Something Needs to Change - Book Review

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Something Needs to Change by David Platt, which just came out this week, is the sort of book that you really want to read but is hard to read because of the truths it makes you understand about yourself. If you consider yourself a Christian, you might find yourself reconsidering that label after reading this book. You might find yourself reconsidering the type of Christian life you've been living.

After a trek through the Himalayas exploring impoverished villages and meeting the folks who lived there who had no access to medical care or education, sold their young girls into sex slavery, and died from easily treatable diseases, Platt had to reconsider the way he was living his life as a Christian. As a pastor, he did a lot of talking, but he realized that talking about helping people just wasn't enough. Something needed to change.

And the book doesn't just address meeting people's urgent physical needs but their spiritual ones, as well. The majority of the people Platt and his group met while on their expedition had never heard of Jesus. There seems to be a debate within the book about whether it's enough to help physical needs but ignore spiritual ones, or if spiritual needs are more important to meet first. You'll have to read the book and come to your own conclusion. (I would highly recommend reading this as part of a book club so you have others to discuss it with, but if you can't, don't let that stop you from picking up the book.)

Debates aside, the main gist of the book is that we can't keep living in our comfortable churches doing our normal traditions with no willingness to take on the long and hard work of spreading the Gospel and bringing food, healthcare, and education to the people who need it all most. Jesus said it himself in the Bible: being a Christian comes at a cost. But how costly is it to be a Christian in America these days?

Something needs to change.

Something Needs to Change is published by Multnomah and is on bookstore shelves now. I received a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.