Review "Being the Bad guys" by Stephen McAlpine

In many ways, the message of this book is perfectly summed up in the subtitle, “How to live for Jesus in a world that says you shouldn’t”. Yet, significantly, Stephen McAlpine has as much to say about “why” we should live for Jesus in this broken world, as “how”. The fundamental point of the book is that we, God’s people, the church, used to be the good guys. Then we became just one of the guys. Now, pretty much everyone outside ourselves views us as the bad guys. As McAlpine writes, in the world’s eyes, “… [Today] biblical ethics are not seen merely as laughable or outdated or repressed but as shameful, harmful and repressive.”

The first two chapters look at how we got to the point that this world revolves around ‘me’. A world in which “…authenticity is defined by how true you are to yourself.” 
The following three chapters are about what it looks like to be the bad guy. The final three chapters include some thoughts on the goal, that we should be the best “bad guy” Christians we can. We should not compromise, shouldn’t withdraw, but live confidently, courageously and joyfully in today’s society.

From a solid Bible base, Stephen McAlpine encourages us to look forward, so as to avoid a victimhood mentality. We need to be honest about our failures and remember that God’s power is, and has always been, made perfect in weakness. We are to follow the example of Daniel by living faithfully, faultlessly and fearlessly, in order to embrace our place on the cultural margins. He writes, “Our hope is not in winning a culture war. Our hope is in the One who has defeated our true enemies - Satan, sin and death.”

For me, chapter 6 (“Don’t renovate the wrong house”) is the standout chapter. Here McAlpine looks at the book of Haggai and calls the church once again to “…preference God’s people, proclaim God’s praises and promote God’s promises.” Brilliant. This book is worth every penny, won’t take forever to read and is full of wisdom, encouragement, comfort and challenge.

This article was originally published in the Winter 2022 edition of the TFT magazine, Ascend. Click the button below to download your copy.