Learn More
The God of the Mundane: Reflections on Ordinary Life for Ordinary People, by Matthew B. Redmond
Second Edition, endorsed by Jared Wilson, Scott Sauls, Jeremy Writebol, Aaron Armstrong, and more.
You’ve heard the message. “If you really loved God, you would be totally committed—do something big, sell your belongings, maybe become a missionary.” Matt Redmond has preached it himself. But here he simply asks: What about the rest of us?
Through stories of pastors, plumbers, dental hygienists, and stay-at-home moms, Matt finds grace and mercy in chicken fingers, classic films, and smiles from strangers. Ultimately, he convicts us of what he has learned himself…
There is a God of the mundane, and our life is not about what we do for him. It’s about what he does for us.
Author
Matt Redmond was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and lives there today. He attended Southeastern Bible College and Covenant Theological Seminary, and has served in pastoral ministry, taught school, worked in the banking industry, and now does counseling focusing on marriage, anxiety, and anger. Matt and his wife, Bethany, have three children: Emma, Knox, and Dylan. Matt’s writing has been published by The Gospel Coalition, He Reads Truth, and other outlets. He also writes at his blog, Echoes and Stars (mattbredmond.com).Endorsements
“Matt Redmond has done us a wonderful service in infusing the ordinary with glory.”
— Jared C. Wilson, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry, Spurgeon College; author, The Imperfect Disciple
“Of all the books written to help us reconnect with this vital reality, I cannot think of a better and more life-giving one.”
— Scott Sauls, senior pastor, Christ Presbyterian Church; author, Jesus Outside the Lines
Click to read all endorsements
— Jared C. Wilson, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry, Spurgeon College; author, The Imperfect of Disciple
“If anyone is looking for biblical proof that God does His best work in the ordinary, simple, no-fanfare places of life, we need look no further than the life of Christ Himself. Hailing from an obscure, unrecognized town, born to a young and mostly unseen couple, working a blue-collar job, and teaching all those parables featuring the simple stuff of life, Christ demonstrated that God chooses and even delights in ‘the weak things’ as a primary means by which to save the world. Of all the books written to help us reconnect with this vital reality, I cannot think of a better and more life-giving one than The God of the Mundane.”
— Scott Sauls, senior pastor, Christ Presbyterian Church; author of several books, including Jesus Outside the Lines and A Gentle Answer
“Often I’m seduced by the glam, glitter, and glory of the epic life. I’m induced to be an Influencer. When I miss the mark, I’m deflated with the ‘what-if’s’ of my little life. Thankfully, Matt Redmond shakes me out of the lies of chasing the ‘boastful pride of life’ and brings me to a God who calls us to the ordinary glories found only in Him. This book will help you see that glorious God as well.”
— Jeremy Writebol, lead campus pastor, Woodside Bible Church; executive director, Gospel-Centered Discipleship
“Too often we act as though living a quiet and godly life is a sad concession, rather than a high aspiration (1 Thess. 4:11). The God of the Mundane helps us recapture a biblical vision of the ‘ordinary’ Christian life in a way that I pray will resonate deep within its readers.”
— Aaron Armstrong, Brand Manager, The Gospel Project; author, Epic, and Awaiting a Savior
“At a time when we are encouraged to believe that the next revival is just around the corner if we try hard enough, or that we are wasting our lives if we are not ‘making a significant impact’; and in a contemporary culture where the biggest and best demand our adulation and aspirations, Redmond’s book comes as a breath of fresh air.
“Founded on Scripture and steeped in reality, this book reminds us that we have been listening to the wrong story. God’s extraordinary grace is seen through, not in spite of, the ordinariness of life. Perhaps, just as we need to redeem the word ‘secular’ and develop a more earthy spirituality, it is time also to honor God, the ‘Creator Mundi,’ by choosing to live well in the mundane world He has created for us and inhabits with us.”
— Dr. David J. Montgomery, Associate Regional Secretary, IFES Europe (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students)
“Matthew B. Redmond recognizes that most of us have always lived mundane lives, are living mundane lives, and will always live mundane lives. And he knows we need encouragement. Matt’s common sense, personal credibility, and winsome wit make this book about celebrating the ordinary and makes an extraordinary contribution to our understanding of the Jesus-shaped life.”
— Chaplain Mike Mercer, lead writer at InternetMonk.com, author, Walking Home Together: Spiritual Guidance and Practical Advice for the End of Life, and Show Me the Path: Cultivating a Life of Discernment
“Deep calls to deep across the pages of The God of the Mundane. Matt Redmond’s meek, considered prose affirms the deep desire so many of us harbor: to live quietly, faithfully while the rest of the world grows louder. Can we actually shape our world without seizing the spotlight? Redmond reminds us that, with the God of the mundane, all things are possible.”
