Free Chapter from Dug Down Deep: Humble Orthodoxy

Wonderful comments on many things related to orthodoxy, but one statement grieved me greatly. "...a lot of Christians today are turned off by orthodoxy because they've never seen it held humbly. I think that's true."

That's grievous because of some of the very names at the front of this book, endorsing it, have held humble orthodoxy for years. I've never seen Dever, Piper, Sproul, Mahaney, Mohler, MacArthur, etc. be pompous in their presentation of either the gospel itself or orthodoxy proper.

Granted, I've only seen this chapter, as that's all that was provided, but this statement makes me thing you are missing the inherent offense of the gospel itself, the blame for which is often placed on the shoulders of the one bearing the gospel by those who do not receive it. I believe the offense that happens when the gospel is proclaimed is many, many more times inherent in the message rather than a part of the presentation style, but the blame is reversed.

Maybe this is addressed in a previous chapter, and if so, dismiss my comments as moot.

Hmm...I just can't do it...read the last chapter of a book without reading the previous ones. Any way you could be persuaded to also post the first chapter?

Thank you for posting Josh. I have been really secretly arrogant many times about doctrine and appreciated this chapter. It was great. I liked the part about Presbyterians & Baptists, by the way.

Josh, I just finished reading this book tonight. I also recently read Stop Dating the Church. I appreciate your transparency regarding your journey in learning the importance of knowing the deep truths of God in scripture. The Lord has been revealing the truths of His grace and sovereignty in all things to my husband and me over the past few years, and it has been a difficult but wonderful learning experience for our family. Your new book has been so encouraging for me to read. We, too, have felt like we just found out about the "most amazing party" being held right in our basement that no one bothered to tell us about. We are so thrilled to learn of these rich, solid doctrinal truths and have been reading and studying on these things for the past few years. Thank you for writing this book. It is one I hope to share with those I know who are searching and longing for the truth about God. My husband and I were both raised in Christian homes and have been believers for years, but we had never been exposed to sound doctrinal teaching and the exegetical preaching of the Word until the last few years. We are so thankful that the Lord has opened our eyes to the beauty of these truths so that we can teach them to our five children. Our oldest son is currently reading IKDG. Several years ago, my husband and I brought several teens from our church to hear you speak in Memphis at Bellevue. We are bringing our oldest two boys who are now teenagers to the Do Hard Things conf. in Nashville. When we found out you would be speaking also, we were excited. We'll be praying for all of you involved and look forward to being there. Thank you for your ministry. Thank you for the reminder in your book to be humble and make knowing God the ultimate priority.

Not intending to be demeaning, actually, I am rather concerned with what appears to me to be too heavy a desire to make palatable. The chapter reads like a Sunday School lesson with all rough edges smoothed-out, fuzzy, loving version of 'orthodoxy', included in a personal narrative to help along but the most disinterested youth.

Are we at all concerned with the notion of "popularizing", Josh?

Popularizing will seek to answer the question 'How (creativity/stories/illustrations/videos) do we make it most attractive?' while teaching doctrine is primarily concerned with 'What does it actually teach?'. It seem to me that this difference is not a trivial one.

I like this statement: "Don’t measure yourself by what you know. Measure yourself by your practice of what you know."

I love this. I just finished reading Francis Chan's 2 books--Crazy Love and Forgotten God---These have challenged me to live what I believe. I like your reminder and also the way you dealt with Paul's last words to Timothy. Thanks--I will reflect more on this. I hope to read the rest of your book.