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Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living

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One of my friends often says that we don't have a how-to problem. It's much more serious than that: we have a want-to problem. That could be why many of the books and seminars we have don't really work. Many of them offer more how-to solutions, when what we really need is to want to do what we already know we should be doing.

Compelled by Love: A Most Excellent Way to Missional Living, written by Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation, is different. It tackles the real reason we don't engage in mission as we should. The issue is not technique; it's love.

The authors write:

"If we operate by our own view of the world and our own strength, we will walk away from people every time. However, Christ's love in us - the conviction of Christ's truth displayed in love and the change in our lives because of redemption - causes us to have a new view of people and a new life of compassion for the saved and the lost."

Stetzer and Nation take us on a tour of the triune God's missional love for us. They then lead us to consider the church's mission, which is evidence of God's love. We are not called to be the hippest churches, nor are we to focus on our abilities. Instead, it's about presenting God's presence to the people of this world. When we understand God's love and our mission, we'll be prepared to give up on our "needs", and love and be loved within the church. We'll discover that love and obedience go together. This will lead us to love and to share God's missionary passion for the world.

If you're looking for a how-to book on missional living, this isn't it. But if you're looking for a book that will lead you to think about issues below the surface of missional living and missional churches, then Compelled by Love is a book you'll want to read.

Posted at DesireSpiritualGrowth.com:

Do not read Compelled by Love if you are looking for "101 ways to love better," or "7 reasons why you should try harder to love." You won't find it. Ed Stetzer, with the help of Philip Nation, starts with the gospel of grace when declaring the truth about love and the church. Christ, not how-to sermons or elbow-grease, is the only solution to the church's inability to love as we ought. Compelled by Christ's love, we can step out of the bubble our churches live behind far too often. That's missional living.

Consider these quotes from the opening chapter:

"The old nature must die so Christ can live in and through us. The change that occurs by Christ's love is the only path to love as God loves. We cannot by our own strength we loving persons as Christians. We can only become those persons when Christ lives in us. God gives the gracious endowment of the sacrificial life of Christ to indwell us so we might live by faith and not be sight, emotion, or any other earthly power."

"The way of Jesus is contrary to what we naturally desire. Our fleshly nature refuses to love those we find unworthy. It's only Christ in us that changes us and makes us see people as God sees them and to live a new life of compassion for both the saved and the lost (see Matthew 22:35-40)."

Stetzer draws from his personal experience as a church planter to provide keen insight. The book is designed for small groups, and each chapter includes a thought-provoking list of discussion questions to spur deeper thinking on what it means to live a missional lifestyle of love towards those around us.

7 Reasons why your church should read Compelled by Love:
1. It is a Christ-centered resource for anyone who wants to grow in love.
2. It reminds us that the bubble the church lives in keeps us from being effectively reaching the lost, because "God is on a mission outside that bubble."
3. It brings us back to the Father's heart as the motivation for ministry. "We begin with the knowledge of God because the mission originates with His heart."
4. It is Bible-saturated, easy to read, and far from dry.
5. It explains the difference between treaty and surrender in our relationship with God, a section worth praying earnestly through.
6. Chapter 7 very likely will rattle your concept of church.
7. The book provides direction and spurs discussion that will encourage you and your church to prayerfully seek specific ways to lovingly reach the culture around you.

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Ed Stetzer is quickly becoming one of the more influential voices in Evangelicalism as our culture continues to drift more and more into postmodernism. He has encountered some controversy, accused of supporting and sympathizing with the Emerging Church and some of its leaders. But through it all, Stetzer, who works for Lifeway, continues to serve the church by training pastors and leaders on church planting and ministry.

Stetzer has written a number of books and his newest book, "Compelled By Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living," only adds to his legacy. There are two things to note about this title. First, this book regards missional living. As I have said before, being missional is the current buzz word that everyone is talking about. Stetzer is one of the more conservative leaders pushing the missional movement and this book adds to the conversation. Secondly, this is a book about love. But this is not your typical book on love. Usually, books wax eloquent about how much God loves us and we should love Him and bypass the holiness and righteousness of God that holds sinners accountable. This is no such book.

There are three aspects of the book that I wish to discuss that will sort of serve as a general outline of the book. First, real love is incarnated in Jesus Christ. But this goes deeper than the Sermon on the Mount. Stetzer essentially defines love in terms of the cross. Christ loved us. How? By dying for us. Love then, is selfless and sacrificial. Missional love begins with the cross. Do I love others the way Christ exemplified love for me? If not, then we do not love.

