"Dangerous Wonder"

written by Michael Yaconelli

Reviewed by Murray Brown

While not strictly a youth ministry book, I include a review here, not only because it is written by the late "father of youth ministry", but because it is loaded full of gems that are worth passing on to young people. Yaconelli has the ability to see and put into words those things which we all instinctively know to be true - things that the pressures of life and expectations of others bury deep within our subconscious. On each page of this book he takes his shovel and unearths these truth, causing one to feel both disturbed and excited.

For example, read the following quotes from each of the nine chapters:

Chapter 1: Dangerous Wonder: If Christianity is simply about being nice I'm not interested... I'm ready for a Christianity that "ruins" my life, that captures my heart and makes me uncomfortable. I want to be filled with an astonishment which is so captivating that I am considered wild and unpredictable and.. well... dangerous. Yes, I want to be "dangerous" to a dull and boring religion.

Chapter 2: Risky Curiosity: Curiosity is the shape of our hunger for God. We question God without apology, we march into the presence of God bringing our armful of questions - without fear - because God is not afraid of them. People are afraid. Institutions are afraid. But God is not.

Chapter 3: Wild Abandon: Jesus was continually saying to those around Him, "Don't be afraid." He understood that in this world no one is safe. We all take risks every day - the issue is, what risks are we willing to take. Following Jesus is risky... When we follow the rule-violating, religion threatening, category-breaking Jesus our lives are always in jeopardy.

Chapter 4: Daring Playfulness: Instead of Christians wearing sackcloth and ashes at the condition of our world, maybe we should strike up a game of capture the flag in our neighborhood. Our neighbours may need Jesus, but first they need a rousing evening of charades. What if our strategy to win the world was to "play" people into the Kingdom of God?

Chapter 5: Wide-Eyed Listening: If we truly want to hear God, if we truly want to hear Him speak then we need to take time to savor Him. To immerse ourselves in our Father and bask in the intoxicating presence of God's speaking voice - this is prayer. Prayer is savoring God. Savoring is immersing ourselves in His presence, hearing Him with all our sense.

Chapter 6: Irresponsible Passion: Go ahead, live irresponsibly! Forget about what is sensible, responsible and prudent and rediscover the childlike passion of falling in love with God. Take the ride of your life on the rollercoaster of His unconditional love.

Chapter 7: Happy Terror: How did we end up so comfortable with God? How did our awe of God get reduced to a lukewarm appreciation of God? How did God become a pal instead of a heart-stopping presence? How can we think of Jesus without remembering His ground-shaking, thunder-crashing, stormy exit on the cross? Why aren’t we continually catching our breath and saying, “This is no ordinary God!”?

Chapter 8: Naive Grace: Christianity is not about learning how to live within the lines; Christianity is about the joy of coloring. The grace of God is preposterous enough to accept as beautiful a coloring that anyone else would reject as ugly. The grace of God sees beyond the scribbling to the heart of the scribbler.

Chapter 9: Childlike Faith: Praying was easy when we were children. No embarrassment, no formulas, no cliches and religiously correct God words; we just prayed whatever words came to our minds. Children tell God what they are genuinely thinking. They are honest, simple, and direct. Somehow when we become adults we forget how important praying is.

The book is very readable and is full of inspiring personal stories and funny illustrations. Its a great book to read slowly - a chapter a day with time allowed to reflect on what's been read. Perhaps Yaconelli is guilty of overstatement in places but sometimes we need overstatement to jolt us out of dubious assumptions and dull lethargy.

Yes, its an excellent book to share with young people in order to set a proper foundation for faith, but it is even more valuable for us as youth leaders to read. Its easy in ministry to begin to take ourselves too seriously and to lapse into legalism in discipling young people. This book will bring a freshness back to your faith and remind you of the joy and simplicity of the Christian life as God intended it to be.

A final quote that in many ways sums up the whole book:

It is time to find the place where the dangerous wonder of faith can be discovered—a place landscaped by risky curiosity, wild abandon, daring playfulness, quiet listening, irresponsible passion, happy terror, and naive grace. In a day when most of us are tired, worn-out, thirsty, and starving for life and joy and peace, maybe it is time to become a child again. Maybe it is time to quit college and take a year off to go to the mission field, or give up a secure job and go back to school, or leave the corporation because the work is killing our souls, or give up the possessions that are possessing us. Maybe it is time to live this dangerous wonder of faith, take our shoes off, roll up our sleeves, and have such a romp as no one has ever seen. Maybe it's time to play in the snow once again.