John Piper’s preaching and teaching have fallen out of favor recently as many have rejected a message they see as narrow and unloving. I admit that Piper has become to me somewhat of a fuddy-duddy, offering a conservative, reformed commentary that stands in stark contrast to those “more engaged” in culture like Tim Challies and Timothy Keller. Those who feel as I do should read his newest book Living in the Light: Money, Sex, and Power, and get a refreshed perspective.
The book’s subtitle says it all: “Making the most of three dangerous opportunities.” This is a book about taking three gifts of God that are often abused, and using them for Kingdom good. Many who are dismissive of Piper will assume there would be a primary focus on the negative aspects of the abuse of money, sex and power, but that is not the case. He spends more time reflecting on the good that could be accomplished were Christians serious about redeeming these three gifts for the glory of God.
The path of redemption laid out by Piper is realizing the potential danger of these gifts, finding deliverance from destructive patterns by placing them under the Lordship of Christ, and deploying sex, money, and power to be used for God’s glory. A central illustration of the book is that of a solar system. The “planets” of sex, money, and power are only in their proper, most useful place when they are orbiting the “sun” (Jesus) and not having our lives orbit them.
This is a short book is valuable because it espouses the idea of total redemption—God doesn’t just redeem people, he is also redeeming creation and those good things which we have corrupted. Piper’s writing is accessible, but he still struggles with the tendency to be dry. All in all, a solid, focused piece of writing that I can imagine I will return to as a teaching reference.
Bob Souer does a good job on the narration of the audiobook version.
Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the Christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work. More information can be found about this and other Christian audiobooks at christianaudio.com.