Good and Beautiful and Kind

May 9, 2022
In this cogent manual, pastor Villodas (The Deeply Formed Life) delivers a road map to spiritual formation. “Jesus offers a way of being human that is powerful enough to tear down the walls of hostility we have grown accustomed to,” the author contends, using scripture to detail how readers can practice kindness in a polarized society. Villodas argues that “the greatest sin” is “failure to love” God and others, and he describes Cain’s murder of Abel as a cautionary tale of envy’s power to stifle love. To develop a thoughtful faith, the author urges readers to be humble and more reflective during prayer, and to this end he recommends setting a timer to ensure that one takes the time to pray deeply. Telling of how Paul confronted Peter over the latter’s hypocrisy, Villodas posits that embodying Christian principles today means engaging in “healthy conflict” and talking out disagreements, and he suggests readers do so by listening carefully and speaking respectfully. The author’s insights are profound and accessible, and he is refreshingly candid about the limits of his advice: “I wish I could tell you that all our conflicts will come to a peaceful end. But you and I both know that’s not true,” he admits. Lucid guidance and compassionate prose make for a winning volume.

June 1, 2022

Villodas, pastor of a large, diverse, and urban Christian parish, offers his sincere consideration of what readers can become if they allow God to work in and through them. After presenting the image of sin as something that curves people in on themselves, he offers an approach that sees sin not as a failure to obey God's law, but as a failure to love. He discusses how people can "uncurve" themselves by seeking the good, the beautiful, and the kind in an outward-oriented faith that does justice. Using examples from his own life, especially his own failings in regard to his wife and children, as well as his congregation, he demonstrates the need for forgiveness and understanding, and calls for compassion towards ourselves and empathy towards others. The book's last section examines the need for healthy conflict, for forgiveness, and the work of justice that comes out of sacrificial Christian love. VERDICT Villodas's work, which presents the Christian God as one who seeks to forgive, not punish, and calls on disciples to do the same, will appeal to readers who appreciate a down-to-earth Christianity that is not solely focused on itself.--Augustine J. Curley

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