inSignificant
by
Chris Travis
“Why you
matter in the surprising way God is changing the world.” That’s the subtitle.
If you’re looking for a bit of encouragement to be unselfish – this is the book
for you.
We all
want to live a life that matters. We all search for significance in our lives.
This book basically tells you – help the ‘least of these’ – the ones who are
needy. In that way, you’ll be significant. You help change others’ lives, and
you’ll find your own destiny, your own purpose along the way.
The
author based this book on two years of his life teaching in a bad school system
in New York City. The book chronicles how hard things were the first year…how
rebellious the students were, how it stripped him of hate. How he cried – more than
ever. And how the acclaim and self-worth he had previously felt while being on
staff at a church – was totally missing in this job.
His
second year went better, he says, because he learned the lessons of the first
year. After his second year, the school was shut down. He is now a pastor,
planting a church in New York City.
From the
description of the book, what I actually got was not quite what I expected.
Maybe it’s just me. The ‘youth’ of the author came through quite clearly. Maybe
I’m cynical – sometimes it comes with being middle-aged and having been knocked
around by life a bit, but someone who only had one bad year out of their life –
hard though it was – well – I didn’t get as much out of the book as I had
originally hoped to.
Obviously,
this book is written for the widest audience possible – as the author doesn’t
take it for granted the reader knows much about how God works.
It’s not
surprising that God can use anyone. It’s not surprising that we matter to God.
So, for me, it wasn’t a surprising book at all. I had the book figured out
before I was even halfway through it, but I was committed to reading the whole
thing through the book review program. This was the first book I’ve reviewed in
several years. It was the first one I was hoping would actually ‘help’ me with
my own issues of ‘significance.’
It didn’t,
but that doesn’t mean you won’t be encouraged by it. This book is published by Bethany House and is available through www.ChristianBook.com.
