Cardiff-based pastor Dai Hankey has written a lovely little book for Christians who aren’t giving up, but are weary. The author, a former skateboarder and DJ, points us to a longer, slower, deeper faith; or as he puts it in relation to Jesus: “his invitation to the weary is to come to him and stay with him. He’s in this for the long haul. Are we?”
Dai writes as a pastor – he knows that church, meant to be good for us, can also be a profound place of hurt. And so it is out of a deep, wise and biblical understanding of Jesus that he writes: “I would be unloving as a brother and unfaithful in my task to point you hopeward if I didn’t seek to urge you not to give up on the church. Scripture is clear that the church, despite all her mess and mayhem, is still the focus of Christ’s fierce passion, and he was under no illusion of what kind of bride he was getting when he died for her on the cross.”
In the closing chapter, entitled ‘Run to Jesus’, Hankey points out that our need for forgiveness is an ongoing one. We don’t graduate; instead, he writes: “Repeat as many times as necessary until that day when you cross the finish line and crumple one final time at the feet of Jesus, not in exhaustion, but in worship. Not as a failure, but as a victor.”
It’s a good sign when you want a book to be longer. But it’s unfortunate this one ends so abruptly. Some of Hankey’s cultural references and personal experiences won’t connect with everyone. Nevertheless, this is a title that is ideal for weary pastors and folk who’ve been Christians for a while, as well as those who might be deconstructing.
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