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Book Review
It's Not About Me
Max Lucado © 2004 Max Lucado,
Integrity Publishers, Nashville, TN.
J. van Leerdam
Western society today is chronically plagued by selfishness. We’ve all
seen the ads: “You’re worth it”… “You deserve a break”… “The most
important person in the world - you!” Movies, books, magazines, and TV
shows feed our ego and encourage us to seek our own interests and
desires. Children remind adults “I know my rights” and “You can’t make
me”. Our culture promotes a totally godless world view which affects
attitudes, actions and relationships, leaving no area of our lives
untouched. People spend so much time pursuing pleasure and possessions
that they forget what’s really important. It’s no wonder then, that
people are beset by questions like “Why are we here?” and “Is this all
there is?”
Christians know that there is much more to life. The Bible tells us that we were created to serve and glorify God. The Westminster Catechism states “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever (Q&A 1).
It’s Not About Me establishes that our lives, our message, and our behaviour are not about us, but about God. To seek God’s glory, promote God’s glory, and have God’s glory revealed in us is our God-given role in life.
Max Lucado points directly to Jesus Christ as the centre of our existence. When we seek the Lord and His kingdom, we need not fear change in our lives because we know God is sovereign and His plan of salvation will always be worked out. His plans are made in complete and perfect knowledge. We cannot understand or measure the extent or capacity of God’s love and mercy – we do not need to in order to take hold of them. Nor do we need to understand or measure God’s glory in order to reflect it to the world around us. In all we do, we are to reflect God’s love and glory to the world around us. “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:16)
Lucado uses examples of people with whom we are familiar – Copernicus, Moses, Isaiah, and many others - to bring us to an awareness of who God is and to a clear understanding that He not only demands first place in our lives, He alone is entitled to it. He speaks against pride, legalism, self-focus, and selfish priorities in life. He also issues strong warnings against behaviour that is self seeking, self harming, or promiscuous.
Futhermore, he admonishes against the “amnesia” that can result from success in life with which God has blessed us, by which we think we have achieved it ourselves and take credit for what God has done in our lives. Rather, God helps us to succeed so that His name will be glorified, not ours. Whatever we achieve in life is not about us, it’s about God’s present and future glory.
The final chapter demonstrates very clearly that how we live reflects directly on our Father and what people think of Him. This has a very practical application: what we know and who we are must be reflected in our lives so that people can see the Lord in us.
It’s Not About Me does not, however, read as a “do this, don’t do that” manual. Lucado’s advice is always constructive and always based soundly in Scriptural principles for living as God’s people. This book has a very fluid style which is extremely easy to read. It is suitable to pick up and read a chapter at a time, and would be great for personal or family devotion times with teens or young adults.
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