Secondly, love is active. I found part 2 riveting. Stetzer takes the message of the cross (the gospel) and tells his readers to love like that and tell others about that. This is a section primarily about the Great Commission and love within the church. Stetzer is emphatic. If we truly love others, if we are truly missional, then we must be about missions. How can we say that we love others if we are too selfish to share the gospel with them? How can we say we are loving if we refuse to serve the church and help build of the Kingdom of God?

Thirdly, Stetzer concludes arguing that those who are compelled by love not only are grounded in the gospel, commissioned by Christ, but obey their Father. Missional love is not a passive love, it is an obeying love. But the author makes clear that he is not advocating legalism, which runs contrary to real love and against the Biblical teaching. Rather, those who truly love Christ will manifest that love by obeying Him.

Therefore, unless we are grounded in the cross, commissioned with the gospel, and obedient at all cost, then we are not missional, we are not loving, we do not have missional love. Stetzer's book is simple and yet needed. For too long books on love and missions have been simple and insulting. Stetzer does not back away from some of the difficulties of love. Stetzer does not back away from the biblical text. Rather, the Bible drives his argument.

I must say that whenever I began reading this book, I was a bit skeptical. Why? Because I thought this would be yet another book on love. It did not take me long to figure out that it isn't. This is a book on love (both as a noun and a verb) that we have been needing. Let all who hear Stetzer's words do what he says for his words are grounded in biblical truth of which we are obligated to obey.

If we are compelled by love, then we can change the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And anything short of love, real love, will not do.

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Love for one's neighbor was one of the core teachings of Jesus Christ. "Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living" is a handbook for Christians to find the love of God, use it to complete themselves, and spread it to others as well. Also included is a crash course in basic theology, enhanced with biblical texts and advice on applying what one learns. "Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living" is a top pick for community library Christian studies collections.

Wow! Philip Nation and Ed Stetzer have outdone themselves on this book. I was especially amazed that this is Philip's first book. The insight into God's Word and His desires for us to live missionally in a hurting world, makes this a must read for all people of faith.

It also has great application for people considering becoming Christ followers. People need to know that God loves us and we, in turn, must love those who need Him. In other words... EVERYONE!

Thanks Philip and Ed for writing this fantastic book! Highly recommended!

Book Review: Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living. Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation, (New Hope Publishers: Birmingham, AL, 2008).

Compelled by Love is an incredible resource for the contemporary church. Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation bring together an amazing blend of philosophy, theology, and practical application to challenge the reader to consider the role of the church as God's missionary agent on earth.

The authors' approach to the subject begins with a lengthy treatment of the biblical texts surrounding the displayed Love of God. In fact, for the reader who accepts that God has demonstrated His love toward the world and that the church is commanded love the world in like manner, the book seems to start a bit slowly in the opening chapters. For others, the opening chapters provide ample foundation and justification supporting the author's thesis.

Among its many attributes, Compelled by love is full of insightful observations such as this one, which seems to be the authors' thesis. Affirming that the redemptive mission of God involves the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and the obedient "going" of the believer, the authors' note, "Love is the place where our going and His convicting converge (p. 69)."

This book brings focus and challenges the reader to embrace a greater depth of applied love in missional living. While some practical applications are discussed, most readers will leave with a clear understanding that there is more work to be done, more power in the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work, and more glory for God to be obtained as a result of life choices on the part of the reader.

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Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living was written by Ed Stetzer and Phillip Nation and published by New Hope Publishers. Stetzer is the director of LifeWay Christian Resources and Nation is a church planting missionary in north Metro Atlanta.

Compelled is broken up into three parts. The first, "Death by Love: God and Mission" looks at how the three persons of the Trinity love and how their love applies to our relationships and ministry. The second part, "Identifying Love: The Church in the World" looks at how we are shaped by love. This section really highlights the way that love works itself out in the context of the Christian community. I would say that this is the central argument of the text. The third part, "Formed by Love: Believers and the World" looks at how the church is to interact with the non-Christian world within which it finds itself. This section I think is the most important as it challenges the presumptions of the status quo.