— Aarik Danielsen, Fathom Magazine columnist
From around the Web
I read The God of the Mundane this afternoon. This little book is better than most theological works I’ve read in the last 40 years.
— Chris Hanna on Facebook
Lauren DuPrez –
The God of the Mundane by Matthew B. Redmond is a short yet insightful read that reminds Christians to be content with lives of ordinary faithfulness. Christians are often challenged to demonstrate their faithfulness to God in radical, extraordinary ways. While a few are called to live extraordinary lives, many will live lives of ordinary faithfulness and kingdom work that won’t receive any sort of earthly recognition. The God of the Mundane begins with Redmond sharing about a season in which he found himself working as a banker. It was ordinary work that he wasn’t particularly excited about. He struggled for a time to understand how it intersected with his faith until one day when he able to pray for a young customer who was short on money and had been diagnosed with cancer. The customer was especially discouraged after learning of more tumors spreading in her body and after Redmond had prayed for her, she came back to share with him that the tumors were benign. After that, his perspective about living an ordinary life of faithfulness changed.
Redmond’s book comes from his heart as a pastor, wanting to encourage Christian brothers and sisters that lives of ordinary faithfulness are beautiful to the Lord. As a stay at home mom myself, I’m thankful to have read Redmond’s book in this season and wish I would have come across it sooner. I believe this book is necessary for Christians today as we live in a world in which seems that those who have the broadest influence are the most faithful. The God of the Mundane has certainly challenged my thinking and reminded me to slow down and see every moment as a gift from the Lord. In a way, it has also helped me to appreciate the season following my miscarriage. My heart has often wanted to be done with grief because naturally, I don’t enjoy it, but The God of the Mundane reminded me that God is easily pleased with me because of Jesus as I am faithful in what He has called me to even in the hard moments. I really enjoyed this book and its timely reminder and believe that many others will be blessed by reading it too.
I received The God of the Mundane compliments of Cruciform Press in exchange for my honest review.
Nick Minerva –
It’s easy to think that God’s best work is the larger-than-life, Pentecost-style moments. Works of God have to be “parting the Red Sea” big or we just assume it wasn’t God. Somewhere along the way we have picked up the idea that the only people God uses are Pastors or Missionaries who leave everything behind to live in a grass hut, in a third-world country, eating bugs so he could share the Gospel. It’s the “rock star” worship leaders that are making a difference in the world. In a world that practically worships celebrities and notoriety, we have begun to view quiet faithfulness as second best (if not even compromise.)
But let’s be real, those big moments that fill our Sunday School stories are not everyday life. Most of us aren’t leaving everything behind to go be a missionary. Does that mean God is working in our lives less? No. In God of the Mundane, Matthew Redmond shows us how God is very much at work in the ordinary places of our lives. God is in the mundane. It’s true, the Bible is full of story after story of miracles done by great men and women. But consider who it was written to—ordinary people who would never be apostles or church-planters or missionaries in the way we typically think about them. Think about it, even Jesus himself spent the majority of his adult life as an obscure, blue-collar worker.
Throughout this book, Matthew reminds us that God delights in using the weak, insignificant and despised, because they are so ordinary, things in the world to advance his kingdom. Seeking to live a peaceful and quiet life is not a compromise. It’s a command. The mom changing dirty diapers, the dentist filling cavities, the trash pickup man, they are all pushing against the Fall just like the pastor and missionary. God’s extraordinary grace is made for ordinary, mundane moments. Even the repetitive, boring moments that chafe against our soul. God might call you to do something radical. But more than likely he is calling you to do something ordinary. He works, avances his kingdom through, and rewards the routine, uncelebrated kindness and obedience of his children. In the author’s own words “This little book is not a call to do nothing. It is a call to be faithful right where you are, regardless of how mundane that place is.” After all, this is God’s story, not ours. Love God. Love People. Die and be forgotten.
Endora Pan –
Have you ever thought that you needed to do “big things for God”? Have you ever felt like you weren’t living up to the standard of a “good Christian” if you weren’t giving up all that you have to donate to the poor or to become a lifelong missionary? While there are people that may be called to do so, most people throughout history to this day, including you and I, will continue to lead ordinary, mundane lives. But we get lots of sermons, books, and resources that heavily encourage us to do big, monumental things for God.
