Paul Tripp lays out a call to live a daily ministry lifestyle rooted in God’s word. The bible is not an encyclopedia for problem solving but provides perspective that transforms the way we deal with life. In the world of counseling and biblical ministries, discipleship and soul care is not reserved to a select few of professionals. All Christians are called to be instruments in the redeemer’s hands, as the title of the book suggest, or ambassadors. Ministry is not just an activity, it is a lifestyle. As we live out our lives we interact with people in their daily suffering. “People struggling with life in a fallen world often want explanations when what they really need is imagination.”[1] They don’t want to change; they want things to be better. As ambassadors, we don’t offer people a system; we point them to the one and only hope: the Redeemer.
The world tries to deal with life through well-researched logical sets of insights and view problems as a fundamentally an information or biological problem. “The Bible says that our core problem, the fundamental reason we do what we do, is sin.”[2] Sin guides our cravings, response to authority, and decision making. It alters our values, directs our hopes and dreams, and shapes every interpretation we make. Since sin is part of our nature, we deal with the present through past experiences. Help can only come as we deal with our past and own our current sin. Tripp rightly reminds us that “sin not only causes me to respond sinfully to suffering, it causes me to respond sinfully to blessing.”[3] Sin causes rebellion from God; because of this rebellion, we are incapable of doing what God has ordained us to do. Since the world’s philosophy is not centered on Christ redeeming sinners, it cannot deliver what it promises. Sin (the condition) is what is wrong, and only true hope and change (the cure) is found in Christ.
We tend to have permanently casual relationships that never grow into real intimacy. There are things we know about each other, but they fool us into thinking that we know the human beings who live within the borders of those details. So we fail to pursue them with good questions. This sets the stage for all kinds of misunderstandings. Our effectiveness as ambassadors is blunted because we don’t know others well enough to know where change is needed or where God is actively at work.
Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, page 163.
Tripp expands on what it means to be an ambassador for Christ by laying out a four-part model: Love, Know, Speak, Do. “This is not just an aspect of the formal ministry of the local church, but a lifestyle to which God has called each of us.”[4] As we Love, and Know others deeper, we able to Speak to the blind spots and spiritual strongholds in their lives in order they may Do something with what they have learned. “We have a wonderful opportunity not only to teach people how to solve their problems biblically, but to turn their lives around for the long run.”[5]
After the book concludes, there are five helpful and practical appendixes. In Appendix three, Tripp rightly points out that “falsehood is seductive simply because it dresses itself as truth.”[6] These lies distort out functional theology in our view of ourselves, God, and our circumstances. To confront this, Tripp recommends focused journaling with five questions in mind for a few weeks. Then the counselor looks for themes and patterns to emerge. Tripp rightly concludes, “It seems to be particularly effective because the counselee is not responding to my opinions but to his own words!”[7] This is a great exercise that I have used to bring about clarity and open counselee’s eyes to the blind spots in their lives.
Instruments in the redeemer’s hands is a great book for the Biblical Counselor or any Christian wanting to go deeper in their walk with others. It lays out a theological basis for biblical change and offers practical help in doing so. Every page is saturated in Gospel truth that calls us all into a deep relationship with our only hope, the Redeemer Christ Jesus.
Also available in a small group study guide.
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Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change, Helping People in Need of Change By Paul David Tripp |
[1] Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, page 7.
[2] Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, page 9.
[3] Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, page 12.
[4] Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, page 113.
[5] Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, page 243
[6] Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, page 308.
[7] Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, page 309.