Holy Discontent; Fueling the Fire That Ignites Personal Vision, a review

When the nice people at Zondervan asked if I'd be willing to review a couple of books, I said yes (of course). Both of the books sounded interesting but this one by Bill Hybels particularly made me curious. For it is a book all about being discontent and after all, aren't we suppose to live a contented life?

Also, all I knew about Hybels was that he was a pastor of a really, really big church. I decided to do a Google search to learn more about him. I was led to another one of "those" sites which made him akin to the devil because he didn't "do church" the way the people who host the site thought "church" should be done. AAACK! Didn't I just go through this with another author?

It reminded me of the radio show I tuned to while driving last winter where the two hosts were blasting another well known pastor/writer for getting involved in fighting AIDS in Africa. I posted about it at the time because they said something like "Jesus is returning again soon and there are people going to Hell so why is this guy going around helping AIDS patients?". People, I actually cried at that statement.

So that's just a little background I carried into the reading of Bill Hybels' book called Holy Discontent. He says discontent is when we come up against something that really bothers us. It's the reason people get involved in various causes, start churches or other ministries, feed and house the poor, etc.

Here is the question he says is behind the book..."What is it that motivates people to work where they work, volunteer their time to the groups they serve, and donate money to the causes they support? ...To put it simply, Why do people do what they do?"

He defines Holy Discontent when we find, "an earth-bound human being who happened to find himself stirred up by the exact same thing that stirred the heart of the Creator".

He begins the book by telling the story of how he made the decision to become a pastor. He then gives us instances in the Bible...many of them...where there is the seed of discontent which grows in a person and becomes a fire used by God (as in...Moses). He tells us a lot of stories about people who developed such discontent. Some we know, such as Mother Theresa. Others we are not so familiar with but people who have made major changes in their world, like the woman who has worked to feed the poor in Detroit for decades.

He shares about the work that he and others are doing in places like Africa. He has a section about working with Bono and how he developed a passion for helping the people of Africa who are dying.

This is a great, inspirational book. I'd give it to someone I know who has true vision toward a cause. I would especially give it to someone who has lost their vision. It is all about doing the work of Christ while it can be done, one person at a time. Good stuff...