Scatter

     BOOK REVIEW:   "God has repeatedly told us to fill the earth... The people of God have constantly gotten stuck, settled, and soft, and He has had to shake us out of this state. My prayer is that we will be the first generation to scatter on purpose... That we will go into every sector of society--business, the arts, education, and more--and be the Daniels of our day: being good at what we do, gaining favor in our workplace, and having the credibility and freedom to share our faith boldly. " --Andrew Scott

     MY REVIEW:   This book focuses on missions, but not in the traditional sense. Andrew Scott presents the idea that we as Christians need to stop considering missionaries to be only those who travel to destinations afar and sacrifice their American/etc lifestyles in order to witness to the lost. He declares that EVERY Christian is a missionary, right where they are. More precisely, right in our workplace. He puts forth that each one of us needs to be a witness and a missionary to our co-workers, bosses, and anyone we come in contact with via our jobs (everyone we meet, yes, but that's a different point). Away with only select Christians being considered missionaries.
     Along with this principle, Andrew presents another idea--we have been given talents, areas of expertise in which we excel, occupations that we sincerely enjoy. His thought is that we should be pursuing these careers, and not a career that you think you should do, or that someone else wants you to do. Or even, a career that you think would be fun. Do what you are good at, what you were made for. He says that we should be excelling in our work, even top of the line, as we are backed by the Spirit of God. Now I don't know about always being the top of the line, but there is a difference between the average work person, and a Christian who is living his life for God.
     This book does not rattle on for 200 pages just about being a light at work. There are other points made that tie directly to the subject. There are chapters on accepting who you are and were created to be, being aware of comforts in life tying you down, and seeing life as a big picture instead of just your "puzzle piece"---to name a few. A few quotes I underlined in the book are:

"When we lose our 'why' we lose our way" (Andy Stanley). When we fail to keep the main thing the main thing, our focus, energy, and efforts all seem to get distracted on things that do not matter as much. They may still be important, but not as important as our primary reason for being. -pg 63

As we look at our hurting world today and as we scatter into the hardest and dirtiest places we will be confronted by the reality of suffering and lostness like we have never seen before. Recently some have encouraged us to realize that the world is not ours to save, but God's. While there is truth in this, I want to caution us against going too far. I recognize that God is in control and that He will win the war against Satan. But He included us in His plans, He made us to participate in His plans, and as part of His family, surely our hearts should break with the things that break our Father's heart. If it is not His will that any should perish then I want to be about that as well. If He is about binding up the wounds of the weary, giving sight to the blind, then I want to be about that also. If He is about the least of these, every people group, then I want to be about that too. The war is not mine but I am certainly called into the battle. -pg 169

     I enjoyed this book. The reading was thought-provoking, but easy to get through. Andrew laces his writing with humor and hilarious parables (for instance--a farmer training mules to run as thoroughbreds by feeding them a special diet and so on) that effectively make a point in a way that is easy to grasp. There are definitely a few points that I have to decide whether or not I agree with him, but I found the overall book to be one worth reading.

 I received a copy of this book from MOODY PUBLISHERS and was not required to give a positive review.