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I am speechless. Not out of shock or surprise, but because I’m not exactly sure what to say about this book. Don’t take that as a negative – take it as me trying to wrap my mind around what to tell you.
Jonathan Hollingsworth’s story was eye-opening. It made me think about things I had not thought about before. And that’s always a good thing.
One question that immediately struck me that is presented in the book was this: “What happens when you’re doing what you believe God called you to do and God doesn’t show up?” Well, I have a little problem with that. Because God doesn’t have to ‘show up’. He is already there. When we, as Christians, say, “God showed up!”, what we are really saying is, “God did something that I could see, hear, feel, etc.”. So in this book, when God did NOT do something that could be seen, heard, or felt, Satan sent an insidious lie directly to this young man’s heart; a lie that said, “God’s not here. Apparently you haven’t done enough. You failed.”
It’s really difficult to for me to write a book review, because I constantly struggle with how much of the book to reveal. I hope I will tell you enough that you’ll want to read the book. Because you should. It will give you some insights into current Christian culture.
Overall, the book tells the story of young Jonathan’s quest to ‘save the world’ in a radical way; his journey to Africa to minister to ‘the least of these’. And what happens during his time there. Will it change his life? You bet. Is it all flowers, rainbows and unicorns? Not by a long shot.
The most interesting concept brought out in the book to me was a definition of ‘legalism’. When you hear that word in the context of the church or Christianity, it’s likely that you immediately think of legalism as the everlasting mantra of, “Don’t do this…don’t do that…don’t smoke…don’t drink…don’t wear shorts to church, etc. etc. etc.” The really great thing is that in my experience, many modern day churches have done a very good job of doing away with that kind of thinking. And for the most part, that’s a very positive step. Why do I say, “For the most part”? Because there are simply some things that we, as Christians, should not do. And this is maybe where the author(s) of this book will disagree with me. I have to be honest – I was a little unhappy near the end of the book when Jonathan mentions that he went ‘barhopping’. I’m not going to go into all of the rhetoric as to why this bothers me. You can decide for yourself. At the same time, is that going to keep someone out of heaven? No. Absolutely not. So does it matter? Well, it may matter if it keeps someone else out. I wasn’t crazy about Jonathan smoking or drinking in bars either, while at the same time he was trying to attain the goal of being sold out for Jesus. Probably because I’m too legalistic. I kind of go back to Paul not eating the sacrificial meat – there was spiritually nothing wrong with it, but it could be construed as a stumbling block to others. But I’m getting off track. That really has nothing to do with this story.
So to further talk about legalism (and here is what really resonated with me), Jonathan points out in stunning clarity that it is just as legalistic to constantly say, “You should do this, or that, or the other.” As in, “You should give all your possessions away to feed the poor, ” or, “You should run off to a third world country to serve on the mission field.” Because here’s the thing – when you buy into this, you are relying on your works to win God’s approval, and this was revealed to Jonathan in a striking series of events.
This book is a cautionary tale. We must not allow our young people to go so far ‘radical’ for Jesus that they feel that they never measure up; that they feel so inadequate because they haven’t run off to Africa or given away every earthly possession. Because they will never be satisfied with their faith and they will not understand the meaning of grace. They will try to attain perfection and it’s not attainable, so they are automatically set up for failure and disillusionment. Someone told me once, “Don’t be so heavenly that you’re no earthly good.” And if we’re not careful, we may be encouraging this very behavior in our young people.
Just because I didn’t agree with every little facet of Jonathan’s choices does not mean that I disliked the book. On the contrary. I think every young person and every parent of a young person (teens, early 20s) should read this book, especially if your young person is on fire for the Lord and wants to effect radical change for Jesus.
This is a young man who was broken in the name of ministry. And it’s a story that you don’t hear much…if ever. You will not believe how his home church handled his story. If you’re honest, all you’ve ever heard about are the positive and uplifting ministry stories. Sure, you hear about missionaries who undergo hardship and sacrifice, but you never hear the story where it all goes wrong in the name of God. You’ll hear it here, in this brutally honest retelling of Jonathan’s story.
And if the authors should happen to come across this review and read it, I’d like to say a few words to them. Amy, you have raised a beautiful son, one whom I would be proud and honored to call my own. Jonathan, I am amazed at your insight and self awareness. I don’t think you will realize for quite a long time yet, maybe years, what your season of pain will bring forth in yourself and others. Thank you for this book.
Runaway Radical is available at Family Christian Stores.
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