In How People Change, Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp say that many Christians experience a “gospel gap.” They believe that Jesus saved them from past sin and promises a future hope of heaven, but they “do not have a gospel perspective on who they are.” They don’t know how to apply the gospel to everyday life in the present; consequently, they flounder in their relationships and don’t experience much victory in their lives over sin. “Their Christianity seemed more an ideology than a worship-driven relationship, and God’s practical call on their lives was more a duty to be performed than a joy to be pursued.”

People tend to fill this gap with other things, like legalism (lists of do’s and don’ts), mysticism (seeking emotional experiences), activism (championing a cause), and others.

The authors want to point people back to Christ. “Christianity’s change process does not revolve around a system of redemption but around a person who redeems.” They want to emphasize heart change, not just outward change.

If a Christian is going to make progress in the Christian life, she must be convinced of this powerful new reality. We are personally united to Christ through the Holy Spirit. We have new resources and potential because God has moved in. The basic spiritual DNA of every believer has been radically altered, and we are part of a new story of redemption that includes the entire creation!

The Word and Spirit work together, enabling us to see Christ in all his power and mercy. This leads to heart change at the level of what we worship and cherish at any given moment.

While the authors had many good things to say, and I especially appreciated the focus on Christ, I’m afraid I got lost in some of the verbiage. This is the first book of Tripp’s that I have read (Lane’s either. I am not sure how they divided up the writing). Tripp is a popular teacher and best-selling author, and I’m not, so what do I know? But for me, as a reader, it was hard to distill the main message from all that was said. Sometimes six or eight examples were used when one or two would have done.

In one chapter which was supposed to put everything together, we’re told to read Philippians (a short book, but still four chapters), then to glance back at chapters 7 and 8 of this book, then review a section of chapter 9, and then another section of chapter 10, and then look again at chapters 11 and 12. So instead of helping the reader by summarizing what was said earlier, we’re basically told to reread all or parts of six earlier chapters.

Their “x-ray” questions of self-assessment for where we might need to repent number thirty-four.

Looking at the reviews, some people loved this book and others felt as I did–that it was so wordy that it was hard to get the message sometimes.