Christian Book Reflections

Gentle & Lowly, Part 1

[Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers] by Dane Ortlund

Those who know me personally will know that Dane Ortlund's Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, is one of my all-time favourite Christian books. Seriously. Once I started reading, I just could not put it down, and I also could not stop promoting it to my Christian peers in my campus ministry small-group and church small-group. Just ask them. They will bear witness to my insufferability.

However, this is not a book review, because the absolutely omniscient God knows that I've done enough of those already (verbal reviews). Instead, this will be a collection of thoughts, reflections, feelings and add-ons I have about the contents of the book. I will be quoting the book a lot so naturally, there are heavy spoilers if you haven't read it. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The title perfectly explains what the contents of this book is all about: the heart of the Lord Christ Jesus for sinful and suffering Christians, whether it's purely sinful Christians or suffering Christians or both. (Because, really, one thing that no one in churches actually talks much about is that you can suffer purely because of your sinfulness itself. Not from any resulting external consequence of your sin, but simply from being internally enslaved to sin, and the guilt and shame that results from that.)

I digress. This book is about the heart of King Jesus towards us, His sinful and suffering people. Not just about what He has done for us on the cross, not what He has accomplished and achieved for us in the gospel, but how He feels toward us now. It answers the question: how does Jesus feel toward us now, people living 2,000 years after He was born? How does Jesus feel toward us when we fall into lust, or hatred, or covetousness and idolatry?

The book doesn't explicitly say so, but I think most of us generally think that Jesus is angry with us, furious with us, when we either halfheartedly or eagerly indulge our lustful fantasies, nurse our grudges against others, or choose what we covet and idolize over Him. Jesus is that same holy, holy, holy God from Isaiah 6, the Holy One before whom the mighty, blazing seraphim were overwhelmed. Jesus is the Almighty King, before whom every knee will bow and every tongue will confess as Lord (Philippians 2:9-11), whose transcendent majesty and magnificence would make the largest mountains shrivel and the deepest oceans blush in shame. Not only that, Jesus is the very King who gave up His dignity, honour and life for us, to redeem us vile and despicable sinners from the just wrath we deserved. No matter how you look at it, it seems impossible for Jesus not to be thunderously furious at us.

Now, let no one say that these sins are not serious, and that we shouldn't hate them and seek to kill them at all costs. After all, Jesus willingly subjected Himself to being the necessary sacrificial lamb for our sins; we should have been the ones being psychologically crushed and decimated in our spirit by God's towering, stockpiled wrath, but Jesus lovingly let Himself be undone and destroyed in our place so that we would never have to experience it. Not only that, Jesus is of course morally serious, far more than we are. Being holy, He hates and abhors these sins with far greater fiery passion than we do in our best moments. But holiness doesn't just equate to absolute & infinite moral purity. Holiness doesn't just mean hating sin. It also means love, compassion and goodness; an inclination, a disposition to help, relieve, protect and comfort. The very sins which we think turn Jesus against us in explosive wrath actually draws Him to us in tender love and compassionate affection. He hates our sin, but He loves us, and therefore sides with us against our sin.

Does this mean that Jesus pays special attention to us only when we are stuck in the trenches of sin? I certainly hope not. That would make God a neglectful and unloving Father, and Jesus a neglectful and loving Savior. Even when we're not in sin, we need the affection and friendship of Christ for our loneliness and boredom. Remember that Jesus is known as 'the friend of sinners' (Matthew 11:19). He identifies with us as our friend (John 15:14-15). Friends don't just spend time with you when you have so-called 'serious problems' like sins or extreme circumstances. No, even when there's nothing big going on, friends still seek each other's companionship and friendship. They still seek the sweetness and pleasure of intimacy with one another. And if Jesus does indeed love us as He says He does, then wouldn't it make sense for Him to draw near to us in love and kindness when we are lonely and bored?

But in any case, here we see how Jesus Christ, the One whom we call our Lord and our God, is different from how we would expect Him to be. We would expect Him to glare at us and bellow at us like some of our parents do, or we would expect Him to look upon us with disappointment etched over His countenance. But what this book shows us, based on the Bible's teachings, is that our Savior Jesus responds to us in loving tenderness and cleansing mercy in the midst of our sin. Note that: in the midst of our sin. Not: when we have overcome it or have found a way to overcome it. Not: when we have feelings of hatred towards it and sufficient guilt over it.

How can we be so sure? How do we know that I'm not delusional and making things up? How can we know that it is NOT too good to be true?

The answer lies in Hosea 11, a passage that the book refers to more than once. Here's what it says:

"My people are bent on turning away from me,

and though they call out to the Most High,

he shall not raise them up at all.

How can I give you up, O Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, O Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?

How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

My heart recoils within me;

my compassion grows warm and tender.

I will not execute my burning anger;

I will not again destroy Ephraim;

for I am God and not a man,

the Holy One in your midst,

and I will not come in wrath." (Hosea 11:7-9)

If you've read your Old Testament Prophets, then you kinda get the context: as usual, Israel's people are being unfaithful and idolatrous to God. No matter how good and gracious God has been to them, they just don't like God at all. (Why does this sound so much like me?) "My people are bent on turning away from me" (v.7); that is how insidiously deep sin goes - irrational and humanly indestructible hatred towards God. But no matter how sinful they are and how mad God is with them, they are still His. 100%. God still refers to them as 'My people'. And the text gives us a glimpse into God's innermost emotions towards them, and to our surprise, we see God inflamed with pity and compassion towards them. He simply cannot give them up. The thought of giving them up to their sin and His burning wrath causes His heart to recoil within Him.

Up till now, I am still amazed at how stunningly compassionate and merciful our God is. It still feels surreal to me. Not only that, I have also questioned God why He is this way. Is He being too soft? Is He doing this out of weakness? Why let yourself and your honour be trampled upon and abused like this?

To be continued...