(Un)Qualified: How God Uses Broken People to Do Big Things by Steven FurtickMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
It was a breath of fresh air to see a charismatic/pentecostal preacher discuss about the brokenness in his life, the struggles of ministry, weight of expectation from other people, and in an authentic and vulnerable manner at that! Furtick's title of the book was actually an adjective by which a theologian had labelled him with (during an interview). I was also pleasantly surprised to read that Furtick regards salvation to be a process (p127-134), which is a view more commonly held by reformed theologians/pastors.
The preacher often needs a quotable quote that the congregation would be able to take away, and Furtick does not disappoint with "God can't bless who you pretend to be." I recognise the importance of this one liner in the charismatic/pentecostal church (which I grew up in), and weakeness and struggles are often kept secret so as to portray a perfect facade for others to see. On this topic, I appreciate his frank discussion by using the illustrations of the Frustrating Furtick, Future Furtick and Fake Furtick. He also authentically recounts stories about his two boys, which casts them in a light that they would probably be embarrassed about when they grow older; I applaud him for his courage to show that pastor's kids are human and carnal, but more importantly reveal his secure identity in Christ and the resulting heart condition of not needing to put up a "perfect" front of his family to the world.
Furtick's strength is his understanding of and utility of pop-culture references to illustrate its dangers (UFC fights, Pintrest Fails, #goals). He is also gifted in his ability to take "famous" bible stories, of Moses and the burning bush, Gideon, Joseph, Solomon, Isaac, Jacob and Rebekah, Laban and Rachel, etc., and retell them in an engaging manner that is highly accessible to the often biblically illiterate average Christian. I was however uncomfortable with the allegorical approach of citing Jesus' parable about the talents in Matt 25 to symbolize "all our God-given resources-time, money, energy, abilities, and yes, talents" (p50). With Jesus' original context being money, I hope that in subsequent revisions Furtick would explain how did he apply the parable to so many other different contexts.
That was the one blip in an otherwise wonderful book which I found thoroughly enjoyable. I heartily recommend this book! I received this book from the Crown Publishing Group's Blogging for Books program for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.
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