Ken Wytsma is the president of Kilns College, founder of The Justice Conference, and the lead pastor at Antioch Church. In THE GRAND PARADOX, Wytsma explores the faith walk, in large part, as one of the paradoxical extremes that often frustrates and confuses Christ followers. He explores numerous biblical passages and discusses their paradoxical meanings, which help unpack these frequently hard-to-swallow teachings.

Wytsma writes thoroughly on this troublesome topic and covers the most common issues of contention for Christians quite satisfactorily in his 16 chapters. Specifically, he tackles such interesting subjects under these novel chapter headings: “Defining Paradox and Why It Matters”; “Wisdom’s Folly”; “Virtue, the Greeks, and the Meaning of Happiness”; “Personal Calling and Mission”; “Love is Never Wrong”; “Complexity and the Limits of Understanding”; “Mother Kirk”; “Outside Looking In”; “Spiritual Fatigue (Or, The Dark Night of the Soul)”; “Blessing Come Late”; and Between the Gardens.

"Wytsma ties together a great many loose ends about the messiness of life, the mystery of God and the necessity of faith. THE GRAND PARADOX is a wonderful text for personal study and even better for lively group discussions."

The chapters open with lively historical or biblical accounts of real people who are living (or have experienced) one of these key paradoxical moments and how they reacted and responded to it. Wytsma then discusses the said conundrum from the biblical vantage point and the eternal one that helps untangle all the preconceived first reactions and emotions to give way to a better, more thoughtful response. He succeeds in his quest to bring some solace and encouragement to Christians who truly feel that life is beyond explanation (because, in truth, it often is) by helping these discouraged souls hone their trust and faith in the God who does understand.

One chapter in particular stands out as foundational to today’s Christ follower as Wytsma makes a terrific case for why the local church is not an add-on option for any Christian. True enough, when believers are part of any church for any amount of time, they begin to see the flaws, the cracks, the problems and the sinfulness of man, even in the house of the Lord. However, it’s in this flawed setting that Christ instructs His followers to grow and serve and flourish so they can go out and lovingly serve in the world. Wytsma points out that as folks realize how imperfect the church community is, they also have to realize they are part of that imperfection. The author writes, “It is easy to hide the junk in my own life that hurts other people when I just make my relationship with God purely about my solitary relationship with Him. In community, my imperfections are reflected back to me.”

Wytsma ties together a great many loose ends about the messiness of life, the mystery of God and the necessity of faith. THE GRAND PARADOX is a wonderful text for personal study and even better for lively group discussions.