Mason King serves as a pastor at The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas. He also is the executive director of The Village Church Institute, Groups and Leadership Development. His most recent book is A Short Guide to Spiritual Disciplines: How to Become a Healthy Christian (B&H Books)
Every relationship in life requires effort, yet somehow, when it comes to our relationship with God, we expect character transformation to be effortless. We look for techniques and checklists to make sure we’re doing it right, but often lists of what to engage in or withdraw from leave us focused on performance instead of progress.
Life with God involves all of life, for all of life. Where the Holy Spirit helps us become truly human, we do well to seek a holistic view of Christian formation. In this process of becoming, we offer our attention, emotions and limits to God. Within these three dimensions of life, spiritual disciplines allow us to be consistently present to God with all of who we are. These intentional, repeated disciplines are done in service of a future version of ourselves because who we are today is the product of all of our yesterdays.
No matter where you find yourself, or those you lead, God invites you to consider the long horizon of maturity in your life and to pursue it with patient endurance. As I’ve sought to offer my attention, emotions and limits to God, the following works have been helpful conversation partners.
Who God Says You Are: A Christian Understanding of Identity by Klyne Snodgrass (Eerdmans) walks through nine factors that shape our identity, skillfully applying Scripture and the gospel within each chapter. I’ve reread this book half a dozen times, and often include it in classes I teach. Central to Snodgrass’ thought is that we are in an ongoing process of change until the day we die, and so we have continual opportunities to take responsibility for our choices and move toward Christ.
The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves by Curt Thompson (IVP) changed my life because it gave words to what I’ve believed about God and, in turn, myself in relationship with God, for many years. Thompson highlights the neurobiological and scriptural backgrounds of shame, along with its driving and destructive force in our lives. He then presents the embodied remedy to bring healing and rewiring to our brains, relationships and daily lives: the grace of Christ within the Christian community.
Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds by Jen Wilkin (Crossway) is a work that can be appreciated by everyone. Loving God begins with seeing him rightly, which means we need to learn what he says about himself in his Word. This book is as much about enjoying God’s beauty as it is about helping us experience him for ourselves instead of solely relying on someone else to tell us about him.
You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News by Kelly Kapic (Brazos Press) is a timely release of the pressure valve within ourselves. He takes hurried, harmed souls and applies God’s wisdom to our hyperfunctional hearts. He shows that our limits are not an obstacle to overcome, but a guardrail to appreciate. This book helps reframe our thinking.
Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence and Place in the Digital Age by Felicia Wu Song (IVP Academic) is a standout work on the shaping force of technology in our lives. Song helps us consider that we, who are made in the image of God, are to abide in Christ, yet our thoughts, emotions and desires are being intentionally pulled, conditioned and rewarded to abide in digital spaces. Filled with helpful exercises, Song’s book is a must-read.
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis (HarperOne) might feel like an odd choice for this list; however, among all of Lewis’ works, this book has influenced and shaped my thinking the most about who I am becoming in daily life. I find a piece of myself in almost every chapter, and for decades it has helped me recognize the deceitfulness of sin and the beauty of grace.
