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You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit
     

You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit

4.0 3
by James K. A. Smith
 

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You are what you love. But you might not love what you think.

In this book, award-winning author James K. A. Smith shows that who and what we worship fundamentally shape our hearts. And while we desire to shape culture, we are not often aware of how culture shapes us. We might not realize the ways our hearts are being taught to love rival gods instead of the One

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Overview

You are what you love. But you might not love what you think.

In this book, award-winning author James K. A. Smith shows that who and what we worship fundamentally shape our hearts. And while we desire to shape culture, we are not often aware of how culture shapes us. We might not realize the ways our hearts are being taught to love rival gods instead of the One for whom we were made. Smith helps readers recognize the formative power of culture and the transformative possibilities of Christian practices. He explains that worship is the "imagination station" that incubates our loves and longings so that our cultural endeavors are indexed toward God and his kingdom. This is why the church and worshiping in a local community of believers should be the hub and heart of Christian formation and discipleship.

Following the publication of his influential work Desiring the Kingdom, Smith received numerous requests from pastors and leaders for a more accessible version of that book's content. No mere abridgment, this new book draws on years of Smith's popular presentations on the ideas in Desiring the Kingdom to offer a fresh, bottom-up rearticulation. The author creatively uses film, literature, and music illustrations to engage readers and includes new material on marriage, family, youth ministry, and faith and work. He also suggests individual and communal practices for shaping the Christian life.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
★ 05/02/2016
Smith (Desiring the Kingdom), philosophy professor at Calvin College, offers a thought-provoking analysis of present-day American culture's secular liturgies, which he defines as "rituals that are loaded with an ultimate Story about who we are and what we're for," and argues persuasively for the need "to intentionally recalibrate the unconscious" in order to worship faithfully. Making an intriguing exploration of the shopping mall as a modern-day temple with a "consumer gospel," Smith invites readers to take a "liturgical audit" of other secular temples that provide formative, not innocuous, experiences. Unpacking the dramatic narrative of worship, including confession, sacraments, and weddings, Smith lifts up the power of story and "the historic practices of the faith," maintaining that faithful worship is "embodied, tangible, and visceral." He asserts that repetitive spiritual practices, at home and in church, have the power to shape moral character: "We become what we worship because what we worship is what we love." Examples from Smith's personal life as well as references to literature, philosophy, film, and art make this compelling and inspiring contribution to the study of spiritual disciplines both accessible and engaging. (Apr.)

Product Details

ISBN-13:
9781587433801
Publisher:
Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:
04/05/2016
Pages:
224
Sales rank:
49,264
Product dimensions:
8.60(w) x 5.80(h) x 1.10(d)

Meet the Author

James K. A. Smith (PhD, Villanova University) is professor of philosophy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he also holds the Gary and Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview. He is the editor of Comment magazine. Smith has authored or edited many books, including Imagining the Kingdom, Who's Afraid of Relativism?, and the Christianity Today  Book Award winners Desiring the Kingdom (over 30,000 copies sold) and Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? He is also editor of the well-received The Church and Postmodern Culture series.

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You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit 4.3 out of 5 based on 0 ratings. 4 reviews.
Anonymous More than 1 year ago
We are not just "thinking things." We are ritual and habitual creatures always moving toward a goal, a love, a desire, whether we realize it or not. In this excellent book, James K.A. Smith pushes us to consider the ritual and liturgy of our daily lives, the rituals of our worship, and the way those things are forming our habits and loves. As a pastor, one of the things I most appreciated about this book was that it was not only critical, but also offered helpful and thoughtful ideas for making meaningful changes in our lives, our families, the church, and the world. I plan to use pieces of this book with my Christian Education team as well as my Music and Worship team as we consider the ways our worship and education in the church are forming us into the kind of people we are becoming.
Anonymous More than 1 year ago
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Anonymous More than 1 year ago
I want to join, can i post my bio later
Anonymous More than 1 year ago
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