There were two chapters that stood out among the rest. The first was Chapter 9 where Stetzer and Nation push back on the popularity of bashing the Church. They argued quiet well that if you say that you love Jesus then you will love his church. The vision cast for the necessity and centrality of the local church is fantastic. It might be one of the most simple and clearly stated arguments for the local church that I have read. The quote from James Emery White has really stuck in my mind over the last few days, "The church is not simply the vanguard of kingdom advance; it is the entire assault force (145)". When we pick on the church we are picking on the very bride of Christ. We must love what Christ loves, and Christ died for his church.

The second chapter that really stood out was Chapter 12, "Called to Love: Living a Missionary Passion for the Lost". Here Stetzer and Nation challenge the deep rooted selfishness that is inherent in the Christian community by walking through the Jonah narrative. They are calling the church to a renewed sense of contextualized service. I was reminded again that I am a Jonah, as most of us are, willing to serve God on my terms in my ways. How many times do we miss the God-sized redemptive opportunities around us because we are pouting in a corner as a result of not getting our way?

In conclusion, I can't really find too many weaknesses with this text. I think in future printings (yes, it's that good) it would be helpful to see an appendix with some best practices for individuals and churches to be able to look to as a model. By no means a claim of a "magic bullet" or a "recipe for missional ministry" but just some jumping off points. I think some of the people in my life will read this and wonder, "OK, now what? How do I DO this?"

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Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation attempt(and I believe succeed) to tackle the idea of missional living. Both men bring a wealth of wisdom and experience into the work, which is evident. As can be seen from the title, they take the reader on a journey of explaining what it in fact means to be Compelled by Love.

I must admit that I am somewhat new to the word of being missional. I have heard the word used in quite a number of situations, but this is my second book around living missionally. Ed Stetzer is regarding as many as one of those on the forefront of missional living. The concept behind it is that we as believers should live and act as missionaries in a foreign country: we should learn the culture, custom, lingo, and so on. The motivating reason for doing this is not to be famous or reach high numbers, but it is in fact because we love God and love people. Love is something that will draw us to do things we wouldn't ordinarily do, and it is love that should cause us to do everything we can to spread the gospel to the nations.

This book is my first from Ed Stetzer. I am more familiar with his work though than that of Philip Nation. I follow Stetzer on Twitter, and am constantly amazed at how much he knows. It is definitely reflected on the pages of this book. This is a great read. I encourage anyone who is even remotely interested in missional living or in finding out how to live more effectively to pick up this book. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

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Compelled by Love is a book written to motivate the Church to stop sitting around. The book fittingly holds the subtitle, The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living. The book is mainly focused towards providing believers with a more sufficient ground for understanding why Love is meant to be the basis of our Christian mission.

As I read this book I was quickly convicted. I realized by the time I read the first chapter, which is titled "Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way," that I had not been living correctly for Christ. Yes, I have been loving others actively, but I have not been loving others driven solely by the love of God for them. The book has inspired me to better live a life intentionally designed to show God's love to the lost.

Although, I have praises for this book, I also have criticisms. Missional living is a topic which is spoken of very much, or it is avoided all together. This book seems to be aimed towards a crowd of people who would already know what missional living is, and I think most people who are sold to living missional have a good understanding of the majority of what this book covers. I feel like the people who need to know more about missional lifestyle's driven by love, would be unlikely to read this book, simply because it is focused towards a missional minded crowd.

Overall, I do think that this is a book that every person who has a true desire to serve Christ's Church most effectively should read. There are those places where you're so convicted that you know you need to change something about your life, and there are those parts that motivate you simply because they make so much sense. Read Compelled by Love, it will be worth your time.

I just finished reading Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation's book Compelled by Love and I heartily recommend it.

I've been following Ed's blog for several months and I'm always impressed with his passion for the Gospel and those outside the church. Those passions shine through in this book.

The opening chapters set the tone by defining the Gospel and the call to missions. Ed and Philip work through Scripture to show that the Gospel is defined by love, driven by love and a call TO love.

Putting the things of first importance (Christ's death, burial and resurrection) above everything is what drives our love. Christ's sacrificial death serves not just as our justification but as our example. Sacrificial love is what defines a Christian.

With great clarity and simplicity, Ed and Philip, describe the Christian life that is motivated by love: Love for God and Love for Neighbor. They challenge us to look beyond ourselves and to die to ourselves. They push us to make disciples and to work hard at evangelism. And they do it all through the lens of love.

Through it all they link obedience to Christ and love of Christ, which is exactly the way Jesus put it "You are my friends if you do what I command...This is my command: Love each other."

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