Top 10 Books of 2020:
10) Whatever You Do: Six Foundations for an Integrated Life – Ed. Luke Bobo This past year I had the distinct blessing of being connected to an organization called Made to Flourish. This organization empowers pastors and church to integrate faith, work, and economic wisdom for the flourishing of their communities. Work is something all of us do, much of our time, yet we often hear very little about it from our religious communities. The book above is a short little compilation of six theological essays on the six core beliefs of Made to Flourish. You can read more about those six core foundations on their website. Overall, the book is inspiring, concise, and realistically hopeful. I recommend it to you and Made to Flourish as a great resource for you! If you are a pastor, you can sign up to be part of Made To Flourish and receive this book for FREE. (I am not getting paid to advertise either haha. Just love the ministry.)
9) Analog Church – Jay Kim This is an excellent book. Thank you Jay for writing something that is thoughtful, clear, compelling, and extremely accessible for anyone in the church. The basic thought of the book is that while digital can inform (and be incredibly useful) analog relationships is where transformation happens. Writing from the context of San Francisco and being a part of numerous successful and “cool” churches Kim is a great voice to remind the church of our basic calling. This book is a must-read for church leaders in 2020 as you navigate the new realities of COVID-19. It will not answer all the questions, but will remind us of the most important questions to be asking.
8) The Shallows – Nicholas Carr I love this book. The subtitle, “What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains”, tells you all you need to know. Accessible, fun, clear, and supported with lots of anecdotes and scientific studies, this book will seriously bother you. Somewhat along the vein of the recent docu-film “The Social Dilemma”, this book is a broader look at the internet as a whole, the history of intellectual technologies, and anticipates eerily the context of 2020 writing from 2010. Carr is a brilliant author and writer and whether you agree with him, it is an immensely enjoyable read. And scary.
7) Technopoly – Neil Postman I love Neil Postman. He is a clear writer and makes the history and philosophy accessible to anyone. This is the book I would recommend if you are just wading into what technology is, how we relate to it, and the questions that Christians could (should) be asking. Postman is a biting and insightful cultural critic. I don’t always agree with all of his conclusions, but his assessment of our current situation from over 20 years ago is still frighteningly accurate.
6) The Character of Contemporary Life – Albert Borgmann I have never been very interested in philosophy. I thought my growing up on a farm and being a very concrete (not abstract) person disqualified me from what I thought was ethereal theorizing. Borgmann though has opened the door for me into the philosophical world. (Do I understand most of it? No…) This book attempts to stake out the contours of contemporary society (in the 80’s) and the relationship to technology. Borgmann identifies what he calls the device paradigm. To put it too simply, the device paradigm is the operating paradigm visible in each instance of modern technology. The paradigm itself is that the technology device secures a feature or good and makes it absolutely available. So rather than building a fire, an electric furnace and thermostat provides mere warmth. The procuring of the good disburdens the person for “more time” and at the same time also makes more and more inaccessible the processes behind the securing of the commodity. In other words, no one understands how all of the process of the furnace, thermostat, etc. Even if you are an HVAC person, you don’t build the thermostat. Whereas, pretty much anybody could build a fire and understand the benefits and risks of doing so. All of that to say, the device paradigm treats the world like a commodity that can be secured and made available, the person is cut off from rich engagement with the world of things and people, reduced to dealing with manufactured objects and commodities. We increasingly give over engagement with the real world for the available entertainments or commodities that our technology can secure for us. We become more and more attached to disposable reality (think stereo or Spotify) rather than commanding reality (think playing a violin with friends) and somehow call it progress because what we want is available with no burden to us. I challenge you to wade through this book if you are interested at all. Or call me and I will give you the best recap I can.
5) The Unsettling of America – Wendell Berry Wendell Berry is my hero. He is an idealist, a scholar, a thinker, a writer, and a faithful husband, farmer, and friend. I love all the seeming contradictions bundled up in one person. This book is still unfortunately just as true and necessary when Berry wrote it in the 70’s. Writing from his firm local knowledge and wisdom he critiques and at times castigates the prevailing agricultural policy and practice of America. The cultural critique is true though beyond the agricultural realm and is extremely relevant to churches in my estimation, particularly the chapter, “The Body and the Earth.” If you like to farm, like to think, and want to be good stewards of the body, life, and earth God has entrusted to you – read this book. And if you don’t want any of that, PLEASE read this book.
