Glorious Ruin: How Suffering Sets You Free [Hardcover]

Tullian Tchividjian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2012

In this world, one thing is certain: Everybody hurts. Suffering may take the form of tragedy, heartbreak, or addiction. Or it could be something more mundane (but no less real) like resentment, loneliness, or disappointment. But there’s unfortunately no such thing as a painless life. In Glorious Ruin, best-selling author Tullian Tchividjian takes an honest and refreshing look at the reality of suffering, the ways we tie ourselves in knots trying to deal with it, and the comfort of the gospel for those who can’t seem to fix themselves—or others. 

This is not so much a book about Why God allows suffering or even How we should approach suffering—it is a book about the tremendously liberating and gloriously counterintuitive truth of a God who suffers with you and for you. It is a book, in other words, about the kind of hope that takes the shape of a cross.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Biblically saturated and faithful, Glorious Ruin is a gift to the hurting, confused, and curious and will prepare many to marvel at the goodness and grace of God in all circumstances."

Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church and president of Acts 29 Church Planting Network

"Like you, I'm a sufferer. For the last three years I have watched my eight-year-old daughter suffer with cancer. The why and how of suffering have been of little value to my family and me. The truth of the Who and grace, so wonderfully presented in this book, has been our life and only hope."

Britt Merrick, founder of the Reality family of churches, pastor for preaching and vision at Reality Santa Barbara, author of Godspeed and Big God

"Glorious Ruin is a gospel-driven tour de force. Tullian shows how no matter what you're going through, God stands with you in your suffering and is everything you'll ever need. I couldn't recommend this book more highly!"

Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church, Washington, DC, and New York Times best-selling author of The Circle Maker

About the Author

Tullian Tchividjian is the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, a visiting professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, and grandson of Billy and Ruth Graham. He is a bestselling author, a contributing editor to Leadership Journal, and a popular conference speaker. Tullian and his family reside in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: David C. Cook (October 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1434704025
• ISBN-13: 978-1434704023
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 5.5 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Glorious Ruin Points To The Gospel September 29, 2012

By MM

Format:Hardcover

I was very shocked when I walked into a hole in the wall Christian bookstore and found the book Glorious Ruin sitting there on the shelf. I thought that the book was supposed to be released at the beginning of October, but somehow I ended up being able to purchase the book and read it over the course of one week. I can't say enough about how reading Glorious Ruin has been a tremendous blessing to my life. Tullian's love for the Gospel is truly contagious and I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Tullian addresses the reality of suffering in the first 3 chapters of Glorious Ruin. His section on the Theology of Glory vs. the Theology of the Cross is excellent. Tullian says, "A theology of the cross defines life in terms of giving rather than taking, self-sacrifice rather than self-protection, dying rather than killing." I would highly recommend this section. It has a lot to offer. Also, Tullian's comparison of the Law and Gospel in chapter 2 really shows that, "when we finally come to the end of ourselves, there God will be."

Moralizing and Minimizing suffering is what the next two sections discuss. Moralizing suffering says that because of your bad behavior or particular sin is why you suffer. Minimizing suffering says to downplay or reduce the pain of the suffering that you are dealing with. However, we realize that the Gospel liberates us from feeling like we have to moralize or minimize our suffering. This is extremely important. Because of what Jesus Christ has already done, we are free to be honest and confront our suffering head on.

The last section shows us how we are saved by suffering. The Gospel is for defeated, not the dominant. God is truly found in the weak things of the world. They key thing is to realize that God may not rescue you out of your pain; but He will rescue you through the pain! All of these are topics that Tullian touches on throughout this section.

We must not reduce the Gospel in our sufferings. We must lift it high and point to the finished work of Jesus at all times. Tullian's book I believe shines hope in a world full of suffering. He points to Jesus in all things and that is why this book gets 5 stars.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Uplifting October 1, 2012

By Joshua Lake

Format:Hardcover

This wasn't what I expected. I assumed I was opening either another book on the "Why" of suffering or the "How" of dealing with suffering, but Glorious Ruin is neither of those. As Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin) explains, this is a book about the "Who," about God who manifests Himself to us in our suffering.

