Mission 3:16

When I spotted Mission 3:16: God's One-Verse invitation to Love the World, I knew I had to read it for several reasons. First, it combines world missions , a subject I'm passionate about, and John 3:16 a verse everyone knows. Second, Mission 3:16 is the newest book by Paul Borthwick. I have read many of his other books such as A Mind for Missions, Six Dangerous Questions to Transform Your Worldview, and How to Be a World-Class Christian. Being familiar with these books, I knew this title would be wonderful and I was not disappointed.

Since nearly everyone is familiar with the verse John 3:16 and in some ways it is referenced so often that it feels overdone, you may wonder what more could be said or written about it. Borthwick shows that a great deal can be written about it! He breaks John 3:16 down phrase by phrase and in so doing explodes your common understanding of this verse. The central theme of this exposition of John 3:16 as you can tell from the title is missions. However, even more than missions Borthwick unpacks that God's love should inspire and encourage us go out to love the world and share God's love with others. By the end of the book, you will add John 3:15 to your list of favorite mission verses and realize that you didn't know quite as much as you thought.

While Mission 3:16 is thoroughly researched and footnoted, Borthwick has a conversational tone which makes this book very readable and enjoyable. He shares many stories, often from his own experiences, demonstrating how the principles he shares can be lived out. As such, this book is appropriate for a wide audience ranging from college students to adults. I can see it being a great resource for a Sunday School class or Bible study or as background reading for a sermon series. As it is published by Intervarsity Press, I especially can see this book being featured at the upcoming Urbana 21 conference as a Book of the Day.

I received a complementary copy from IVP via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback.