1. Show that pastors' wives are human just like everyone else.
2. Show the redemptive power of the gospel of Christ to be forgiven and to forgive others.
The first expectation was met, almost too well. The three main characters all had different backgrounds and struggled with temptation and sin, just like everyone else.
However, I was deeply disappointed that none of the characters were truly focused on following Christ, but used God and the Bible to serve their own agendas. In the end you have a mega-church leader who has made an idol of her husband, a former bad girl trying to pay for her sins through outreach ministry and a pastor who's cool with his wife being an atheist.
Even though this is fiction, having been a pastor's wife, with many friends who are also pastors' wives - I don't feel this book represented us well. I'm not naive to think that there aren't women in ministry very much like these characters, but most of us are not.
Theology aside - I still have other issues with this book - unnecessary swearing always looses points for me (I rarely find that it adds to the quality of a book). Also, it doesn't make sense for the main character, Ruthie to narrate her chapters in the book because she's not privy to the details of the other characters and doesn't narrate their stories.
If you need a reminder of the depravity of man, here you go. But if you're looking for inspiring stories of godly women, this isn't the best pick.
*I received this book from the publisher, Plume through NetGalley.com for my honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment