Be You. Do Good. (Book Review)
One of my goals for this blog is to periodically highlight I book I have recently read with a short review detailing why I read it and what I took away from it.
I don't think there is any better book to start with then with Jonathan David Golden's book: Be You. Do Good. Jonathan is the founder of Land Of A Thousand Hills Coffee Company and is an Anglican priest at St. Peter's Place in Roswell, Georgia.
This book is all about your calling and what you want to do with your life. And no, it's not another one of those 'pie in the sky' books that tells you that you have ONE thing you are called to do with your life. Which leaves you with the inevitable fear of missing out on that ONE thing, thus leading us to drag our feet waiting for the perfect opportunity in life.
Here's my 3-2-1 Countdown of Be You. Do Good.:
- 3 Great Parts:
- One of the most challenging stories in this book is when Jonathan recounts an old Jewish tale of a man seeking God's call while ignoring the world around him (get the book here and flip it open to pages 82 and 83 for the full story). The moral of the story is this: "The man's intent focus on what was before him kept him from recognizing the opportunity to respond to God's call right beside him."
- More than likely, our 'greater calling' is not off far in the future beyond the horizon. Rather: "Believe it or not, the people in your life right now are most likely the community God will use to help your vision become a reality."
- "If there wasn't work to do here, a calling that required our courage, God would take us home to heaven immediately." So if we are still here, God isn't done with us yet!
- 2 Questions:
- One of the main points that Jonathan makes throughout the book is that we cannot pursue our God-given calling by ourselves. We must do it in community. We have to surround ourselves with friends, mentors, and loved ones that we want to journey with for the long-term. Jonathan puts it this way, "Who do you want to carry your coffin?"
- As you go through life, interacting with other humans (who have various needs, wounds, and talents), I challenge you to ask God this question (from page 120): "What needs do you want to meet through me for them and through them for me?"
- 1 Major Takeaway:
- My top takeaway from this book is summed up in this one quote from near the end of the book: "Refuse to believe the destructive myth that God will reveal a single narrow calling for your life...As you mature, as you develop new competencies, as you pursue new interests, it is God's blessed whimsy to continue to call you to fresh kingdom expressions of your calling."
I absolutely loved this book and the perspective Jonathan takes on what we are supposed to do with our lives. As an emerging adult and 'millenial' this book spoke some hard truth and great encouragement to me as I am discerning what God is calling me to in the years ahead for me and my wife.
So go grab the book here and get to work! (And check out one of Jonathan's videos here.)
