Outlive Your Life

One passage from Max Lucado’s Outlive Your Life that continues to stick with me:

A few years back, three questions rocked my world. They came from different people in the span of a month. Question 1: Had you been a German Christian during World War II, would you have taken a stand against Hitler? Question 2: Had you lived in the South during the civil rights conflict, would you have taken a stand against racism? Question 3: When your grandchildren discover you lived during a day in which 1.75 billion people were poor and 1 billion were hungry, how will they judge your response?

This quote is from page 7, and the rest of the book is just as challenging.  Below is my summary of the rest of the book — thanks to BookSneeze for the complimentary copy in exchange for this review…

This journey through the book of Acts is entertaining, relevant and challenging, and is better than other Lucado books I’ve read.  It’s a book an individual can kick back with and read in a few sittings, but it’s also a book that a small group could discuss over the course of a month or so (I think this would work really well).

Regardless of how it’s read and processed, Outlive Your Life is not written to make a person more comfortable in their faith — it’s quite the opposite, prompting the reader to ask questions like “who have I shut out or discounted?”, and “how have I insulated myself from the hurt of the hurting?”

These questions are woven with simple, clear stories and illustrations that shine a light on the needs in our world and our ability to meet those needs.  One such illustration reframes the mind-numbing statistic that 20% of the world’s population controls 80% of the wealth.  ”Ten dairy farmers occupy the same valley…two of the farmers own eight cows, and the other eight farmers share two cows. Does that seem fair?”

Outlive Your Life is as challenging as it is engaging, and highly recommended for those who are willing to experience some discomfort in exchange for making a difference in this world.  We only get one life.

“May you live in such a way that your death is just the beginning of your life.”