Life Worth Dying For : The Radical Meaning of Christian Excellence

This is a book for those disciples of Jesus Christ who by hardwiring are scandalized by mediocrity and always feel this inner imperative to transcend the ordinary. In their souls is a holy rumbling of a divine discontent. Yet in that temperament is a high risk of a bunny trail that can throw the believer seriously off the scent of true Christian excellence. Far from running out in the race of life and proving that we little Davids can run with the world’s Goliaths, the radical meaning of Christian excellence, it is argued, is altogether different. In this informal philosophy of Christian excellence the true target of achievement turns out to be not so much excelling at all the things we do (in the conventional sense) but drawing a bead on what we are called to be in Christ. So, for us Christians, pursuing excellence is not really about piling up accolades for our various skills and talents, harvesting trophies and pinning up ribbons and earning plaques to celebrate our achievements. Rather, it is (by the grace of God) exerting ourselves to live in radical conformity to Christ. Its pursuit comes down to an all-out assault on the peak of our potential in Christ . . .an all-out effort (by grace) to be all we are called to be, to do all that we are called to do and to go wherever God has called us to go. The beauty of it is that this noblest target lies totally within reach of the earnest, but under-endowed believer. Unlike the secular vision, the Christian vision of excellence is not elitist, but blessedly egalitarian. In the only way that really matters, the most ordinary Christian can take the prize. No one is excluded by the accidents of birth or circumstances, only by lack of vision and holy effort. . That, the author contends, is the only life worth dying for. He not only defines the target in clear terms, but points the way in practical terms to the ascent.