Stand Up, Stand Strong

Fellow truth-teller, this is your mission. Know the truth. Study the Word of God. Research the hard topic. Be prepared to give an answer. Then boldly go out and take your worldview into the world through the power of Christ.

Stand Up, Stand Strong by Sara Barratt is the latest book to come from the Rebelution movement. It is, as the subtitle states, “a call to bold faith in a confused culture.” It is one part a crash course in having a Biblical worldview, and one part an exhortation to stand up for truth.

A quick note before I get into the review—this book seems to market itself to nominal Christians who say they believe in the Bible but don’t have a Biblical worldview. It does have great value for those people, but if you’re like me and grew up in a Christian home where these things are discussed regularly, you can still learn from this book.

Laying a Foundation

The first part of the book establishes some foundational truths. Or rather, the foundational Truth. Barratt explores how the Gospel is not an antiquated folktale, but rather a true story that changes everything about the world.

As the author explains, the majority worldview of today is post-truth. This is the belief that there is no objective right or wrong, but instead, everyone has their own truth. Through this rationale, people can live however they want and engage in whatever sins they so desire. This may intimidate Christians into silence. If the Bible is just a truth, the truth they chose to follow, what right do they have to claim anyone else is wrong?

In direct contrast, Jesus states that there is objective truth—and that truth is Him. Truth embodied came to the world and taught us how to live. The teachings he gave are about as counter-cultural as one can get.

While these introductory chapters cover a few things, one especially struck me. The Gospel is, perhaps now more than ever, the complete opposite of the cultural norms. While the world says, “There is no truth.” Jesus says, “I am the Truth.” The world says, “Give in to your desires.” God says, “Be ye holy, as I am holy.” If we are to follow the commands of God over the commands of the world, we will stand out.

For the next eight chapters, Barratt looks at eight issues currently facing the culture through the lens of God’s Word—identity, purity, sexual orientation, gender, life, racism, addiction, and media. I’ll highlight a couple of these that stood out.

Who Am I?

The matter of identity is critical. If we can’t even answer the question, “Who am I?”, we’ll have a hard time answering anything else. Today we’re encouraged, “Be yourself,” and “Follow your heart.” Despite all the self-seeking and self-knowledge, an identity crisis has overtaken the world. No one seems to know who they really are.

Some try to find identity in their job, emotions, or more recently, sexual orientation, but all these things are empty. The author puts it eloquently:

The tragic irony is that the more we look at within ourselves, the emptier we discover ourselves to be. Despite every encouragement that we’re enough, the deeper we dive into our hearts, the more we’re met with a sneaking, nagging suspicion that we’re actually not enough.

The Gospel answers this too. We are made in the image of God, endued with intrinsic value that results from being God’s creation. Jesus proved that great value when he died for all humanity on the cross.

The status of image-bearer will not go away. It will not crumble when our circumstances change or fluctuate with our emotions. It is, and it always will be. God will always love us, even when we spit in His face. That is true identity.

It was interesting how Barratt pointed out the failed results of our self-centered culture. With personality tests oozing out of the internet’s every corner, you’d think people would have a good understanding of themselves. And while they might be able to explain their actions in a clinical way, they still lack the true security that comes from being made in God’s image.

We’re all searching for the truth about our identity. The very existence of the countless personality quizzes floating around online is proof of that. I mean, why are we so interested in finding out the answer to “What fruit are you?” or “Which Lord of the Rings character are you?” Does it really add that much to our lives to know that we’re a pineapple or Aragorn?

Pack Your Worldview

The final chapter of this section tackles media. It’s a broad topic, yes, but it’s an integral part of our modern lives. Between movies, social media, podcasts, video games, and more, we’re being influenced by the media we consume. Here the author gives practical advice on how to assess these things and how to keep them from running our lives.

Sometimes Christians hold a Biblical worldview in every other area but exempt the entertainment they consume. They firmly reject sin in others but excuse it on the screen. And even if the media isn’t full of sin, it promotes anti-Christ agendas. I found the questions and considerations in this chapter to be helpful because this is something that requires constant self-examination.

This chapter makes the point that the relaxing media we consume—movies, fiction books, and the like—may influence us more than the serious ones. I’ve experienced this myself. When reading a nonfiction book on a particular topic, I’m ready to learn and consider an idea. But I might read a fiction book on the same topic and not even realize I did.

One final principle covered is that of helpfulness. Maybe a show isn’t sinful and doesn’t promote an alternative worldview, but there are five seasons on Netflix and I must watch them all right now. In other words, the media consumes us, becoming an addiction and taking over our lives. It might be time to let that video game go if it’s taking hours from your day that you should spend serving God.

In Conclusion

The last section of the book signals the end of worldview school and begins the launching out to war. It’s not enough to simply know the truth. We must proclaim it too. Through specific conversation tips and inspiring stories of other Christians who stood and made a difference, the book equips readers to march out into the culture and reach people for Christ.

There’s something for everyone in Stand Up, Stand Strong. From the teen who’s unsure what to believe amidst the whirlpool of post-truth thinking to the one who’s been saved for years and is familiar with the Biblical worldview, both can benefit from the book.

Sara Barratt discusses many issues that are seldom mentioned in teen books, such as dealing with same-sex attraction. She gives guidance to both the one who struggles with this sin and the one who doesn’t. In the chapter about life, she (as expected) discusses abortion, but also euthanasia, suicide, and the general devaluing of life. Critical Race Theory is addressed from a Biblical perspective.

Some topics covered, especially those in the sexual purity chapter, give me some reservations on who exactly I’d recommend this to. It is, of course, all completely appropriate, but perhaps not for younger readers. I leave that up to your own discretion.

You’re bound to learn something from this book, due to the number of topics covered. And even if you don’t, the chapters will better equip you to defend Christianity.

Thanks for reading!