Mo Aiken’s newest book Fully Known: An Invitation of True Intimacy With God came out to the masses today. It came out filled with conviction for the believer in Christ who has avoided the hard work of daily growing closer to God. It came out filled with a message that challenges the reader to take seriously the commitment he or she made when they chose to follow Christ. It came out to wake up the sleeping generation of Christ followers who are content to have a crafted message from God hand delivered to them.
Mo doesn’t mess around with the message that is revealed to you through the unpacking of the bride and bridegroom metaphor found in the Bible. If you ever felt uncomfortable or confused about the sexual references between Jesus (the bridegroom) and the Church (the bride), Mo works through this metaphor in a way that speaks to the love of that relationship between Jesus and us. She gets real about the ways that we fill our time and our hearts with things that aren’t of God and then turns the reader back to how the relationship was intended to be.
The message of the book is for us to take accountability for our own faith. The work of sanctification (the process of cleansing in our lives that make us look more like Christ) is hard, but nothing that is ever worth doing will be easy. Mo challenges to identify and throw away our idols that have taken the place Christ should have in our lives and walk back to our one true lover – Christ. Mo also unpacks the sin of pride that has kept Christians captive and how to identify pride in our lives. She repeatedly talks about how a humble heart and walking in humility will bring you closer to the heart of God.
I will let Mo speak for herself here, with some of the things that spoke most to my heart.
The chapter that resonated most with me right now, was “Permission to Wrestle Well”. I feel like that is where I have spent time learning the most from Christ personally. It is where, as Mo puts it, my humanity has collided with His holiness. Knowing that I can come to Christ with my struggles, questions, frustrations, and confusion and that He won’t dismiss those coming from a heart that is in tune with the Holy Spirit.
One thing that you will notice as you read this book, is that it is littered with scripture and it isn’t just one quick verse to proof-text and move on with your point. There are large sections of scripture, in context, to help the reader understand that these thoughts aren’t just from a writer, but from God Himself.
This book isn’t one you read to feel better about the relationship you currently have with Christ. This is a book you read and as you process through, see a transformation happen in your life. You will probably be convicted. You will face issues where you need to repent. Those things never make you feel good, but they are needed for a holy life.
Fully Known is a work of heart for Mo Aiken. Personally, I have known Mo for eight years. What I can tell you about this book is that it is not just something she wrote, it is something she wrestled with and lived. I remember talking with her in October of 2019, and seeing it in her eyes as she said God wanted her to live this before she just wrote about it. It needed to be something she “fully knew” and took a break from writing until God had finished the work in her own heart first.
May you read this book and find yourself learning to know and become fully known by God.
Here is a link where you can go purchase the book!
Growing Hope 