4) Letters to a Diminished Church – Dorothy Sayers Sayers is a beautiful writer. She instantiates in this work the point of Gay above that basic Christian convictions are in short supply and could give us direction and wisdom of how to navigate our cultural moment. Sayers, writing much of this in the shadow of WWII, passionately displays how basic Christian doctrine would be revolutionary if practiced. The essay on work in this book changed my life. If you want a fun, but thoughtful read, do it!
3) Let Your Life Speak – Parker Palmer This book began the real, honest journey that the other books on this list supplemented and supported. I discovered a key part of myself that I had been ignoring for a long time through reading this book. This, along with “Desiring the Will of God” and the teaching of Ruth Haley Barton, totally reoriented my view of “the will of God.” Palmer says, “Reality – including one’s own – is divine, to be not defied, but honored.” He says this in the context of honoring your own nature. Recognizing who you are and what it will take to be whole, rather than simply striving for an external ought or should. If God really made each of us and we bear the divine image, then my life has character, texture, beauty, and goodness. This book gave me language and courage to pursue that life. A short, easy read in the spiritual formation vein.
2) Modern Technology and the Human Future – Craig M. Gay Gay presents a compelling look at the current state of technology and human relations. He presents an accessible, while academic look at the history, development, and ways forward. One of the best works and current day application of the Incarnation I have ever read. If you are unused to academic works, this will be a challenge, but well worth it. If you are curious how we are being formed as humans through our reliance on technology, especially in the midst of COVID-19, this books is for you. My favorite quotes are, “ Our modern technological civilization is thus characterized by the ‘quest for continually improved means to carelessly examined ends.’” (Gay quoting Merton in the foreword to Technological Society by Ellul). This quote for me is a harsh indictment of our current church reality in America. The second quote is the basic thrust of the book, “Our central contention is that the modern world’s suicidal desire is most active – and indeed most obvious – in modern technology’s drive to diminish ordinary embodied human being. What this means is that Christians must be prepared to defend, not simply human persons and the possibilities of genuinely humane and personal action, but the deeply personal quality of reality itself.”
1) Jayber Crow – Wendell Berry This book absolutely destroyed me in the best possible ways. Berry paints his vivid characters and scenes rich with his own thoughts and ideals specifically as it relates to place, responsibility, faithfulness, cultural memory, love, loss. This book reawakened my love for my own place and gave me the courage to pursue it. I cried multiple times in the reading – which is saying something. It is a long novel, but well worth the read.
| Books in 2020 – Chronological Order: |
| The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective – Richard Rohr |
| The Gift of Being Yourself – David Benner |
| (Then COVID started…) |
| The Body Keeps the Score – Bessel Van Der Kolk |
| Desiring the Will of God – David Benner |
| The Left Behind – Robert Wuthnow |
| A Big Gospel in Small Places – Stephen Witmer |
| The Dark Night of the Soul – Gerald May |
| Let Your Life Speak – Parker Palmer |
| Analog Church – Jay Kim |
| Jayber Crow – Wendell Berry |
| The Economics of Neighborly Love – Tom Nelson |
| Whatever You Do: Six Foundations for an Integrated Life – Ed. Luke Bobo |
| Letters to a Diminished Church – Dorothy Sayers |
| Power Failure – Albert Borgmann |
| The Shallows – Nicholas Carr |
| A Testament of Devotion – Thomas R. Kelly |
| The Unsettling of America – Wendell Berry |
| Nathan Coulter – Wendell Berry |
| The Enneagram of Belonging – Christopher Heuertz |
| Alone Together – Sherry Turkle |
| Technological Society – Jacques Ellul |
| Modern Technology and the Human Future – Craig M. Gay |
| Technopoly – Neil Postman |
| Culture Making – Andy Crouch |
| The Tech-Wise Family (still unfinished) – Andy Crouch |
| Hannah Coulter – Wendell Berry |
| Remembering – Wendell Berry |
| A World Lost – Wendell Berry |
| The Memory of Old Jack – Wendell Berry |
| Technopoly – Neil Postman |
| A Brave New World – Aldoux Huxley |
| The Abolition of Man – C.S. Lewis |
| The Character of Contemporary Life – Albert Borgmann |
| The Revolt of the Public – Martin Gurri |
| The End of Education – Neil Postman |
| After Virtue – Alasdair MacIntyre |
| Utopia is Creepy – Nicholas Carr |
| Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis |
| Folks, this Ain’t Normal – Joel Salatin |
| Rhythm of War – Brandon Sanderson |
To Be Human 