What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done, Matt Perman

Review by Andrew J.W. Smith

How many times have you heard this cliché, or some variation: “Nobody on their deathbed will wish to have spent more time at the office”? Often intended to discourage “workaholic” attitudes, the implicit lesson is that work itself is a distraction from more meaningful life experiences. 

But what of the creation mandate: the command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28)? What of other biblical passages that call believers to be faithful in what we have been given (Matt 25:14-30) and live as to “make the best use of the time” (Eph 5:16)? Is it possible, by taking their work seriously and harnessing their time, for believers to honor God through hard work and a productive lifestyle? 

Leadership consultant Matt Perman believes God cares about our work, and he lays out his model of “gospel-driven productivity” in his book What’s Best Next. If God created humankind to labor in Eden, then work in the modern world has God-given purpose.

Perman dedicates much of the book to practical suggestions for developing productive patterns such as arranging a regular routine, reducing time-wasting activities, planning ahead, and managing workflow. 

The cash value of the book, however, is Perman’s identification of what makes God-honoring work so important. Christian work emerges out of the objective reality of justification by faith, Perman writes, and can represent the “good works” that display God’s glory (Matt 5:16). A Godward mission and an eternal vision will result in productive, meaningful labor that impacts the world. 

“The result of [productivity] is not only our increased peace of mind and ability to get things done, but also the transformation of the world by the gospel because it is in our everyday vocations that we take our faith into the world and the light of the gospel shines,” he writes.  

Counter Culture, David Platt

Review by RuthAnne Irvin 

The call to biblical engagement in culture is now a radical and sometimes dangerous endeavor, writes IMB President David Platt in his new book Counter Culture. Platt calls Christians to think critically about the needs and issues in the world, including poverty, sex trafficking, same-sex marriage, racism, pornography, and orphans. 

He begins the book pleading Christians to pray God will “give us grace to see what he sees.” Platt provides both personal and recounted stories of people around the world suffering in slavery, struggling with abortion, or trapped in pornography.

Platt’s book is a call to obey God’s commands to care for the least of these, as he pleads with readers to “seek how individually as Christians and collectively in our churches the Spirit of Christ is leading us to compassionate action in our culture.”

Can These Bones Live: A Practical Guide to Church Revitalization, Bill Henard Review by Andrew J.W. Smith

In Can These Bones Live, Bill Henard writes that church revitalization is critical to fulfilling the Great Commission.

“The church has a future and a hope,” he writes. “In order for anyone to initiate revitalization effectively into the local church, that person must believe Christ’s promises about his church.”

Henard, assistant professor of evangelism and church growth at Southern Seminary, offers a four-step program he calls the “Change Matrix.” Pastors should set biblical priorities like preaching and community life; offer parameters, such as holiness, which guard against unbiblical pragmatism; assign players like deacons and Sunday School teachers to serve faithfully; and embrace the process of reorienting their church’s focus toward a biblical and richly communal perspective. 

Bonhoeffer’s Seminary Vision: A Case for Costly Discipleship and Life Together, Paul R. House

Review by S. Craig Sanders 

Recent biographies of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the enduring popularity of his works have helped cement his influence in contemporary evangelicalism. Most know him as a pastor, martyr, and spy, but few consider the importance of his role as seminary director and professor.

In Bonhoeffer’s Seminary Vision, SBTS alumnus Paul R. House explores Bonhoeffer’s understanding of theological education and addresses its application for seminaries today. Corresponding to the book’s subtitle, House focuses primarily on Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together but also considers his lectures and letters.

“The seminary that perseveres in incarnational ministry offers a visible testimony of the importance of ministerial preparation,” House writes. “Most importantly it lives out the theology of the personal gospel shared by disciples with others who will pass on the faith.”