Book Review Time

This is an unusual post for me. I am reviewing a book just out. It is by Joshua Becker and is called Living With Less: An Unexpected Key to Happiness. The author sought out some bloggers a few weeks ago to review this and post about it on release day, which is today.  :)

I have been reading his blog for a few months now and appreciate Becker’s call to reducing our possessions and earthly treasures in favor of something better. This new book of his is directed at Christian teens. I was hoping to read a clear call to treasure Christ above all, maybe something in the spirit of an updated version of the old  More With Less.

So. I read the book and took notes, I shall go through them in order.

I was glad to see in the title “an unexpected key to happiness” because it seems true in my experience that usually the places we look for happiness are not the places we find it. And I was pleased with a phrase in the dedication “written for an audience destined to find full life in Christ alone.” 

And then we hit the book itself, which is 104 small pages, plus some endnotes. Becker leads off with statistics about the way Americans live - loving our stuff and being in debt for it. He tells a lot of stories along the way and then ties them in to his points, and he is talking not only about rethinking our possessions, but also actions and words. He introduces the idea that we need someone in a father-like role to guide our spending, and suggests that Christ will take that on, working out of love for us. He makes a case to establish Christ’s authority in our lives. 

In chapter 2, Becker talks about what Jesus had to say about possessions and I liked his saying this is an “incredibly inconvenient teaching.” 

He goes on to explain his family’s choice of minimalism and how that has worked out for them.

Becker talks a lot about our heart and finding joy by letting go of possessions, and talks about how his ideas resonate within the heart. He then gives a long list of benefits of limiting your possessions - from very practical (can live in a smaller house) to rather abstract (fewer places for your heart to go), and finally rounds out the “heart section” by talking about the impact of these choices on our hearts - things like increased generosity.

He ends the book with a kind of challenge to take Christ literally in His words about poverty, forsaking treasure on earth, and sharing our possessions.

So.

There is a lot here to like. And I do not feel I have much of a handle on how his target audience might process his words. But, the bottom line for me is rather ironic. I think Becker needed to minimize this book. I find it overworded and, dare I say, cluttered?

I hope that those who read it will keep the valuable parts, truly consider the words of Christ in a counter-cultural way, and get rid of the flotsam.

Thank you for the chance to review this book. I found it thought-provoking and challenging.