Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction by Richard J. Mouw

link to book in Amazon

I read this book because it's the choice for my "theological book club" this month. I voted for this selection because I've wanted to learn more about both Abraham Kuyper and Richard Mouw.

Mouw begins with a reference to Abraham Kuyper's Lectures on Calvinism, the "Stone Lectures" he delivered at Princeton Seminary in 1898. Mouw said, "In Kuyper's robust Calvinism I discovered what I had been looking for: a vision of active involvement in public life..."

Mouw goes on to reference what is probably Kuyper's most well known statement: "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, 'Mine!'"

And, several more sentences I highlighted:

For Kuyper, every Christian is called to be an agent of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, wherever they are called by God to serve.

He called them to organize their lives so as to show the rest of the world what it is like to live in obedience to the will of the Creator in all dimensions of human life.

The important question, of course, is: How are we to do that? How are we as Christians to work at redeemed cultural activity? What does this say to nurses and artists and lawyers and corporate managers?

Either God is at the center of our lives or something else is.

Kuyper would urge business people to see their places of work as providing important opportunities for Kingdom service.

What people need from the church is what is essential: the gospel and the way it sets forth the basic patterns for living the Christian life. Whether Christians happen to spend most of their time in our homes or in the marketplace, we need to know what is central to the biblical message and the Christian tradition, and we must be nurtured in our growth in the faith by Christian fellowship, spiritual formation, and the sacraments. For the church to be faithful in a changing world, performing these tasks well is challenge enough.

When we leave church each Sunday, we should have marching orders for service in the Kingdom.

There is so much to think about from these and the many other things written about in this book. The above list of quotes speaks to me as I continue to think about what the church's work should be. At our last book club meeting we were discussing the church and its role in the community. I was saying that I didn't think it made sense for the church to try to be a social agency unless we somehow made it a professional enterprise - with paid employees. I think it's just not feasible to expect people to work as volunteers in efforts such as food pantries or providing other social services, in addition to all the rest they do in their own lives.

When another member of the book club asked, "What do you think the church should do then, Mavis?" my answer was, "We should provide a place of worship." I don't think that's a complete, thorough answer, so I liked reading what Mouw/Kuyper said about the church and Kingdom service in all that we do.

Mouw had much to say, too, about Kuyper's understanding of grace, my very favorite thing about Christianity. There are too many to list here, but one was, "Grace, for Calvin, is simply undeserved favor," and then he goes on to discuss common grace and the way God's grace is revealed even through sinful people and our fallen creation. It gives me optimism and hope to be reminded of this.

I thought it was interesting when he started talking about the humble family meal, of all things. What a practical thing to discuss in a theological book. He talks about citizenship being in trouble, and the rise of incivility, the way we shout at each other and don't listen, and says, "One cause of all this, as I see things, is the decline of the family meal," at which, in other times, "children learned manners" and "cultivated patience -- by being forced to sit at a table for forty minutes with people they found irritating. This prepared them for citizenship." He says the church should support and strengthen families, and he also writes about the value of inter-generational worship and relationships.

All in all I got a lot of food for thought from this book. I appreciate Mouw's easy writing style and the many nuggets of wisdom he gives us.