Supernatural Ways of Royalty reveals your true identity as a child of the King of Kings, royal heir to the eternal Kingdom of God. Kris Vallotton and Bill Johnson denounce the pauper mentality many Christians have and present your royal inheritance through Christ's ultimate act of redemption.

Vallotton explores an aspect of faith that was a new way of thinking to me in this book about supernatural royalty. The title is an apt description of the whole: we are royal sons and daughters of God through our faith in Jesus Christ, and should embrace our God-given heritage. In theory, many Christians would completely agree with this thesis, but the author argues that in practice we live our lives like paupers instead of princes. He presents the idea that the church has inculcated a false humility in its followers, that many believe we should tear ourselves down and belittle ourselves to be true to Jesus. Instead of celebrating our goodness, we call it pride and focus mainly on our sinful nature instead. He isn't dealing in absolutes; he doesn't claim that all of the church always acts this way, but in general terms, he feels that church history has created this type of culture.

I definitely encountered new ideas in reading this book. Frequently, when I read books about my faith, they are either on topics I want to know more about and therefore extend my knowledge of subjects I've already considered, or are on practical life applications with which I need help. Sometimes I read books that are designed to help me read the Bible at a deeper level. This book was chosen by a Bible study that I participate in, and was a departure from my typical reading choices. I tend to stay away from books that talk about the privileges of Christianity, because I have seen that idea abused all too often - people believe that being a Christian gives them a right to look down on others, judge, be self righteous, or just expect God to bless them with whatever they want. That way of thinking makes me shudder. Fortunately, this book was not aligned with that kind of doctrine. While it certainly talks about the privileges of Christianity, it keeps those blessings focused in Jesus, our relationship with him and the responsibilities that brings. In other words, Vallotton is not trying to sell books with just sweet news and promises, but really preaching about life changes that are uplifting but are centered in Jesus.

So I think it was a good thing that I read this, since my personal prejudice makes me turn away from books with this kind of empowering message, fearing that it will slide into extremes that I absolutely reject. Yet there is a need for this word to be spoken into believing communities. False humility, and focusing on our sin and guilt too much, is just as much of an error as false pride and pursuing faith for the good it will do for us. I agree with Vallotton's premise that when we are saved, our sin is erased, and we need to let it go. I also liked his ideas about royal responsibilities, like righteous indignation at injustice that motivates us to take action for change, or the responsibility of a ruler to look to the needs of family, friends, and community at large. We ought not to accept limitations to our authority but expect God to move in big ways all around us.

On the other hand, there were points to his argument that I didn't accept. His ideas about righteous indignation were linked to anger, that we could have a holy anger that is good, and that makes me extremely nervous. Far too many Christians think their anger is justified, even when they are acting contrary to what Jesus demonstrated in his own life. Some of the scriptures he interpreted bear different messages for me. In general, I agreed with this new premise that we should adopt more royal attitudes, but only as a component of our faith, balanced against other elements like humility and grace and mercy, and always forgiveness and forgiveness, and not to the total extent that he pushes in the book. ( )