The bulk of Tchividjian's narrative rests upon a distinction between a theology of glory and a theology of the cross, a distinction he takes from Martin Luther. In the former, suffering (most notably Christ's on the cross) is an unpleasant means to a future end, usually salvation or God's power over the earth. But in a theology of the cross, God is present, is at work, in the suffering. This frees us, Tchividjian writes, to face life's tragedies, admit their pain, and yet stand comforted by our hope in God.

Tchividjian buried one of my favorite observations in the middle of this brief book: All our misguided attempts to get beyond suffering fall into one of two camps -- we either minimize the suffering, which harms the sufferer by telling her that she needs to get over it, or we attempt to do better in life so that God will stop punishing us. Rather than embrace either, Tchividjian writes, we must remember the gospel's message that suffering is real and that our healing comes only through God's grace.

I appreciated this book's message, particularly near its end, and the three-star rating reflects the fact that I liked but did not love the whole thing.

I must admit that I struggled to grasp the distinction Tullian draws between the theology of the cross and one example of a theology of glory, a tendency he calls the "Oprah-fication of suffering." According to Tchividjian, Oprah views suffering as "a blessed opportunity to learn from your pain and reemerge on the other side a better and stronger person," but he later writes that the theology of the cross "announces that disaster is the precondition for an unfettered life" and "brokenness precedes usefulness." In those sentences and elsewhere, I fear I missed his distinction. Tchividjian's words sometimes say the difference is between suffering as a means and an end, but other times he says that suffering is God's means to improve us, to teach us more about the gospel.

After reading the entire book, I infer that improper views of suffering treat suffering as a means by which we improve ourselves as people whereas the right view sees suffering as God improving us, but that is an inference and may be an incorrect interpretation of Tchividjian's message. He is clear that God suffers for us and with us, but I am left unclear as to whether he would teach that suffering is a means to another end.

In his defense, Tullian hammers home the most important point. He proclaims God's goal in all our suffering: "Those who find themselves and their eternal God through suffering have not suffered meaninglessly. Their poverty, grief, despair, and hunger has driven them to the Lord of eternity." (Chapter 8). The why behind suffering is undiscoverable, but our concern should always be with the Who, the one who reveals Himself in the suffering.

The closing chapters were my favorite, and readers will find the most encouragement in those pages. Tchividjian reminds us what the book of Job teaches: it's not about getting over suffering, getting out of it, or getting better afterwards. Suffering is about God's presence in the midst of our suffering. He will never let you go.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeping It Real October 1, 2012

By R. Inspiration

Format:Hardcover

I recently purchased the book "Change Your Words Change Your Life" by Joyce Meyer, who I listen to almost daily and admire greatly. While her words have been inspirational on my spiritual journey, I found the work of Glorious Ruin to be much more in tune to the way I'm feeling today. I am a journalist who was accused of plagiarism and while I wasn't fired I don't write nearly as much as I used and I'm working more as a copy editor which is not fulfilling. While Meyer's words guide you to think positively and put on a happy face in the midst of suffering, Glorious Ruin discusses how we don't need to ignore the pain and while we don't have to embrace the suffering, it's comforting to know that God is with us during our time of trails. We may rebound from our suffering, then again we may not, but this is the time we should turn our pain and suffering over to God. I'm suffering right now because my career meant the world to me and I cannot simply say, "the sun will come out tomorrow" and smile my pain away. Glorious Ruin reminds the us to put our faith in the sufficiency of Christ Jesus and His atoning work. Suffering doesn't necessarily mean an automatic path to personal growth - that's a narcissistic view of life - but it does force us to rely solely on our Heavenly Father. Whatever happens to me and my career is in God's hands and Glorious Ruin gives me affirmation that it's OK to feel that way.