Book Review: Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong

Each summer, parents of upper elementary-age children and teens face the daunting challenge of what to do with their bored offspring without schoolwork to keep them busy! My parents were no different. One of the suggestions I received from my parents growing up that I most appreciate to this day was to read the Book of Proverbs three times throughout the summer.

Starting on June 1, they encouraged me to read one chapter a day, and since Proverbs has 31 chapters, I repeated that in July and August. It’s a perfect trifecta of summer Bible reading! (Yes, this is a book review article, but take this as an extra recommendation included for free!) Wisdom is the great theme of Proverbs–and indeed one of the great themes of all of Scripture.

The Need

We are instructed to value wisdom highly, to get wisdom,pursue it with all our might, and to not forsake or forget it, no matter what (Proverbs 4:5-9). As you read Proverbs, you can’t miss the emphasis on wisdom. We’re also told that true wisdom is ultimately a gift from God (Proverbs 2:6).

Wisdom is different from simply gathering knowledge. I’ve heard it aptly defined as “skill in godly living.” It’s the skill of taking the truths of God’s word and plugging them into daily life. It’s the ability to apply God’s timeless truths to what you’re facing today. The Bible isn’t a collection of accounts and truisms from long ago; its teaching is timelessly true to life right now–for you and your kids!

Unfortunately, wisdom is a frighteningly underdeveloped skill in our churches and homes today. The world around us provides no shortage of opportunities to apply wisdom.

As our culture continues to slide deeper into secularism and relativism (everyone gets to decide what is right for them), our families must have a basis for truth and the ability to wisely apply it.

How does God want us to think about things like entertainment, politics, or morality in this postmodern society? Our children are often unprepared to apply God’s truth to what they see around them because we as parents are similarly unprepared.

For years, I’ve recommended a particular resource to both parents and older teens that I’d like to recommend to you here. Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong is a collection of mini-essays written by the leadership of Grace Community Church, the church pastored by renowned preacher and writer Dr. John MacArthur. Its subtitle, “a biblical response to today’s most controversial issues”, is a great descriptor of what this book does so well.

This has been a g–to resource for me in several ways: first for my own benefit as I grow as a father. Also, it has benefited my children as they grow in their understanding of the cultural goings-on around them. And then it has also been a helpful resource for the young people in my church as we wrestle through these issues together.

The Highlights

After a brief introduction by Dr. MacArthur arguing for the Bible’s relevance for everyday challenges and ethics, the rest of the book presents twenty different chapters, each one addressing how biblical truth speaks to a specific modern topic or challenge. Each chapter is written by a member of Grace’s pastoral team who has extensive experience or expertise on dealing with that challenge in the context of the church.

The chapters are grouped into four categories, with each category featuring five chapters. The categories are Entertainment and Leisure, Morality and Ethics, Politics and Activism, and Tragedy and Suffering.

The various writers tackle topics such as internet dating, virtual reality, media choices, abortion, homosexuality, climate change, racism, immigration, and the reality of suffering in the world. Although it was first published over 15 years ago, I find that the wisdom provided in this book has lost none of its poignancy, even in an ever-changing landscape of our culture.

The chapters are bite-sized–only 10-15 pages on average–and simple in its presentation. However, I’ve found that each topic is covered thoroughly. You walk away from each essay sensing that you have a firm grasp on the issue itself, how the truth of Scripture speaks to it, and what we should do with that truth. Every topic is addressed both biblically and logically, answering potential questions or objections with reasoned truth.

One of the hidden benefits of reading this book is that it builds great confidence for every believer. Every time I finish reading a chapter, I have a powerful, joyous sense of confidence that the Word of God is true to life and sufficient to provide all I and my family need to live life in this world in a way that honors God and looks like Jesus.

The entire book is dedicated to the church body at Grace, so this resource actually began as an exercise of loving pastoral concern, instruction and care. As a result, the feel of the content is personal and immensely practical.

When it comes to our families, the role we dads have is very similar to that of a pastor. We gently shepherd our children, lovingly providing truth on their level that speaks to what they are facing. We are, in short, called to teach our children wisdom! That’s what Solomon was doing in Proverbs (Prov. 1:8), and it’s what we’re called to do. Our world is desperately in need of wisdom–and so are our families.

Conclusion

Proverbs teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Taking God and his truth seriously is the foundation for being wise. In order for our children to wisely walk in an ever-changing and increasingly ungodly world, they need to know and be confident in the fact that their God has answers to what they see around them.

He also expects them to respond to those issues as he instructs. I think you’ll find this book to be a great help in that!

Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong is worth you reading as a dad, first and foremost. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to use it as a reference with your family as questions arise in the minds of your growing children about what they see around them.

Finally, I think you’ll find it enjoyable and worthwhile to encourage your teens to read it for themselves, perhaps with you reading and discussing alongside them. It’s packed with wisdom–that skill in godly living that we all are called to pursue and in which we should always be increasing!