Readability: 1
Length: 206 pp
Author: Tullian Tchividjian
Jesus + Nothing = Everything; this equation came out of the hardest year of Tullian’s Life, the year that Coral Ridge merged with the church he planted, New City Presbyterian Church. You about can read some of the struggles he faced here. This equation sustained, saved, and sanctified him through that time. In short, here the power of the gospel for all of the Christian life is gloried in. This isn’t just theology for your head, but for you heart and life.
In my misery I demanded an explanation from God. After all, I had done what he asked me to do—I had put “my baby” on the altar. And now this? Like Jonah in the belly of the great fish, I was arguing with God and making my case for why God owed me rescue. Worn out, afraid, and angry, I insisted that God give me my old life back. The gentle but straightforward answer from God that I received from the pages of Colossians that morning was simple but sobering: ‘It’s not your old life you want back; it’s your old idols you want back, and I love you too much to give them back to you.’
That June morning was when Jesus plus nothing equals everything—the gospel—became for me more than a theological passion, more than a cognitive catch-phrase. It became my functional lifeline. Rediscovering the gospel enabled me to see that:
because Jesus was strong for me, I was free to be weak;
because Jesus won for me, I was free to lose;
because Jesus was someone, I was free to be no one;
because Jesus was extraordinary, I was free to be ordinary;
because Jesus succeeded for me, I was free to fail.
No Other Boast 