What Are You Reading?: Rebecca Hankins

What book are you reading currently?

I have just read 7 Myths about Singleness by Sam Allberry. I highly anticipated this book and found his writing on singleness to be intensely relatable, unpretentious, and edifying. As a single myself, this book was a refreshing reminder that I am not alone in many of the thoughts that plague me from within myself and from cultural voices as well as an uplifting exhortation to look to Christ in the midst of them.

What has been your favorite thing about the book?

One of the best things about 7 Myths about Singleness is its candid openness. Allberry does not hesitate to tackle prevailing lies in cultural Christianity about both singleness and marriage, yet does so in a humble and loving manner. He is open about his own life as a single, and gently invites readers to see how the way we talk about singleness matters, especially in the church. Allberry challenges us to see both singleness and marriage from the perspective of the gospel, ultimately pointing us back to Christ.  

How has this book challenged you?

While I was greatly encouraged by Allberry’s candor in this book, I was also challenged to check my own thoughts about my singleness.

Allberry says, “If marriage shows us the shape of the gospel, singleness shows us its sufficiency. This is why the church needs single people. Not as a supposedly endless source of free babysitting, but to remind us that the joy and fulfillment of marriage in this life is partial and can only be temporal. The presence of singles who find their fullest meaning and satisfaction in Christ is a visible, physical testimony to the fact that the end of all our longing comes in Jesus.”[1]

I want to be that type of single: someone whose total satisfaction in Christ points a world seeking fulfillment to the only One who can truly give it.

Would you recommend this to your friends?

I would absolutely recommend 7 Myths about Singleness to Christians of all stripes. Whether single or married, a layperson or someone in ministry, it is vitally important to understand singles in your life and in your church and the struggles they go through. This book is both relatable and eye-opening, as Allberry writes with a lighthearted yet deeply personal style, inviting the reader to see from his perspective. Readers of 7 Myths about Singleness will leave with a better perspective, encouraged to love others well and seek Christ first.

[1] Allberry, Sam. 2019. 7 Myths about Singleness. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. p. 120-121.