written by A. Trevor Sutton and printed by Concordia Publishing House. The book is Christ-focused and I found myself learning some things. Most of the chapters have discussion questions at the end of them. The questions help the reader think about the chapter and assess what it is like being a Christian in today’s world. The questions make this book able to be used in a Bible Study or book club. My favorite parts of this book were sections toward the end of most chapters called “Clear>Confusion.” These gave practical examples of living in today’s world and the explanation why those examples were practical. These suggestions were anything from being nice to rethinking social media or learning someone’s name.
I think people who don’t understand technology may have trouble following parts of this book. It makes some references to computers, memes, and other things that some may not understand. The book can be read and enjoyed without knowing these things, but certain illustrations or examples would make more sense knowing a little bit about technology and today’s culture. I also found myself frustrated with some of the claims and footnotes in the chapters. The author seemed to make claims how nonChristians thought about Christians and I wanted to know where that information was coming from, yet nothing was cited. Other information like quotes or thoughts from church fathers were in the footnotes. I think that’s wonderful information but, I just wanted to know if some of the claims were the author’s personal observations or if there was statistical data to support the claims.
One chapter also references the Black Plague and states, “Global pandemics are not a fixture of daily life in the modern world.” This book was printed in 2018 so at that point it was true. The author had no knowledge there would be a global pandemic only a few years later. It’s just something to keep in mind when reading through the eighth chapter. It doesn’t take away from the point that’s trying to be made. Instead, we can use today’s current/recent pandemic as a clearer example of how to live out the point made in the chapter.
This book has many good reminders in it. The tenth chapter talking about “winning” was my favorite. It was a good reminder of being called to proclaim the Gospel, not win arguments. It also reminds us of the Holy Spirit’s job and our job in the faith process.
Overall, I’m glad I read this book. It wasn’t my favorite book, but it is one I would recommend to adults (older or younger) who are at least familiar with technology and who are curious how to live in this confusing world.