Teach Us To Want: Longing, Ambition & The Life of Faith<\/em><\/a>\u2014certainly makes the cut. Michel\u2019s goal\u2014to establish and explore a theology of desire\u2014is decidedly academic. And yet, her ability to weave personal anecdote with scripture and the depth and breadth of her sources\u2014quoting as adeptly from Augustine and Aristotle as H.G. Wells and Annie Dillard as N.T. Wright and Dietrich Bonhoeffer\u2014is more akin to poetry.<\/p>\nMichel begins by (rightly, I believe) noting how challenging\u00a0it is for contemporary Christians to navigate their desires. On the one hand, our churches often teach the necessity of reigning in, controlling, and extinguishing desire. On the other, our culture glorifies the indulgence of desire, suggesting that desires of all ilk are worthy and acceptable. And yet, Michel argues, a careful reading of scripture seems to offer us a third option: desire that is godly; desire that is holy.<\/p>\n
In each chapter, Michel offers a way of correcting our misconceptions about desire or a method of living beyond the rejection of desire, an action point to help us allow our desires to be shaped by God\u2019s will. Using desire in her own life\u2014in particular the desire to write despite what long appeared to be her conflicting role as a mother to five children\u2014as an example, she leads her readers to reconsider our fear of desire and to let courage, grace, and the Gospel itself be our guides instead. By staying committed to the practices of scripture reading, prayer, confession, and community, we can ensure not only that our deepest and most heartfelt desires are recognized and fulfilled but that they become more than we might have ever imagined as they are boldly shaped by God\u2019s will and plan for our lives.<\/p>\n
Perhaps one of the most profound moments of revelation for me in this book (and there were many such moments) was Michel\u2019s exegesis of the Lord\u2019s Prayer, in which she leads us to the truths that we should not give in to the pressures of the world to see grace as based often or even primarily in our deeds, desire as solely appropriate for spiritual subjects, and the \u201cself\u201d as the sovereign force behind the fulfillment of desire. These points may seem obvious when spelled out in this way and are certainly the sorts of theological truths that will garner instant head-nodding from evangelicals at least, but Michel pushes us over and over again to ask how well we are doing at putting theory into practice. Are we desiring, for example, our daily bread? Do we really believe it is good and worthy to pray sincerely and actively and persistently for God to, say, find us our dream home? Or do we feel foolish praying for bread when we live in a culture of feasting? And do we feel selfish praying for material blessings when we already have so much? If so, Michel suggests we might do well to see both sides of the spectrum through God\u2019s eyes. Ultimately, she makes the point that God is a god of great blessings. He DESIRES to bless us, He PROMISES to bless is, He REVELS in blessing us. But this is no prosperity gospel she is preaching. The flip side of the coin is how well we are willing to release our desires to God. Are we afraid to acknowledge and speak them? Are we afraid they won\u2019t be acceptable? Or can we freely and whole-heartedly hand over every single one of them with open hands to a God Whom we can trust to handle them?<\/p>\n
Teach Us To Want<\/em> will, at the very least, get you thinking. It likely will get you searching scripture and considering your own thoughts about desire as well. It may even revolutionize and liberate your entire walk as a Christian. To be human is to desire. As Michel points out, the very first sin was one of misplaced and misused desire. We have struggled with desire from the get-go and can likely, as this text makes clear, not give up or grow lazy in continuing to approach it and confront it head on, both in our theology and in our lives.<\/p>\n![\"AmberStamper\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/54\/2013\/12\/AmberStamper.jpg\")
<\/a>Amber M. Stamper holds a Ph.D. in English (Rhetoric and Composition) and is an Assistant Professor of Language, Literature, and Communication at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. Her research and publications center on religious rhetoric and communication, especially issues of Christian evangelism and the digital church<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If, as Madeleine L\u2019Engle has written, a book \u201ccan be a star, \u2018explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,\u2019 a living \ufb01re to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe,\u201d then Jen Pollock Michel\u2019s first book\u2014Teach Us To Want: Longing, Ambition & The Life of Faith\u2014certainly makes the cut. Michel\u2019s goal\u2014to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1743,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[105,115,291,130,108],"class_list":["post-4429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christian-books","tag-christianity","tag-desire","tag-faith","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\n
