Book Corner
No Little People. By Francis A. Schaeffer. Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1974. 271 pp. $5.95.
Of the many books which have come from Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer’s prolific pen, this is by far one of his best. Published in England under the title, Ash Heap Lives, it is a collection of sixteen sermons, all of which were delivered in the chapel of the L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland, some also having been given during various speaking engagements in numerous places around the world.
A few of the sermon titles are:
· No Little People,
· No Little Places
· The Hand of God
· The Weakness of God’s Servants
· The Lord’s Work in the Lord’s Way
· Jesus Only
· What Is Enough?
· Ash Heap Lives
Several of the sermons are character studies from the Bible, but no matter what the subject, each message is truly and distinctly for this age. All Christians, particularly spiritual leaders in the church, should read the sermon, “No Little People, No Little Places.” In this opening message the author says, “Quietness and peace before God are more important than any influence a position may seem to give, for we must stay in step with God to have the power of the Holy Spirit. If by taking a bigger place our quietness with God is lost, then to that extent our fellowship with Him is broken and we are living in the flesh, and the final result will not be as great, no matter how important the larger place may look in the eyes of other men or in our own eyes. Always there will be a battle, always we will be less than perfect, but if a place is too big and too active for our present spiritual condition, then it is too big” (pp. 22-23).
The Sermon, “Ash Heap Lives,” is also must reading. In it, Dr. Schaeffer says, “We all tend to live ‘ash heap lives’; we spend most of our time and money for things that will end up in the city dump.”
“Practical materialism is difficult to escape in any age, but it is especially hard today because we all tend to be influenced by the spirit around us, and in the United States and the western world most people have only two values — personal peace and affluence. Many young people have rejected their parents’ style of materialism only to come round in a big circle to their own kind. As long as they have enough money to pay for their pad and feed their lifestyle, they care about nothing else” (p.259).
—W.R.R.