Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

 

 

Max Lucado’s books to me are almost like a blanky to a baby–comfortable, consistent, and dependable.  He has a way of bringing biblical parables into modern day application, evoking emotion in the reader until it prompts immediate action, and he does this all with words that seem to flow like honey from a honeycomb.

In his latest book, Outlive Your Life, Max Lucado addresses a burden that should be on all of our hearts, especially as born again Christians, and that is the plight of the poor, oppressed, and hurting people in this world.  He challenges us to come out of our “clamshell,” stop hiding out and avoiding the problem, and dare to make a difference.  He encourages teamwork, community, hospitality, prayer, evangelism, and a casting off of negative labels and stereotypes, until we can live out our faith with compassion and concern for others.  I applaud him and the message he is waking us up to.

I rarely rate Lucado’s books as anything less than 5 stars, however, there are some potential red flags in this book that, without further clarification, make it hard for me to wholeheartedly recommend.

For example, when I came across the name Jim Wallis, the terminology in phrases such as “the Have-a-Lots and the Have-a-Littles are never to be so far apart that they can’t see each other,” and how the year of Jubilee was “intended to press the restart button on the machinery of justice,” my hunch is that there will be readers like myself starting to think of the progressive movement of social justice and what exactly that means in Lucado’s view.  Where is the line drawn between church and state; between personal/church involvement and government control to redistribute wealth, and does Lucado satisfactorily define that line?  Not in my opinion.

I am, in no way saying that, as Christians, one of our primary concerns shouldn’t be helping those who have significantly less than we do–less food, shelter, and clothing–and that we shouldn’t be committed in our time, talents, and treasures, to seeing those loved ones of God have more of their physical needs met.  We absolutely should!  The problem is that the mere mention of the poor in terms of a social justice philosophy triggers images and debates of government involvement–they are nearly synonymous in the media, no matter how much we want it to be a purely social term–and to most readers, this book could be seen as a springboard into that political movement.  Granted, Max Lucado does say that “Scripture endorses not forced communism but Spirit-led volunteerism among God’s people,” but to my recollection, this is one of very few (if not the only) moments of distinction, leaving his belief about that role somewhat in question.  My fear is that the gospel becomes more about the materially poor and less about the spiritually poor, thus redefining or redirecting God’s Great Commission to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19).  Outlive Your Live, and Max Lucado as a well-loved pastor, is treading a thin line to not clearly state the boundaries.

You can check out the details of this book and order it at Thomas Nelson Publishers, where I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review - http://booksneeze.com/.

Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado

Nobody weaves a biblical story with a life application like Max Lucado, and few use as powerful, creative, or beautiful language.  His words, through rhyme, analogy, and alliteration, seem to soothe and pierce all at the same time.  Lucado’s newest book, Fearless, is no different.  Over the course of 15 chapters, Lucado addresses just over a dozen of the most common and relevant fears in today’s world (parenting, violence, money, and death, to name a few) and he does it in such a way that I found myself feeling encouraged with Scripture and personal stories, as if I was speaking with a trusted friend, and also counseled as if by the Holy Spirit Himself. 

“The promise of Christ and the contention of this book are simple,” Lucado says, “we can fear less tomorrow than we do today.” Statements such as these soothed me. “To sin is to disregard God, ignore his teachings, deny his blessings. Sin is ‘God-less’ living, centering life on the center letter of the word sIn.” Statements such as these convicted me. Lucado’s unique style of writing draws the reader in as if reading a gripping novel, yet teaches timeless truths in an unforgettable way.

Although theologically sound, Fearless is not exceptionally theologically deep.  It may be information we have heard preached before, but it will be old information written in a beautiful and powerful way.  I recommend this book as one of Max Lucado’s better books.

You can check out the details of this book and order it at Thomas Nelson Publishers, where I am a Book Review Blogger - http://brb.thomasnelson.com/. You can also visit http://www.thefearlessbook.com/ for more information and a town hall webcast with Max Lucado.