Book Review : Tactics

Two months ago, the very thought of bringing up spiritual topics with those of "opposing views" would have terrified me. Even after reading several books on evangelism and going through the Way of the Master program through my church, I had very little confidence in my methods for bringing up spiritual concerns, let alone in how to make the best use of the opportunities that came up on their own.

I have finally read a book that has completely changed my mindset. After reading Tim Challies' review, I knew had I had to give the book a try, and I was not disappointed. The book is called Tactics, and is written by Gregory Koukl, who, according to the back of the book, "holds MA degrees in both apologetics and philosophy", and has "spoken on many college campuses and hosted his own radio talk show for 18 years defending 'Christianity Worth Thinking About'". So now let's talk about the book...

The first two chapters of Tactics lay some foundation on why Christians should "argue", addressing many of his readers' reservations along the way. Koukl describes how one needs three basic skills in order to effectively represent Christ, or in other words, to be his ambassadors in the twenty-first-century: knowledge, wisdom, and character. He says:

These three skills-- knowledge, an accurately informed mind; wisdom, an artful method; and character, an attractive manner-- play a part in every effective involvement with a non-believer. The second skill, tactical wisdom, is the main focus of this book.

Koukl later defines what he means by "Tactics", saying that they involve focusing on the situation at hand, designing your "particular responses to particular people so you can begin to have an impact in specific situations". He says tactics can help because they offer techniques of maneuvering through difficult situations.

The first and most valuable in terms of flexibility and adaptability of all of the tactics is what he calls "Columbo". In fact, half of the book is dedicated to this tactic. Here's how Koukl describes it:

The key to the Columbo tactic is to go on the offensive in an inoffensive way by using carefully selected questions to productively advance the conversation. Simply put, never make a statement, at least at first, when a question will do the job.

For me, the Columbo tactic was by far one of the most helpful concepts that I gleaned from the book. The three basic steps to the tactic, each step having a chapter devoted to it, are:

1. Gather the facts ("What did you mean by that?")
2. Reverse the burden of proof ("How did you come to that conclusion?")
3. Lead the way

Koukl points out many of the advantages to asking questions (instead of responding with statements. For instance:

• Questions are friendly and flattering
• You'll get an education
• Questions allow you to make progress on a point without being pushy
• Carefully placed questions put you in the driver's seat

He goes into great detail using hypothetical (but common) situations to illustrate the tactics behind the Columbo method. This is the "Game Plan" section of the book.

The second half in the book goes into the nitty-gritty tactics for finding flaws in peoples' arguments. Some of these "deconstructions" were really helpful for me, such as the section on the "prohibition of proselytizing", or sharing the Christian faith in an attempt to influence someone to become a Christian. When someone objects, saying "You should stop trying to change other people's religions views," their statement has a fundamental flaw, because by making that statement, they are trying to change the Christian's religious views, which command sharing the gospel to all people.

However, I could see many people objecting to how "simply" Koukl points out flaws to some of the more complicated theological issues. For instance, his section on Theistic Evolution is so simple that there's no way it would persuade a theistic evolutionist (see some of the discussion on Challies' blog).

Overall, I found Tactics to be an excellent book on discussing spiritually issues with in a non-offensive manner. The message is offensive enough, without the messenger getting in the way. I certainly will be coming back to this book again and again in years to come.

Trevin Wax's Top 10 Books

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Book Review: Peace Like a River

As I navigated the final pages of Leif Enger's first novel Peace Like a River, my heart was thumping and tears were welling up. This book affected me deeply. In fact, after finally completing the work a week ago I would venture to say it was one of the most powerful illustrations of the Christian life that I have ever encountered. And in many ways, I would argue, it portrays a vivid and gripping "Biblical" understanding of what true godliness looks like. Here's a few thoughts on the Leif Enger's work:

Peace Like a River is told through the eyes of eleven-year-old Reuben Land, who speaks with the sort of voice you'd find in a Mark Twain novel, fresh and unique. To illustrate, here are the opening words of the book:

From my first breath in this world, all I wanted was a good set of lungs and the air to fill them with-- given circumstances, you might presume, for an American baby of the twentieth century. Think about your own first gasp: a shocking wind roweling so easily down your throat, and you still slipping around in the doctor's hands. How you you yowled! Not a thing on your mind but breakfast, and that was on the way.

When I was born to Helen and Jeremiah Land, in 1951, my lungs refused to kick in

My father wasn't in the delivery room or even in the building; the halls of Wilson Hospital were close and short, and Dad had gone out to pace in the damp September wind. He was praying, rounding the block for the fifth time, when the air quickened. He opened his eyes and discovered he was running-- sprinting across the grass toward the door.

"How'd you know?" I adored this story, made him tell it all the time.

"God told me you were in trouble."

"Out loud? Did you hear Him?"

"Nope, not out loud. But He made me run, Reuben. I guess I figured it out on the way."

As you read on, Peace Like a River unfolds in riveting fashion-- I'll leave the surprise to you. But what really captured my imagination was interplay between the life of a man completely devoted to God-- Jeremiah Land, Reuben's father-- and the world about him, which was filled with every kind of evil. The reality that this world is not our home and is in fact hostile to God is painted with a flavor of real truth. This worldview is nowhere as clearly defined as it is at the end of the first chapter in the words of Jeremiah Land:

We and the world, my children, will always be at war.

Retreat is impossible.

Arm yourselves.

So many other "Biblical" truths are played out in Enger's story, as well: the consequences and destruction that follow disobedience to authority, the moral dilemmas of speaking truthfully verses lying, the interaction between God's sovereignty and human choice, the goodness and love of God... And then there's the subject of "miracles", which is to the narrator of primary importance. As Reuben pondered the amazing miracles God performed through his father, beginning with the first miracle of raising Reuben from the dead as a baby, he said the following:

I believe I was preserved, through those twelve airless minutes, in order to be a witness, and as a witness, let me say that a miracle is no cute thing but more like the swing of a sword. (Itallics mine)

Overall, Leif Enger's first major novel appears to be one that may stand the test of time as one of the best under the category of Christian fiction. Read this book. I think you'll like it.

Also worth checking out: What John Piper has to say about Peace Like a River .