Primal by Mark Batterson (Book Review)

Rating: 4 out of 5 torches

From the outside, the [Church of San Clemente] appeared weather-beaten and time-worn. But the frescoes, statues, and altars on the inside were remarkably well preserved. We quietly explored every nook and cranny of that twelfth-century church.  Then we discovered that for five extra euros, we could take an underground tour…

I’ll never forget my descent down that flight of stairs.  The air became damp, and we could hear underground springs.  We carefully navigated each step as we lost some of our light.  And our voices echoed off the low ceiling and narrow walkway.  Almost like the wardrobe in the Chronicles of Narnia, that flight of stairs was like a portal to a different time, a different place.  It was as if those stairs took us back two thousand years in time.  With each step, a layer of history was stripped away until all that was left was Christianity in all its primal glory. (pg. 2)

This excerpt from the first chapter of Primal, Mark Batterson’s latest publication from Multnomah, lays the illustrative foundation for the book’s premise. Just as Mark’s walk down those stairs helped him see an ancient Christianity stripped of its religious flourishes to a place where Christians worshipped from pure hearts, Mark wants to pastor modern Christians to a place where they, too, can love God purely.  And the “primal” foundation for Batterson’s Christianity is the same verse Jesus lays as the foundation when asked in the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Mark to sum up the Mosaic law:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Mark 12:30)

For my review, I’ll use the same framework as the book:

Heart
I appreciate Mark’s pastoral heart.  It is evident to me that he has a genuine passion to follow God (as if that wasn’t obvious from his previous books, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase), and an equal passion to see others follow God with the same passion.  If I could hope anything, it is that Mark’s readers (including myself) would capture this heart: a heart to worship God purely, to follow Him willingly, and to enjoy God through the valleys and mountain-top experiences of life.

However, I feel like Mark (and perhaps his editors) tried a little too hard to reach the heart of the reader.  While I appreciate the vision-casting closing of chapter 10 (The Next Reformation), true reformations happen as an act of God, not because an author says we need one.  When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Wittenberg Doors, he was merely trying to help the Church he loved move in a more biblical direction.  I doubt the Reformation as we know it was exactly what Luther longed for.  If we are to see another Reformation in our day, once again it will be something that is a move of God, not something from the dreams of men.

I know Mark would agree with me based on this paragraph from Chapter 9 (The Hammer of a Higher God):

Here is the great irony when it comes to loving God.  And maybe I should have revealed this at the very beginning of the book, because this is the crux of the matter.  In and of ourselves, we’re not capable of loving God.  We cannot manufacture love for Him.  We can only respond to His love for us.  And I hope that sets you free.  Religion is all about doing things for God.  Christianity is all about receiving what Christ has done for us on the cross and what we do for God is a reflection of and response to what God has done for us. (pg. 155)

Likewise, we are incapable of ushering in a reformation to modern Christianity.  We can submit ourselves to God individually, but it is only by HIS grace that changes like this take place.

Soul
I really enjoy Mark’s writing.  Just as in his previous books, Mark’s style is very easy to read, comprehend, and remember. In other word’s, Primal has a good soul.

Part of this “soul” is the framework for the book. Mark uses the four aspects of loving God from the Great Commandment as his template.

However, Mark’s treatment of “heart” left me wanting.  Mark turned “loving God with all your heart” into “having compassion for your neighbor.”  I don’t disagree (after all, Jesus captures this idea when he tacked on the second part of the Great Commandment), but to me this concept isn’t complete.

I’m of the opinion that when Jesus tells us to love God with all our heart, he is telling us to fully love God with our emotions.  When we find joy, we exalt in God.  When we experience sadness, we fall on our knees with tears before our Father. When we have anger, we submit it to God and unleash it in God-glorifying ways.  And when we love God fully with our heart, THEN we find ourselves overflowing with compassion for our neighbors.

Mind
Mark is one REALLY smart dude, but you never feel ignorant while reading Mark’s book.  Mark’s excitement for what he has learned helps you get excited about the insights he has and the spiritual parallels he is able to draw. (More on this under “Strength.”)

I also appreciated Mark’s approach to “loving God with your mind.”  I have heard pastors and seminary professors in the past claim this is the area lost by American Christianity, and they trumpet this aspect so loudly the begin to ignore the other three.  Mark heralds the intellect and loving God with your mind, but not to the exclusion of the other three ways.

However, a couple of Mark’s quotes in this section could be dangerous if taken out of context.  For instance:

“God ideas often seem like bad ideas.  But that is when you need to allow the Holy Spirit to override your intellect.” (pg. 140)

Sentences like this can give people permission to do hair-brained ideas that are not originated by God.  Hopefully Mark’s readers will have enough discernment to understand Mark is trying to say we have to submit our human intellects to God’s, because His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, not abandon reason altogether.

Strength
One of the strengths of Primal is Mark’s masterful use of illustrations.  Mark leverages his strength of learning from many different realms to turn scientific insights and historical stories into spiritual analogies.

But the greatest strength of the book is what I have already acknowledged – Mark’s heart.  Mark truly believes this stuff – he has poured much of himself into this book. Primal is truly the overflow of his role as a pastor.  Just as he longs for his church family to worship God purely from a primal understanding of Jesus and love, Mark can’t help but long for that same thing of the universal Church.

And I have to admit – I long for it, too.

Conclusion
Primal releases nationwide on Tuesday, December 22nd.  I feel honored to have been chosen as one of 750 bloggers to be given a pre-release copy to read and review. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and will probably recommend it to a few people.

However, I don't feel that people must make it the first book they read in 2010.  It’s fine if they do, but I don’t feel overwhelming motivation to get this book in the hands of everyone.  Part of the reason is that I had such high expectations. (I think I bought into the marketing a little too much – see the website for an example – “this is more than a book.”) And so, I found myself slightly disappointed.  Like Mark, I long for a reformation, a revival, to sweep across the world.  But a human book isn’t going to accomplish it.  Only the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit will bring that about.

With that said, if Primal gets even a few Christ-followers to get back to Scripture and back to worshipping God wholeheartedly (and whole-soulfully, whole-mindfully, and whole-strengthfully!), then I will be thrilled, as I know Mark will be.  That’s why I will still highly recommend Primal to the young adults I have the privilege to pastor.

For more info, visit http://www.theprimalmovement.com/

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