Review of Jennie Allen’s “Restless” Curriculum

I received a free copy of this study after being contacted by a publicist, for the purposes of this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

The study is eight lessons (including one introductory lesson) that can be used in small or large groups, and there are different tools available (the video, the conversation cards) to allow the study be flexible.

Leader’s Guide

The Leader’s Guide is easy to understand and follow.  There is a repeated emphasis on the leader needing to be open, authentic, and vulnerable.  If this is difficult for a person, my recommendation would be for the leader(s) to do the study with each other ahead of time to feel more comfortable.  Unfortunately, this guide did not correct the misconception that was in the guide for Chase that shyness and introversion are the same thing (page 18).  Introverts like to think before answering and that is why we may be quiet.  I know my input may be valuable in a group setting and I need time to formulate what I am going to say. Don’t call on introverts before they are ready. A lack of talking is not the same as a lack of interest and does not mean she is holding the group back!  Just because a group member does not verbally participate as much as the others does not need a talking to!  Forced vulnerability is not ideal.

Participant’s Guide

The Participant’s Guide is also easy to follow.  It is set up in sections:

• short story/essay by the author
• reading and questions of a portion of scripture from Scripture
• other verses and more personal questions
• a “project” that could involve journaling or drawing
• conclusion, with more questions

DVD

The DVD sessions are a good length, ranging from 18-24 minutes.  I wasn’t crazy about some of the presentation and I have some different theological views than some of what is presented and I got confused at times where I thought she was contradicting herself–though this could likely be due to our differing theological perspectives.  I really liked the setting of the videos; it was designed to be a bright and welcoming atmosphere.

Conversation Cards

As with the last time, I wasn’t crazy about the conversation cards.  While they had some good questions on them, I’d rather see them included in the study guide so that participants have the opportunity to write down or even journal their thoughts about them instead of just answering them off the top of their heads.

Overall Impressions

There is so much great stuff in this study that both women and men can benefit from, so it’s a little too bad it is only marketed toward women.  So many people are restless and wondering what to do with their lives (Bill Hybel’s 2007 book, Holy Discontent, similarly explores this idea)  Throughout the participant’s guide, there are so many fantastic questions that work to get people to think about what their dreams are and what is holding them back.  It really makes people be introspective, which means that if this study is done in a group where people do not know each other well, it may not have the intended effect.  Some of the questions are:

• When was the last time you dreamt about doing something specific in your life?
• Are you coming into this study with any hurt and disappointment regarding your dreams?
• Describe some of the tensions that occur when many unique pieces are challenged to worth together as one body for one purpose.
• Do you think this restlessness is discontentment or a restlessness from God wanting to move you toward more?

The idea that we should look at what our dreams and gifts are and what is holding us back is something we should all evaluate (and not just once in our lives, either) and that is the strength of this study.  The “projects” included in each session are valuable tools; they point people to some specific ways of evaluating their lives.  

What I found lacking, however, was the tie-in to the life of Joseph.  There are a few places where I found myself confused as to the conclusions she came to, such as “Joseph hoped his gifts were for his own glory” (64) or relating Joseph’s experience in Egypt to Jesus’ command to his followers to make disciples in Matthew 28:16-20 (page 103).

There were also a couple of places where a distinction was made between genders, which I found to be quite unnecessary.   On page 56, she writes about a friend who is strong and wonders “Why would he give a woman all this strength?” and on page 67 she describes Joseph as “an excellent leader, good with people, and great with business and strategy”, but goes on to say “these were his strengths as a man” (emphasis mine).  I would say that the first question does not need the qualifier of “woman”.  The question is “Why would he give a person all this strength?” and the answer is “to use it!”  For the second, the strengths are not Joseph’s strengths as a man but rather, simply just his strengths.  

I think that in addition to people feeling “Restless”, once they find their gifts and passions, there needs to be a place for them to use them.  To go through this study and have a better understanding of one’s identity and gifts is fantastic, but there are too many times when doors get shut in people’s faces, and that’s discouraging.  If women are to be encouraged and equipped and unleashed, there needs to be openness and a place for them to do what they are called to do.  For example, if a woman goes through this study and realizes she is gifted and called to be a pastor, and her denomination forbids it, then she is likely still going to be “Restless”.  

I Can Only Be Me

A quiet voice sometimes whispers in my ear.  It tells me:  You are not good enough.  You will never be good enough.  It doesn’t matter at what; it is everything worthwhile, everything that makes me a part of who I am.  You are not funny enough.  Not entertaining when you preach.  Not outgoing enough. Not good enough at mindless small talk.  It taunts me.  Not a good enough wife.  Not a good enough mother.  Not a good enough writer.  Not educated enough.  Not a good enough body.  Not pretty enough.  Not confident enough.  Not in shape enough.  Not a good enough Christian.  You are not good enough.