In this book, The God of the Mundane, Matthew B. Redmond asks a very important question, “Is there a God of the mundane?” Does God care about the parent that is barely able to stay awake after changing countless diapers and feedings throughout the day for their child? Does God care for the individual that is struggling with their job? These are all believers but there is nothing seemingly significant about their day-to-day roles.
The answer to Redmond’s question shouldn’t be surprising (spoiler alert: it’s in the title). He argues that most of us will not be called to be like the apostles in the New Testament, but rather, most of us will be the audience that the apostles wrote to. In 146 pages, Redmond reminds us that God seeks obedience and faithfulness in whatever season, circumstance, gifts, and talents He has given to us. The reality is that the majority of our life will be filled with the mundane and that is totally okay. We may remain nameless in history, as did most of the readers of the epistles, but we will be remembered by the God who knows and sees all.
I was very encouraged to read this book. It challenged me. I have definitely listened to sermons and read books that challenged me to live radically and boldly for Jesus. I have grappled with similar questions of whether God truly wants me to continue to live normally in my profession, doing what seems to be somewhat insignificant tasks in light of eternity. However, it would be a lie to think that where God has called each of us is without a purpose. There is a purpose. It does take courage to follow Jesus as a nobody, but perhaps being faithful in the mundane, especially joyfully obedient, can be quite extraordinary. It would reflect dying to ourselves, the self that seeks fame and glory. Only a God of the mundane will be able to tell the story of how He sustained His people who live ordinary lives and reflect His image in ordinary ways.
Alistair –
Living in a world that tells people to be their ‘best self’, to achieve greatness and do something special with their lives is tiring. The focus is on the extraordinary, rather than the day to day grind of normal life. Well, it’s just wrong and it’s wreaking havoc in so many people’s lives.
Instead of focusing on the special we need to think about the mundane. This happens in the church too. We focus on the missionaries, the life changers, the people who did great things for God. But do we also consider the faithful mum who teaches her children about Jesus? Or the faithful employee who serves diligently and is a witness to his colleagues?
Instead of preaching a gospel that is all about constantly going the extra mile which can act like a snapping whip on the backs of faithful men and women, teach them what God has done for them.
That’s what this book is all about. It’s a reminder that God has done far more for us than we could ever imagine. It’s a reminder that the Lord created the mundane and He treats those doing such tasks the same as everyone else.
In this great little book Redmond helps the reader see that their worth is not in what they can do for God, but it’s in what God has already done for them. This message frees the Lord’s people from the pressure to do more and be better, but instead it tells us to glorify God in everything.
Wash dishes to the glory of God. Change a nappy to the glory of God. Go to your office job to the glory of God. You get the point. God isn’t only glorified when His people do wonderful and ‘front line’ stuff for God.
I would highly recommend this book. You will be challenged, encouraged and comforted to come before the God of the mundane and to praise Him with what you have and what you do on a daily basis. This would be a great book for a discipleship 1-1 or a study group.
I intentionally haven’t put any quotes in this review because I didn’t want to soften the impact of the book and it’s message. The mundane can be glorious if we do it with and for the Lord.
Nitoy M. Gonzales –
Is your life as a Christian just a routine of no significance? Do you wish you could do something earth shattering like those Christians of old you read on their biographies? Do you feel guilty when you don’t measure up with those radical sermons? Is there more of in my ordinary life? According to Matthew Redmond in his book, The God of the Mundane, being just who you are and what you ordinarily do can make a difference in the sight of God.
What’s unique in this book is Redmond building up stories that drive the message through that hits the heart of the reader. Very personal and can you easily relate. As if you’re in their stories. The biggest chunk of the chapters are individual narratives. In some parts it feels like reading a novel. The biblical lessons are short but solid. They can easily be digested because of the accompanying stories. No doubt that this is the reason for the second edition or reprint of this book.
The God of the Mundane is an enjoyable and relatable book on being ordinary. This book might be a response for those radical books of the like of John Piper and David Platt in the early 2000 but it’s still relavant today. This quick read won’t give you the how-to’s or a step by step plan that will bog you down, but an ample dose of stories and biblical insights that are not exaggerated nor overwhelming. No complicated stuff here just a powerful volume you’ll find engaging. You won’t get bored but you’ll want to read more.
The God of the Mundane knows how to tell stories and biblical insights that will set you in appreciating the ordinary stuff in the Christian life that counts to God. It’s assuring to us believers that the unknown and quite works that we do to God has an impact through eternity. No guilty trip here if you’re not “radical”. Truth be told, being ordinary is being radical too.
My verdict:
5 out of 5