Summary
Max Lucado has a noble goal for his readers. He wants them
to look to the life of Jesus and be Just Like Jesus. A big point of his book
that he returns to several times is this: “God loves you just the way you are,
but he refuses to leave you there. He wants you to be JUST LIKE JESUS. Lucado
guides the reader to examine themselves
and their relationship through various “types of hearts”. For example, he suggests that, like Jesus, we
ought to have a forgiving heart, a compassionate heart, a listening heart, a
hope-filled heart and more.
Review
It has been quite a few years since I have read anything by
Lucado. I remember him as a good storyteller and some of his stories have a way
of shedding some light on a particular topic. He still has this as part of his
writing, but it is, part of the problem. Many times he tells a nice story; he
helps us imagine what it would be like to be in a situation. These stories sometimes feel forced to fit
into the model of the book and many times it is just a speculation of the
Biblical text that somehow feels a little off.
Another issue I had was that it doesn’t seem clear who
should be like Jesus. Lucado makes the mistake of assuming the Gospel, that
everyone he is writing to is already a believer. This is a pretty common, but I
think it is a problem worth noting. Granted, most nonbelievers are not going to
pick up a book like this, but a little more clarity would have been good,
though most folks won’t notice this.
A big problem that I had with this, as well as with folks
like Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life, is that they don’t generally stick to one
Bible translation. The versions used are chosen more because they fit the message
the author is trying to convey. The problem comes when the verse is looked up,
in context, and it doesn’t seem to be saying what Lucado is trying to say. This
happens on more than one occasion. If the Biblical message is what is being
looked at, it doesn’t seem that you would need to pick and choose a Bible
version that fits your message. The accurate Bible translation ought to be our
message. To me, this seriously undermines the sufficiency of Scripture and
encourages a “choose your own adventure” type of Bible reading. If the topic is
important enough, it wouldn’t seem necessary to pick and choose.
There were other difficulties I had with this book, but I
will stop for now. It may seem like there is nothing I liked about the book. That
is not true, but I cannot, in good conscience, recommend the book without these
important caveats. There is a refreshing part in Lucado’s simplicity, but it is also a
source for the problems in the book. A fan of Lucado with enjoy this read, and
in the big picture, it seems rather harmless in its content and the goal is
certainly good- to be like Jesus. If you are looking for substance, this is not
the book for you. If you are looking for a little spiritual junk food this will
work and there are certainly worse books on the market. If you keep in mind
some of these problems, the book is an easy going read.
BookSneeze® has provided me with a
complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review of the book.
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