Louder than Words (by Andy Stanley)

(Amazon UK link)

I had not heard of Andy Stanley, although I gather he’s quite a prolific Christian writer in the United States. He is also a pastor. I might never have discovered his writing had it not been for the book ’Louder than Words’ which I spotted on a church book stall a couple of months ago. The cover appealed to me, the blurb on the back sounded interesting, so I bought it. I’ve been reading it over the past couple of weeks, and have found it quite challenging.

The subtitle of ‘Louder than Words’ is ‘The power of uncompromised living’, which sounds a bit heavy. But it’s not a difficult read at all. The focus of the book is on developing what the author calls ‘character’.

 I suspect there’s a slightly different linguistic implication in the US, since what Andy Stanley calls 'character' I would call ‘integrity’. Or possibly ‘good character’. When I think of ‘a person with character’ I tend to think of someone dynamic, often a child who has some unusual quirks, or an adult who doesn’t behave in expected ways. But that's obviously not what's meant.

Once I had realised what the author meant by ‘character’ - and it didn’t take long - I found it extremely thought-provoking. Much of what the author says is standard Christian teaching: living day by day according to God’s guidance, taking the Bible seriously, choosing to behave according to right principles rather than following our feelings.

For the first few chapters, I kept wondering when he was going to get to the point. The writing is good, and I found it interesting, but I began to feel that it wasn’t really going anywhere: he was saying ‘you need to be a person of character’, and explaining what that means in practical terms. He quotes Scripture and other writers, he gives examples from his own experience. But I kept hoping for a list, or maybe a five-point plan…

That’s not how the book works, however. Instead, I gradually began to see the importance of depth of character, of starting from within, There are some specific pointers, mostly about wrong attitudes, and how to replace them with a renewed, transformed mind. The author makes the point that we have to start by thinking right thoughts, aligning our will with God’s, as we’ll never manage to develop character on our own. We might succeed in some aspects by sheer willpower but it will be exhausting, and not necessarily permanent.

So as I read a chapter, or part of a chapter each morning, I found a great deal to think about. It’s probably not a book to read through in one sitting, as there is a fair bit of repetition - or, perhaps, reiteration - but that worked well when just reading for twenty minutes or so each morning over the course of a couple of weeks.

All in all, I liked this book very much, and would recommend it to any believer who would like to see ways of developing a good character. There are no quick fixes; this is something that lasts a lifetime as there is always more to learn.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews