book #5: it

i hate being that guy.

you know the guy i'm talking about?  he's the one you're always warned about: don't be that guy!  it usually hits you when you're listening to someone talk about him or write about him, saying things like, don't be the guy that does this or does that...  and for me, i'm usually self-righteous enough to think, yeah, i can't believe that guy!  i'm glad i'm not like him!  he just doesn't get it.  that guy's always messing it up!  and often i'll even stoop to the pharisaical (albeit subconscious) prayer, Lord, thanks for helping me not be that guy!  i don't ever want to be that guy!


well, i have a confession to make...the book it kicked my butt.  and it kicked it over and over again.  and i have another confession to make...i started this book with a very critical spirit.  it sounded like another over-simplistic, theologically-watered-down, results-driven, hyped-up leadership formula guaranteed to bring success to those ministries willing to bow at the feet of the corporate model rather than the Word of God.  i'm ashamed at my prideful, self-righteous heart.

now, back to my original confession.  the more i read the more i couldn't escape it: i was that guy.

almost every chapter in part 2, "what contributes to it?", revealed my personal lack of it.  the more i read the worse it got.  it seemed like every few pages craig groeschel would give an example of that guy or ministry that didn't have it or had lost it...and it was like i was looking in a mirror.

if i'm willing to be honest i have to admit that i struggle to:
see it clearly
know where it is not
enjoy it with others
be courageous enough to do anything for it
fail towards it
want others to have it
and share it


and so what reads like a simple ministry leadership or Christian living book has profoundly impacted me personally.  i hope.  and i'm thankful for it.  so i purpose to make it my prayer, as he suggests, for God to:
stretch me.
ruin me.
heal me.

and i highly recommend it.