I didn't buy it because I always check Amazon's reviews and look for the scholars comments on it before spending my money. Today I saw this review: By Mathew Sims This review is from: Shrewd: Daring to Live the Startling Command of Jesus (Paperback) I was intrigued by Shrewd precisely because you don't hear a lot surrounding this topic. But I was disappointed on the delivery for two reasons. First, the premise is built upon a misunderstanding of the two passages which use the word shrewd (Matthew 10 & Luke 16). Second, and closely related, because the foundation was shaky you never got a crisp definition of what he means by Christian shrewdness. Let's addresses my first objection. Matthew 10:16 says, "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." This verse is in the context of persecution and shepherding Jesus's flock in the midst of wolves. So the command to be wise as a serpent it seems most natural to connect with dealing with the wolves mentioned and the innocent (harmless) as doves connects with dealing with the sheep. Lawrence in the book tries to make the connection between serpent and Satan and dove and the Holy Spirit but Matthew doesn't seem to make that connection (pp. 34-35). Luke 16 Jesus tells a parable about the dishonest manager who is about to getting fired so he settles his master's debts for half price and saves his job. Jesus immediately provides the point of the parable. Jesus says, " I tell you, use the riches of this world to help others. In that way, you will make friends for yourselves. Then when your riches are gone, you will be welcomed into your eternal home in heaven" (v. 9). Rick suggest Jesus was praising the servant's dishonesty as a positive model of shrewdness (pp. 153-54) but that line of thought misses the point which Jesus explicit teaches in verse 9. Now the second objection. The word shrewd rarely occurs and where it does is constrained by the context of these scenarios. It seems then unnatural to lift up this one quality as ultimate for Christian living. I do applaud Rick's push back on the idea that Christians should just be naive and nice. A kind of simple minded pushover (pp. 45-50). But because of the confusion over the first point and the stretching of the intent the definition of shrewd never comes across clearly. Rick frequently references (pp. 24-27) studying the situation and applying pressure with levers (last 50 pages) and coming at the situation sideways (pp. 142-151). One selection demonstrates the kind of tension due to the unnatural use of these texts and the word shrewd. Rick says, There are few things we hate more than feeling like someone is playing us for the fool. Even more, we abhor the thought that we might be playing someone for a fool. That's just not . . . Christian. Shrewdness is a breach of our social contract with each other--our innate agreement to treat others as we'd like to be treated (p. 50 see also p. 143). Rick seems to be suggesting playing someone would be the Christian thing to do. After finishing the book I was disappointed because I felt like there was something there worth exploring but the presentation and emphasis was all wrong. The something there came out when he made statements like, This same dynamic was at work in the mother of all shrewd encounters--when the Trinity plotted the over- throw of "the ruler of this world," winning back God's beloved from the kingdom of darkness. When Jesus willingly gave up His life as a sacrifice for all, defeating the claims of Satan and stripping him of his authority and power, He knew His Enemy had grown soft after countless millennia spent killing, stealing, and destroying with only spotty resistance. Though the sacrifice was inestimable and the pain was incalculable, it was a relatively easy turn of the wrench for the Sensei of Shrewd. (p. 161 see also p. 61) But unfortunately the potential didn't out weight misunderstanding of shrewdness. ------------------------------------------- so I decided not to waste my time. What do you think?