Jon Tyson, a native of Australia who pastors a church in New York City, has written a profound and inspiring book called Beautiful Resistance: The Joy of Conviction in a Culture of Compromise.
Tyson draws parallels between Christians’ plight in our culture today to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s plight in Nazi Germany.
Although Tyson says there is no figure corresponding to Hitler today, Christians face a multitude of temptations in our broken world.
Each chapter of the book covers a spiritual discipline (like honoring the sabbath) or biblical principle (choosing love instead of hate) that will equip Christians for the struggle.
In the epilogue, Tyson urges his readers to begin their own beautiful resistance:
“How would things change if you resolved to rebel against your own indifference and embody the things you long to see in the world? . . . God is looking for people to live this way, in spite of the hopelessness around them. Those he can use to inspire others, those who pursue his pleasure in a culture of compromise. Will you respond to that call?”
Will you?