Author: John Pavlovitz
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Publication Date: September 28, 2021
Length: 238 Pages
About the Author
John Pavlovitz is a blogger, author, and pastor based in North Carolina. His blog, Stuff That Needs to Be Said, recently surpassed one hundred million views.
We Have One Job; LOVE!
Loving God and neighbor and self is the elemental stuff of Christian prayers, songs, T-shirts, and bumper stickers...and we all know that.
However, there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. Love is the path that Jesus laid out for us. This book is about the walking: about imagining what love should or could look like if we take that mandate seriously.
My Thoughts
John Pavlovitz has written a powerful book that challenges the reader to really think about the conclusions we hold about the character of God. Our ability to be loving to ourselves and our neighbors is in many ways a product of these conclusions.
"One set of answers will yield a hopeful, compassionate benevolence that continually moves us to welcome others in and to live with an openhanded generosity...and another is likely to construct a scalding, brimstone-laden judgmentalism that leaves us predisposed to exclude and prone to finger wagging."
The author believes we should be compassionate and empathetic to our fellow human beings. We are all jerks at times...setting out to hurt another person and succeeding. We should ask ourselves, "Am I trying to understand this person, or am I trying to defeat them?" Understanding is a key element in love.
We tend to see the world through the filters of our personal background, culture, and education. It is really difficult to be open-minded and understand the reasons for our preferences and prejudices. We live in our own little world and are mostly ignorant about how the rest of the world is living. This book encourages you to open your mind and your heart. It asks you to really SEE what is going on around you. Your religion is not what you believe, your religion is how you treat people.
Mr. Pavlovitz comes down hard on traditional evangelical churches and challenges them to be "The Church of Not Being Horrible." We have ONE job: LOVE!
MY RATING: 5 STARS OUT OF 5
FYI ~ I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley.