Teach Us To Want: A Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If, as Madeleine L'Engle has written, a book "can be a star, 'explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,' a living \ufb01re to lighten\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teach Us To Want: A Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If, as Madeleine L'Engle has written, a book "can be a star, 'explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,' a living \ufb01re to lighten\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"{Take & Read}\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-04T22:30:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/files\/2014\/07\/BC_TeachUstoWant_1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amber Stamper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amber Stamper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/\",\"name\":\"Teach Us To Want: A Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-04T22:30:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-08-04T22:30:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/5daaee89aded0c12846563ab2217d585\"},\"description\":\"If, as Madeleine L'Engle has written, a book \\\"can be a star, 'explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,' a living \ufb01re to lighten\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Teach Us To Want: A Review\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/\",\"name\":\"{Take & Read}\",\"description\":\""I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library" {Jorge Luis Borges}\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/5daaee89aded0c12846563ab2217d585\",\"name\":\"Amber Stamper\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10a3727fe802a2295a3f15777ebcc7ad?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10a3727fe802a2295a3f15777ebcc7ad?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Amber Stamper\"},\"description\":\"Amber Stamper holds a Ph.D. in English (Rhetoric and Composition) and is an Assistant Professor of Language, Literature, and Communication at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. Her research and publications center on religious rhetoric and communication, especially issues of Christian evangelism and the digital church.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/author\/ambermstamper\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Teach Us To Want: A Review","description":"If, as Madeleine L'Engle has written, a book \"can be a star, 'explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,' a living \ufb01re to lighten","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Teach Us To Want: A Review","og_description":"If, as Madeleine L'Engle has written, a book \"can be a star, 'explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,' a living \ufb01re to lighten","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/","og_site_name":"{Take & Read}","article_published_time":"2014-08-04T22:30:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/files\/2014\/07\/BC_TeachUstoWant_1.jpg"}],"author":"Amber Stamper","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amber Stamper","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/","name":"Teach Us To Want: A Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-08-04T22:30:58+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-04T22:30:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/5daaee89aded0c12846563ab2217d585"},"description":"If, as Madeleine L'Engle has written, a book \"can be a star, 'explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,' a living \ufb01re to lighten","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/2014\/08\/teach-us-to-want-a-review\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Teach Us To Want: A Review"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/","name":"{Take & Read}","description":""I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library" {Jorge Luis Borges}","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/5daaee89aded0c12846563ab2217d585","name":"Amber Stamper","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10a3727fe802a2295a3f15777ebcc7ad?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10a3727fe802a2295a3f15777ebcc7ad?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Amber Stamper"},"description":"Amber Stamper holds a Ph.D. in English (Rhetoric and Composition) and is an Assistant Professor of Language, Literature, and Communication at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. Her research and publications center on religious rhetoric and communication, especially issues of Christian evangelism and the digital church.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/author\/ambermstamper\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1743"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/takeandread\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"BC_TeachUstoWant_1\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/54\/2014\/07\/BC_TeachUstoWant_1.jpg\")
<\/a>If, as Madeleine L\u2019Engle has written, a book \u201ccan be a star, \u2018explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,\u2019 a living \ufb01re to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe,\u201d then Jen Pollock Michel\u2019s first book\u2014Teach Us To Want: Longing, Ambition & The Life of Faith<\/em><\/a>\u2014certainly makes the cut. Michel\u2019s goal\u2014to establish and explore a theology of desire\u2014is decidedly academic. And yet, her ability to weave personal anecdote with scripture and the depth and breadth of her sources\u2014quoting as adeptly from Augustine and Aristotle as H.G. Wells and Annie Dillard as N.T. Wright and Dietrich Bonhoeffer\u2014is more akin to poetry.<\/p>\n