Gentle and Lowly

I have found Gentle and Lowly to be a profound book in my discipleship jounrey thus far. Few books have such a powerful voice and transcendent-like influence to shape Christians toward the heart and charcter of God as Dane Ortlund’s book has proven to be in my life, the lives of others in my community, and across the American church. 

Dane challenges the reader to reconsider the heart of God according to the Scriptures and the perspective of the Puritan writers of centuries past. In a world so thoroughly saturated by Christian values, the Gospel message, and the participation of the Church in social life, many have become disillusioned for, oftentimes, a complex mix of reasons. In an age of desconstruction, doctrinal tribalization, and disillusionment, Gentle and Lowly powerfully proclaims the Gospel afresh to a new generation with timeless truths of the heart of God from the Bible. 

For many, the love of God in the Gospel is known too well. What I mean by this is that we have often grown too familiar with the outrageous, scandalous, mind-blowing heart of the Triune God. The Bible is full of descriptions of God’s compassion, mercy, and grace that many church-goers, lifelong Christians, and people familiar with the faith have taken for granted. Gentle and Lowly seeks to revisit the love of God described in the Bible. Ortlund guides us on a Biblical tour of the heart of God that profoundly challenges the deep-seated shame, fear, insecurity, and rational disbelief hiding in the shadows of the hearts of many. 

While there are other attributes of God’s character that are connected to His love, Ortlund narrows the lens in on God’s heart while also briefly addressing these other ideas. Gentle and Lowly is not meant to be a systematic theology textbook. It is not meant to be a comprehensivley thorough study of all of God’s attributes and character. Ortlund’s book is purposed as an expose of God’s heart through the reading of Scripture and the commentary of the Puritans. This narrow focus for some may feel repetitive or intense in its approach. But this is the genius of Ortlund’s writing. He relentelessly challenges the inner doubts, shame, fears, and rational rejections of the love of God that so many believers secretly wrestle with. He again and again challenges the readers to behold the heart of God and accept what the Bible says about His love to be true. 

And the vision Ortlund casts for spiritual formation is not one of spineless, accepting love with no truth backing it. Rather, he paints a beautiful picture of how people – who have deeply soaked in the love of God by daily basking in the Gospel – conform more and more into the image of Christ. One of the most central and vital aspects of this Christian pursuit is becoming more and more loving people after the example and display of Jesus throughout the New Testament. Ortlund depicts the reality of God’s love as firm and unmoving, yet powerfully loving and near to broken, needy people.

This book is additionally wonderful in the ways that it may be utliized. While it seems to be written to people familiar with the Gospel or who grew up in the church, I have also found it to be a wonderful preliminarry resource for those seeking to learn more about God in a very loud and divisive Christian context in the West.  No matter if you are a Christian or an unbeliever, we are daily in need of the Gospel. And the center of the Gospel is the love of God. 

In conclusion, this is a book every Christian should read. I also recommend it as a resource to be read communally by those seeking to learn more about the Gospel and Christianity.  It is a study of God’s heart that everyone should undertake to be refreshed and recharged by the out-of-this-world claims of Father’s grace and love shown to us in the life, death, resurrection, and intercession of the Son, personally applied by the power and presence of the Spirit.