What Barnabas may not realize is the transferable takeaways any Christian can glean from this book. How many of us have struggled with what he refers to as a false intimacy of feeling close to God because he knew all the answers and could out-argue most Sunday School teachers? Where Barnabas has had unique experiences, such as publicly navigating through a process that ended with his brother being excommunicated from the church, perhaps we can offer more than empathy. What if a larger impact would be church attendees who become advocates not just for ministry families but against the false sliding scale we presume about Christian parenting?
Then again, where this book makes its clearest mark is in the sensitive wisdom Piper gives to PKs and the candid dare he presses into pastors. When a parent is given a microphone and a platform, it can be that much more difficult to make sure a child is living according to the voice of God versus recycling the voice talking about God. There likewise will be ugliness to navigate through, and there’s no shortage of stories about how harsh this can feel. To this, the author challenges, “there simply isn’t a perfect church out there…this is not a reason to give up on church…because, despite its ugliness and brokenness, the church is the place where healing happens.”
