Review: Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung

Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will. Chicago: Moody, 2009. (Published on Amazon Kindle)

Kevin DeYoung’s purpose in writing this book is to challenge young Christians to make decisions more confidently, without waiting for a special word from the Lord. Instead, he wants us to get wisdom, and place more importance on the moral and ethical decisions than on the ones like marriage or employment, where either option could glorify God.  He speaks of two wills in God: the secret will of decree, and the open will of command. (Deut. 29:29) A third will of direction, which many Christians are desperately looking for, is not promised to us in Scripture.  The way of wisdom, by which God typically guides his people today, involves a lifestyle of earnestly “reading our Bibles (storing up God’s commands), listening to sound advice (turning our ears to wisdom), and praying to God (calling out for insight).”  (Cf. Prov. 2:1-6) 

DeYoung is careful to say that God can still speak to people directly through dreams or visions or small voices, but theologians from both the cessationist and the charismatic camps agree that we shouldn’t expect it to be normal.  According to Hebrews 1, the most reliable way of hearing God is through his Son: either by seeing and hearing him when he was on the earth, by hearing his apostles speak, or by illumination from the Spirit of Christ as we read the Bible and understand it in context.  DeYoung comments that when we give the stamp "God told me" to our mere impressions, then we foolishly put our decisions beyond the reach of sound advisers.

This is the first book I’ve read all the way through on my cell phone’s Kindle app. That’s partly because DeYoung keeps it short, steps on your toes, and tells personal stories. Although he’s a pastor, he doesn’t write just from his own life experience and scholarship; he also uses his two grandpas as examples in retrospect of trust in Providence, hard work, decisive action, and contentment; which he says were more common in the World War II generation than they are today.  

After reading chapter eight last night on “the way of wisdom,” I woke up and read Proverbs 1 and 2, with an ache in my heart to learn wisdom, that is, to think ahead and do the unpleasant things that are necessary because they are the right things to do, such as brushing my teeth when I’d rather go straight to bed, or writing a lesson plan for the week when I’d rather wait until ten minutes before class.  Because I’m called to glorify God, taking risks based on faith, and then being faithful in whatever job I end up (English teacher, professor, paralegal, Bible translator, tutor, etc.), is more important than finding my fulfillment in “the one right job”.  I wish more of my friends would read this book.