Here are some notes on two books I have read recently:
Hidden Worldviews:
Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives
Steve Wilkens & Mark Sandford
InterVarsity Press, 2009
My Rating: ****
Worldview resources are usually designed to equip believers to shoot down rival philosophies in defense of Christian truth claims. Hidden Worldviews takes a different approach, reserving its ammunition for Christians. By explaining and exposing “isms” like consumerism, relativism, nationalism, and postmodern tribalism, Wilkens and Sanford deftly demonstrate how we too often live according to “cultural stories” that compete with the gospel.
But Hidden Worldviews is not a screed against everything associated with these rival beliefs. Instead, the authors claim, each system of thought has aspects we should learn about, learn from, and learn to avoid. (This review was first published in Christianity Today, May 2010).
The Radical Disciple:
Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling
John Stott
InterVarsity Press, 2010
My Rating: *** 1/2
This is John Stott’s last book. 
Stott believes that we need to recover the sense of Christian discipleship, and he focuses on eight areas that he sees evangelicals neglecting:
- Nonconformity
- Christlikeness
- Maturity
- Creation Care
- Simplicity
- Balance
- Dependence
- Death
The chapters on non-conformity and balance were my favorites. There are a few chapters that include materials from others. (For example, the chapter on simplicity has a lengthy document called the “Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyle”.) The chapter on Creation Care rightly turns our attention to concern for creation, but I’m not convinced that agreement with Stott’s theological position necessarily commits us to the political solutions suggested in the chapter. Still, this book is well worth reading and contains a treasure of good quotes from the pen of John Stott.