The day I began writing this post (4/30/12), I saw three posts on three different blogs that related to what I wanted to say.  The first was “The Peril of Measuring Yourself Against Others” by Frank Viola about social media and how it sends us all back to high school, competing for social status.  He writes about how the things that are important, such as changing someone’s life and spiritual influence, cannot be measured by Google Analytics, blog and Twitter followers, and Klout (which thinks I am influential about pizza, by the way, so if you want to try a new pizza recipe, I highly recommend this one for Chicken Alfredo Pizza.  Then you can come back and tell me if you like it.  And you can give me some Klout).  

The second post was one by Adam S. McHugh called “I Know Where the Wild Things Are“.  He’d tweeted it yesterday, although it had been written in 2011.  He wrote:

“For me, the beasts usually take the form of accusing questions, and the hairy one that shows up the most is this: “Who are YOU to write this?” Who do you think you are, addressing a topic that is way over your head? Who are you to write at all? What do you have to share with the world?”

And, finally, the third post, from Chelsey Doering in “The Five Things Introverts Hate About Church“.  Her number one was “you should be more [fill in the blank]” because obviously, you aren’t good enough by being yourself.

These three posts all address, in different ways and without really saying it, that we face struggles of not being good enough.  In the writing and blogging world (to which I am a newcomer), I know that I especially face it.  I am not one who pursued writing as a career, and although I love doing it, I am also very insecure about it.  In this new world that I have entered, there are many excellent and well-respected writers, there are many writers who know how to use social media to every advantage, and there are many writers who much better and much more knowledgeable than I am.  For a perfectionist who tends to lean towards also being a know-it-all, this is hard to take.  I don’t want to measure myself by my Twitter followers compared to someone else’s.  I don’t want get discouraged and feel like I am nobody who has nothing to say compared to others.  I don’t want to feel like I need to be more [fill in the blank] compared to others.

But I do.

As I kept coming back to the computer to jot down thoughts for this post, as thoughts continued to swirl around in my head as I put dishes away and figured out what I needed to do for dinner, I received an email.  Big deal, right?  I get email all day long.  I saw who it was from and my eyes widened.  A blogger I admire, a published author…and she was reading my blog, had subscribed to my blog, and said she loved my blog.  How exciting!

I felt validated.  I felt good enough.

But isn’t this the very thing I wrote about the other day regarding Alice in Wonderland when I said “we can’t go through life basing our identities on who other people are”.  In the few seconds it took me to read that email, I compared the worth of my identity based on someone else’s identity.

Identity is something I’ve been thinking about lately, because I am at a new place in life and am wondering who and what God is calling me to be and do.  I threw out a question to my friends on Facebook recently and asked them what Bible verses come to mind when they think of “identity in Christ”.  The one that I had thought of was 2 Corinthians 5:17 “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”

I knew that people would have different answers, but I had no idea the number of different verses (you can find them all at the end of this post) that people would relate to about finding their identity in Jesus.  It was beautiful to see the many different facets of identity that these people have.  It is a reminder that just as we are all different in how we are made and who we become in the world, we are also all different in who we are in Christ.

That’s kind of complicated to think about though.   Sometimes, it seems, that once one “becomes a Christian”, then one has to become like every other Christian out there.  Right beliefs.  Right behaviors.  Right attitudes.  Right way of being a woman.  Right way of being a man.  Right way of being a husband, wife, mom, dad, brother, sister, friend, whatever.

Today, (5/1/12) I read a follow up post by Frank Viola that I mentioned reading yesterday as I was planning this post.  He makes three excellent points about being envious of others:  accept your own worth, you don’t know what the person you are envious of is going through, and reassess what you are coveting.  

I especially like the first one, because it references 1 Corinthians 12:21-27.  We are all different.  We all need to be different parts of the body in order for the body to function.  And even body parts that are similar are not the same.  Some eyes are blue, some are brown, some are green.  Some ears stick out, others lie close to the head.  Some hairs are thick and some are thin.  Some fingers are long and slender and others are stubby.  Some feet are narrow and others are wide.  

It’s easy to acknowledge that I am gifted differently or am a different part of the body when I am envious of someone who sings well, since I do not.  It’s a lot harder to acknowledge that when it comes to something that I do well, such as writing, and I am envious of another writer’s way with words or successes because mine are (seemingly) not good enough.

But I don’t have to be that person.  I can’t be that person.  I can only be me, the me that has been made into a new creation.  And it is good enough.

Do you ever feel as if you are not good enough?  What is your usual response to that voice whispering in your ear?  Do you know who you are?  Do you know who you are in Christ?  




Curious what the verses were in which people found their identity in Christ?  Here they are:

• John 1:12:  But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God
• John 15:15  I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 
• 2 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NRS ) Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?  You yourselves are our letter, written on our(1 )hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 
• Galatians 3:25-29   But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,  for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.  As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. 
• Isaiah 43:4a “Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.”
• Joshua 1:9 “I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
• Romans 9: 38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”
• 1 Timothy 5:12 “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speecah and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity”
• Romans 6:5-8 (ESV)  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
• 2 Corinthians 5:16-19 (NIV)  So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
• Ephesians 1