Is there anything that Max Lucado has written that isn’t worth reading? If there is, I can’t find it; and that includes his latest, Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference. Max Lucado once again turns to his tried and true formula: retell the biblical stories in a compelling way, add moving anecdotes to keep them interested, and slip in quick doses of easy to swallow theology before they have a chance to realize what’s coming. He does this in a way that makes the book not only enjoyable to read, but also incredibly persuasive. The book is very well written (we should expect nothing less from Lucado) and delivers just what you would expect.
The message of the book is one that our western culture desperately needs to hear. Researchers suggest that we face a “narcissistic epidemic” – we are obsessed with “I” and we expect everyone else to be obsessed with us also. Lucado may not offer a solution to the problem, but for those of us who may have recognized this tendency in ourselves, he offers us a step in the right direction.
Lucado seems to suggest that we should begin by asking ourselves the question, “When it’s all said and done, what difference will my life have made, and am I happy with that answer?” Lucado directs our attention to the early church, specifically the church as described in the Book of Acts and uses it as a benchmark for our own life of service in the world. At its heart, it is a call to make time for the least, the lonely, the last, and the lost. And in that atmosphere expect the kingdom of God to flourish among us.
I received this book from the publisher as part of their blogger review program. I was not required to write a favorable review and the opinions expressed are my own.