Reviewing "In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day"

This is the third book Multnomah has sent me to review and I think I see a pattern. The authors seem fairly interchangeable. They are all approaching middle age, yet already touted as Christian leaders on a national level. They are good at thinking outside the box. They all like to call Christians Christ followers instead of Christians. They all like to talk about how bad the church has become and complain about Christians turning people off to Christ. Then they fill their books with stories of Christians who are doing wonderful things to serve God and bless others and reach people for Jesus. Go figure.

Back to the book at hand. I'm having trouble deciding whether I like this one or not. Author Mark Batterson is pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. The book title derives from II Samuel 23:20-21 where we learn about a warrior named Benaiah. One of Benaiah's heroic deeds was chasing a lion into a pit, on a snowy day, and killing it. Later Benaiah was promoted to the highest position in King David's guard. Still later Solomon made him commander of the entire Israelite army. Like I said, Benaiah was a warrior and clearly he was good at it.

Batterson's thesis is that if we all developed the kind of mind set and intensity that it takes to jump in a pit and kill a lion then we would be much better at doing the things God has called us to do and therefore at building the Kingdom. He spends most of the book developing this idea around a few character traits, or skill sets, he feels we should all develop. These include: try to grasp God's greatness; face your fears; reframe your problems to get God's perspective; take risks; accept that you are going to look foolish sometimes.

While I think Batterson has gone a little too far in developing this whole model based on the brief little story of Benaiah, I have to admit it is actually pretty good advice. Plus, he does back most of his ideas up with other scriptures. Even though we do not all have the personality or the skill set of a savage warrior, most of us probably do need to go to battle, so to speak, for the Kingdom in ways and degrees that we have not been. And, yes, that will involve adopting Batterson's skill sets.

The writing was okay. He had a few inspiring paragraphs. Batterson uses a lot of illustrations and analogies from the world of science. In my opinion, he over uses them, and I enjoy science illustrations. Also, as mentioned earlier, he uses real life stories of Christians who are taking risks to better live for Christ. Most of these are interesting.

Overall, I'm somewhat ambivalent about this book. Read it if you need a good pep talk regarding your Christian life. Read it if you need some good illustrations and stories for your preaching or teaching ministry.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”