AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: To Live Is Christ, To Die Is Gain by Matt Chandler

Matt Chandler is a man who lives, breathes, preaches, and writes about the wondrous gospel of Christ.  I want to be more like him.  Because of his battle with brain cancer, he understands mortality and suffering more than most who live in America.  I can’t think of a better person to take on an exposition of the book of Philippians for the masses than him.  And that is exactly what he sets out to provide with his excellent book, To Live Is Christ, To Die Is Gain.

Chandler introduces the book as a commentary of sorts on Philippians, but one that focuses on the picture of true Christian maturity that Philippians provides.  He admits that Philippians contains many famous “coffee mug verses,” and one of his stated goals is to restore the grittiness of Philippians.  One of the ways he does this is by rooting the book in its historical context, and demonstrating how the Apostle Paul, the writer of Philippians, lived out the principles put forth in his famous letter.

As I was reading, I had the sense of Chandler preaching the words to me.  Almost like the book is one long, extended sermon.  I mean that in a good way, because it’s a very good sermon!  I had the same experience reading another of his books, The Explicit Gospel (my review here).  The words are full of passion and insight, and he doesn’t hold back from taking on difficult concepts.  However, the book remains accessible and intensely personal.  I found myself squirming more than a little as Chandler unpacked some of Paul’s more extreme statements (“Do not be anxious about ANYTHING,” “Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS,” “…if ANYTHING is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things,” etc.)  Paul intents his readers to actually live this stuff out, Chandler reminds us, and it’s only possible through the gospel of Christ.

What amazing picture of Christian maturity Philippians presents us!  And what a masterful job Matt Chandler does drawing our attention to it!  Like Philippians itself, To Live is Christ… is more descriptive than prescriptive; meaning Chandler lets the Bible speak for itself and leaves the reader to apply the principles to his or her life.  This isn’t a book about process; this is a book about the ideal we all strive for.  And isn’t that what we lose sight of most often?  Maybe we don’t need more “discipleship” programs.  Maybe we need to be completely captivated by Jesus as both our Savior and our perfect Example of humility, trust, joy, and peace.  Paul was, Chandler is, and we should be.

To top it all off, David Cochran Heath does an excellent job narrating the audiobook version.  I highly recommend this book.

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.