Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy of this book!
Rhythms for Life by Alastair Sterne is a book that is
intended to guide believers and followers of Christ to create their own “Rhythm
for Life”, which is meant to promote growth and transformation into Christlikeness
as God has intended for every person individually. These rhythms encompass
practices that deal with four distinct areas of life: upward to God, inward
to self, withward in community and outward in mission.
Part 1 of this book first delves into a very detailed
analysis of who God has made each of us individually. These chapters help the
reader self-reflect on their identity, spiritual gifts and talents, personality,
values and virtues and roles in life. Part 2 then deals with crafting
individual rhythms in the four directions (up, in, with and out), taking into
account the believer’s individuality. Each chapter is constructed in such a way
that the first part is mostly text meant to explain or instruct about the topic
at hand, while the last pages of each chapter contain questions for the readers
to answer, space for personal thoughts and prayers and worksheets intended for the
reader to personally construct their own practices and rhythms.
What I really love about this book is just how personalized
and individualized these rhythms for life are. Too many Christian books and
articles that I have previously encountered on the topic of Christlikeness mostly
rattle off a list of verbs and adjectives that are meant to be valued and grow
as fruit in every believer’s life. While theologically sound, these are mainly
stated without much thought as to how these are going to look like for each
person individually. I very strongly agree with Sterne’s belief that
Christlikeness will shine differently through each believer, with no two
looking exactly identical. Rhythms for Life very strongly respects the
individuality of each believer in Christ, while also staying biblically true
concerning certain traits that God wants for all believers (e.g. love).
“There is no generic template for growing in Christlikeness. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Who you are matters” (p. 6).
My favorite chapters were definitely the ones found in Part
1, dealing with who God has made me to be. I very much enjoyed the self-discovery
that I encountered while reflecting on my own spiritual gifts, personality and virtues.
I was actually very surprised to learn that many of my own personality traits, skills,
gifts, talents and virtues which until now I had always considered quite mundane
are actually special gifts of God, spiritual gifts or ways in which
Christlikeness is shown through me. This book has definitely opened my eyes to just
how much God has already worked in my life and how much I have been gifted. It has
helped me see that every believer has been blessed, touched and gifted by the
Holy Spirit and how just a certain mindfulness of these gifts can lead one to
see just how valuable each member of the Body of Christ is to the Kingdom of
God. Rhythms for Life also very strongly dispels the idea that only
certain roles or callings (such as those of evangelical mission and vocation) are
more “spiritual” or important to God. Sterne makes a great point in showing
that most spiritual work and vocations are actually done right under our nose
in our everyday life.
The rhythms found in Part 2 were also very straightforward to
me and present twelve practices in total that are meant to help the reader
construct these four distinct rhythms for themselves. I thought that each
chapter did an excellent job at explaining and giving examples for each of the
four rhythms and the corresponding practices, that I actually felt quite inspired
to try and think for myself how I could integrate these new rhythms into my own
life.
Other smaller things that I really appreciated about Sterne’s
book were the very positive messages surrounding mental health. Sterne strongly
encourages readers with any kind of mental health challenges to visit a counselor,
which I found very refreshing to read as a Christian. I very strongly believe
that the scientific practices of psychologists and counselors should be seen as
a necessary guidance for these kinds of struggles, alongside spiritual
practices and God’s guidance, which is why I really liked that Sterne also touched
on that.
Something I also appreciated as an egalitarian Christian myself
was that none of the rhythms or practices were gender-specific or bound to any “gender
roles”. Every reader, whether they are female or male, are very much encouraged
by this book to seek out for themselves how to reflect Christlikeness, what
their roles or vocations or callings are, independent of their gender.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed and felt strongly influenced by the
Spirit by Rhythms for Life in pursuing Christlikeness and a rhythm for my
own life. This is definitely a book that I can see myself coming back to again
and again in times of spiritual recalibrations in my walk with Christ. In fact,
I’ve already preordered two copies (one for me and my mom) which I look forward
to being able to physically write in when September comes around. I would also
strongly encourage any believer to pick up this book who maybe doesn’t quite
know how God has been working in their lives, or how they individually
contribute to the Kingdom. Rhythms for Life will definitely encourage, enlighten,
as well as challenge any Christian in their walk in both normal everyday life,
as well as their walk in Christ.
Rhythms for Life is available September 29th, 2020
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