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The Micah Mandate: Balancing the Christian Life

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I'm not sure what genre to put this book into. I come to it as part of a directed study on the issue of "mercy ministries in the Christian Church", as such it is an important book, worthwhile to read and think about. But that doesn't answer the question of what kind of book is it?

It bears lots of the marks i associate with devotional literature: short vignettes of holy people, aimed at the encouragement of right feelings, motivational, short chapters, easy general reader aimed. It's aimed at understanding a single verse in Micah "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God". 6:8 Parts of it look like either sermons or verbal presentations, it is personal, the author talks of his first meeting with F. Schaeffer, fondly and with humor. But it is not simply devotional literature accessible to those who already believe as the author does. It isn't difficult theology but it hints at the difficulty that lies underneath much of the analysis. It is a call to repentance and a new better obedience on the reader's part, based on a deeper and better understanding of the issues. So i'm going to call it layman's theology of current issues with a devotional edge or slant.

The author is conservative, not just theologically but political as well, chapter 10 "where the action is", is perhaps the most political of the book. Where he asks the question: "what is the greatest threat to American culture?" and poses the potential answers of: ACLU, Planned Parenthood, NEA, ACT UP, GreenPeace, Tikkun, in that order. To his credit he answers "none of the above" and goes on to explain that the problem is the Church and it's failure to be salt and change the world via a committment to the Micah Mandate, but the seeds of rightwing Evangelical conservativism are apparent.

But it isn't too strong to read on through it.

The structure of the book is not clear, it is not systematic in the sense of strong linear progression, but rather is the gentle explain, prod, push, inspire, offer outlet that forms the heart of good motivational literature. Explain the problem, involve the audience to motivate concern and change, propose a solution. The problem is the stark division of piety and activism in the modern American Christian Church, pg xiii. The hook is that history and the Bible require justice, mercy and walking with God, the solution is balance based on this Micah mandate. The first chapter is a short historical look at balance, chapter two is a proposal of both/and solution, the balanced worldview. Chapter 3 is the word justice, an analysis based on the distinction between the poles of legalism and lawlessness. Chapter 4 is anti-pluralism based on the existence of hell. These chapters end the discussion of justice in the Micah Mandate, part 3, chapters 5 and 6 are on mercy, part 4 is on walking with God which he calls Humility: To Do Well, chapters 7 and 8, with the prescription of balance bringing up the rear chapters. It is an easy read, a nice read, with chapter 3-"Legal Entanglements" perhaps the best illustration of the book, read this in the bookstore to see if you'll read the whole book, if you can't smoothly read this, don't bother.

I didn't have an earth shaking revelations while reading it, a moderate amount of yellow highlighting, i don't like the technic of personalization, of constant ties to historical figures and their success in meeting the challenges of the Micah Mandate, but that is probably good audience analysis and strengthens the book for most readers, just not me. It is at a level of high school reading, meant to be as widely read as possible, without theological terms or too much devotional slant that would discourage not-believers from picking it up and trying to read it. To that audience it is well aimed and i recommend it's usage in those contexts. He is addressing the issues to conservatives, both theologically and culturally, liberals of all stripes will not be interested nor convinced by his arguments. Frankly he is not addressing their concerns but rather trying to motivate his side of the aisle to be more activist, less pietist, more worldview oriented, more big picture knowledgable. But it's a friendly book that doesn't restore to attacks or name calling, a real plus in the culture wars, and he ought to be congratulated on that.

Now, how about the ideas?

He is certainly right. The MIcah Mandate followed by a Biblical and cultural balance is the answer to the cultural problem of the split in the church between activist and pietist. But it is a deep problem, that will not be solved by books such as this, but by weightly theological volumes that take a significant commitment just to read. This book is the activist motivational manifesto type of material, but it offers the same cluster of answers as we already have in hand, and don't use. He's right, motivation to doing good is important. But i don't wish to start without the hard theological work that i simply haven't seen done yet, perhaps i'll find it over the next few months of reading on the issues. The ideas remind me of the good news-bad news joke on the airplane. good news=we are making excellent time, bad news=we are lost.

Balance, commitment, work as holy calling, justice, mercy and walking with God are IMPORTANT. History will help illumine how the brethren have interacted with God over the centuries, Biblical studies and good theology will lead to orthopraxis and not just orthodoxy, this is a good introduction but i'm still looking for that book that pushes me over the edge into real, skin tingling, must do today activism based on sound deep theology and a genuine walk with your God. And i'm sure that author will have read this book.

thanks for reading this review, and as always please write to rwilliam2@yahoo.com to discuss it or offer me further books for this directed study on the mercy ministry of the Church.

I was blessed to receive a signed copy of this book as an ordination gift from one of our elders. It has been quite a treat to read.

In this popular work, Grant's purpose is for the Christian community to import true, Biblical balance into the life of the church. Some Christians are most concerned with social issues; others are most concerned with spiritual issues. Grant's thesis is that both of these positions are unbiblical because they lack the balance of the Micah mandate. The true Christian will seek to "do justice [and] love mercy [and] walk humbly with your God."

Grant develops each part of the Micah mandate (justice, mercy, and humility before God), imparting his vision for how the church might usher in the next reformation. Along the way, he provides wonderful, short biographies of "heroes of the city of God" who display the vaunted characteristics.

P.s. - if you enjoy reading George Grant, I also recommend his website: www.kingsmeadow.com.

"The Micah Mandate: Balancing the Christian Life" by Dr. George Grant is a clear, strong message of individual faith and God's design for the church. It brought great comfort to me from a growing confusion on what faith really looks like and where the church should stand in these postmodern times in which we live.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a simple message. So is God's plan for the individual believer and the church so succinctly stated in Micah 6:8. "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

The pages are richly filled with Scriptures and historical accounts of faith in action by the well known and the not-so-well known...by the ordinary and the not-so-ordinary. Dr. Grant leads the reader through an understanding of our tendency to either compromise with this world or to simply flee as compared to the actions of those godly saints, having gone before us, leading the way and revealing the face of Christianity more aptly than any deep, theological discourse could ever do.

I found this book an invaluable tool and measuring rod in evaluating how to be "in the world", but not "of the world".