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Tony Evans gets your attention with the words inside as quickly as the big bold title does on the outside of his new book, What a Way to Live! "Have you ever wondered how we can have all these churches on all these corners with all these preachers and all these choirs and all these deacons and all these ministries--and still have all this mess? There's a dead monkey on the line somewhere!"
The hard-hitting words don't stop all the way through Evans's 500-page book; they pinch but they are compelling. He doesn't try to ease into the problems we face in America and in the church, and you don't have any questions about what he means. He puts the decisions and the responsibility squarely in your lap and mine. "The kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan--we are subjects of one or the other."
Evans is writing to the church in this book, calling us back to God's "kingdom agenda," His rule, His plan, His program. We seem to have forgotten that we live under His rule just as the Israelites had done when Asa was King of Judah (2 Chron.15). Evans begins with the "spiritual and social chaos" of this Old Testament situation, quoting verses 3, 5, and 6, and he proves that he is more than an "ain't-it-awful" preacher. He makes Scripture specifically come to bear on our lives throughout the first part of the book, which is divided into the covenants, the government, and the authority of a kingdom agenda. In other words, he wants us to know our place in relationship to God and in relationship to the church.
In Part 2, Evans discusses the responsibilities that apply to all of us who claim allegiance to the church: our discipleship, our calling, our mind, our stewardship, and our inheritance. These titles don't indicate the interesting way that Evans makes his points. In the chapter on stewardship, for example, he tells how he loves to play Monopoly. "Let me tell you the hard part of playing Monopoly. It's when the game is over. Then I have to give up all my make-believe property and money, close the box, and go back to the real world." Then he reminds us that "the only property that will count at Christ's judgment seat is the time, talents, and treasure we invested in things of eternal value."
In the remaining three parts of What a Way to Live!, Evans addresses people as members of specific groups, always from the viewpoint of what the Kingdom Agenda means for that group. He writes to husbands, to wives, to parents, children, and singles. He writes to church leaders and church members, to men of the church and women of the church. In the final chapter on our community life as kingdom members, he addresses justice, economics, racism, politics, and education.
Evans knows he has written a large book, but he sees it as a unique contribution to the dozen or so he has penned. "This book uniquely expresses my comprehensive world view. It is a world view based on the Scripture, yet one I hope will relate to the everyday realities of life."
This top-ranked preacher and former chaplain to the Dallas Cowboys undoubtedly has a gift with the language that translates well to the written page. You may have heard his radio broadcast, "The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans," or you may have attended a Promise Keeper event where Evans was a featured speaker. If so, you will recognize his effective way of "telescoping" or starting with the great big picture and drawing it closer and closer to the target. Usually that's me and you! Dead monkeys, for sure.
James Simmons is a Bible student in Des Moines, IA.
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