Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Book Review

Can you find “holy” in the suburbs?

Whether you are a suburbanite or a city-dweller, Ashley Hales’ new volume, Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much, will invite and challenge you to consider what it means to live faithfully in a world of “too much,” consumerism, individualism, busyness, etc. In each carefully crafted chapter, she sheds light on how suburban and, (I would add), urban life can interfere with being a faithful citizen of God’s kingdom. Ashley calls us to a life of worshipping God more than soccer schedules and success ladders, a life of loving neighbors more than our well-insulated castles in the cul-de-sac.

Ashley plunges right in to the deep end describing how our granite countertops and the myriad consumer relics we crave have replaced golden calves as our contemporary idols:

And like all false gods—from golden calves to a Target haul—when we find worth by our affluence, it promises rest but brings stress, increasing demands, and a greater devotion to a god that will never love us and always forsake us (p.28).

After raising awareness of the contemporary golden calves we are tempted to consume, Ashley discusses the dangers of individualism, busyness, and safety, other idols found in suburbanites’ modern-day temples. Now that she’s got us squirming, Ashley invites us to repentance and encourages us with the sweet reminder of our belovedness:

God is that gentle parent who prepares a place for us. God—the one who is infinitely powerful, just, and merciful—looks at you like a starry-eyed parent fluffing pillows and washing sheets. You are his beloved (p. 90).

Throughout the book, She gives practical suggestions for moving toward God and others with chapters on belovedness, hospitality, generosity, vulnerability, and of course, my favorite— shalom.

Ashley’s gift for retelling the true story of Scripture will delight and surprise you. She reminds us that the Bible is not merely an ancient tome of tales but the actual history of God’s faithfulness to his people. Her interweaving of Scripture with sociology and theology strengthens her prophetic call. As she weaves this beautiful tapestry, Ashley draws us to repent from our indulgence in too-much-ness and invites us to return to worshipping the God who made us beloved and hospitable, generous and vulnerable.

Perhaps my favorite part of the book, though, is the section at the end of each chapter called “Practices,” what Ashley describes as “counterliturgies: new habits of seeing, being, and doing.” In this section, Ashley offers four-five practical suggestions for living out repentance in the areas she has discussed in that chapter. For example, in Chapter Two, I starred:

Get outside yourself. Begin imagining what practices you could take up that move you toward other people. Schedule thirty minutes to be available to your neighborhood. Notice its needs. Introduce yourself to a neighbor.

The practices she suggests are doable, practical, and effective. One of the practices led me to invite all of my neighbors over for an open house. Since our kids have grown up and moved away, we have few interactions with our neighbors; sadly, I wouldn’t recognize many of them if I saw them in the grocery store. Although I was a little nervous when the day came, around eighteen of my neighbors stopped in and ended up staying awhile. In this day of bitter divisiveness, it was a sweet gift of shalom, of hope for the day when every tribe, tongue, and people group will gather together to worship the Lord.

Although I may disagree that the -ism’s described in the book are unique to the suburban story (I think they look a little different in the city but still exist), and although I felt called outside my comfort zone often as I read (I needed to be), I highly recommend Finding Holy in the Suburbs. Ashley Hales is a modern-day prophet, holding up a mirror to help us see the terrifying image of what our golden calves might do to us if we continue to swallow their dust. She gently and kindly invites us to run to the God who is running toward us. Together with God and others, she proclaims, we will celebrate redemption and move kindly into the world with a love that truly transforms.