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Theology-lite motivational book

by Paul Mastin

September 6, 2012

Stephen Furtick, pastor and founder of the super-fast growing Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, wants Christians to be greater. Most Christians know that God has called them to something greater, but they get stuck in "miserable mediocrity," "comfortable complacency," the "lesser loser life." Can you relate to this: "going every day to a job you'd prefer to quit, doing decent work, being a pretty good person compared to your neighbor, paying your bills on time, and sporadically reading your Bible as though it's your guide to the great things God did in other people's lives in the past." I know I can. (Except that sometimes my bills get lost on my messy desk and I pay them late. I need to work on that.)

Greater is a high-energy read, with all of the pop-culture references and theology-lite you would expect from the successful pastor of a seeker-oriented church. You surely wouldn't pick this book up expecting great theological depth, but Furtick does inspire without wandering off into humanistic heterodoxy. The result is effective motivational talk in biblical garb.

I especially liked his admonition to "dream big but start small." It makes sense. For example, you want to be a spiritual giant? How about starting with praying ten minutes a day. Furtick reminds us that "you have everything you need to do all that God is calling you to do right now." Our problem is that "we spend all our time dreaming about where we wish we were and what we wish we had and no time investing in where we are and using what we have."

I was inspired by Furtick's book, but less for its spiritual, biblical content than for Furtick's motivational message. He is a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, so I'm thinking surely his sermons and the overall body of his writing has some solid biblical and theological teaching. There's not much sign of that here.

Thanks to Waterbrook Multnomah and Edelweis for my complementary electronic review copy.