"Why You Matter" (Michael Sherrard)

TITLE: Why You Matter (Perspectives: A Summit Ministries Series): How Your Quest for Meaning Is Meaningless without God
AUTHOR: Michael Sherrard
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2021, (194 pages).

For every "what" there needs to be a "why." For some of us, we need more than simply an answer to the latter. For many of us, this is essentially a quest for meaning and significance of our lives. What makes life meaningful? How are we part of the grand plan of significance? The key thesis in this book is that God exists, and that is why we matter. With the ongoing pandemic, many people are dealing with disruptions, loneliness, deaths, sicknesses, health issues, in particular mental and spiritual well-being. These might lead them to question the meaning of life. Then comes racial issues which led to the rise of the "Black Lives Matter" as well as an "All Lives Matter" reaction by some quarters. Even in societies that pride on equality and freedom of expression, many people still go through crises of various types. Author and pastor Michael Sherrard focus on a "crisis of meaning" to probe behind the reasons why people insist their lives matter in the first place. Once we can understand that, the rest will come into place. He helps us go beyond mere feelings as a judge of our worth. For feelings are often too subjective to be reliable. Rather than letting our feelings, our skills, or our subjectivity determine our life's meaning and identity, why not go back to our Creator? How is that meaningful? In the quest for such answers, we start by observing the culture and society we are living in. Can our present situation of secularism and godless society bring everlasting meaning? What are the promises of atheism? What about morality? The author helps us take a critical look at the society we are in, on the emptiness of the "good life" we often assume we are in. Gradually, he switches gear to help us envision a world with God. Sherrard essentially says the following:  

• We are created with love 
• We are valued in love
• We are loved.

God gives us life in accordance with His glorious grace. We are created to care for our world, cultivate good, and bring glory to God. In fact, our nature of wanting good in this world is rooted in God's goodness in us. We matter because we are called to glorify God through caring for the world we are in and loving people. One interesting argument that the author makes is the need for freedom to operate within certain boundaries. For true freedom exists only when we are within certain limits. This seems quite counter-cultural to our society's definition of total freedom as one without limits. He explains it via the lens of love and relationships. When we are free to love, we need to give others the freedom to choose how to respond. God loves us and gives us to freedom to respond. We learn about creative love. When we live in the light of choosing God's love, there is a chance for us to experience true joy. Life becomes more meaningful when we learn to live for someone else bigger than ourselves. Out of this freedom comes joy, which is the very virtue that will make our living strong and lasting. Joy is a powerful antidote for a lot of things. 

In each chapter, Sherrard shows us how empty cultural catchphrases are when we are told to "be ourselves" when we don't really understand what that means. Understanding our identity is one of the most profound things that many have not really done or understood. If that is so, how can anyone be truly themselves when they don't know what that means? Thankfully, Sherrard provides us a map of how we could do just that. Through the lens of joy, we can see our identity more deeply, our calling more clearly, our loving more authentically, and our struggles more honestly. He ends with the wisdom chapter from Ecclesiastes to let the Bible point us the way, that life is only meaningful in God. 

My Thoughts

This is a book about living joyfully in the light of God's love. We all need that. One of the key questions we all need to answer from time to time is to ask ourselves: "Who am I?" This might seem to be elementary but Sherrard shows us it is fundamental to our search for meaning. In our fast-paced society, we are easily tempted to let secondary matters define our lives and colour our perspectives. Without recognizing our own primary needs, we become easily disillusioned with ourselves. The wise man in Ecclesiastes had done everything possible in life to find meaning, and yet he realizes that without God, everything is futile. What I appreciate in this book is not what Sherrard is saying but the journey to getting there. For instance, he helps us question conventional cliches and ponder on their lack of meaning. Sometimes, we commit two kinds of errors. The first kind is how we often give something more credit than they deserve. The second kind is how we fail to give enough credit where credit is due. In some way, Sherrard addresses both of these forms of errors and thought impediments to give us a runway toward joy, and from joy toward meaning. 

The author helps us answer the perennial question about meaningful living, and he does this with an unabashed focus on God. This is commendable and forms a part of our faith. We all need to come to grips with the reason why we live at some point in life. Perhaps, for many of us, this question needs answering more frequently than we think, especially when we enter different phases of our lives. Each chapter gives us a chance to ask questions of ourselves that we don't usually get to ask. Every question offers us a glimpse of what we might have missed when trying to understand ourselves in our quest for meaning. I recommend this book not only to anyone desiring to know more about the meaning of life,  but more importantly, to those who feel increasingly frustrated with what life is all about.

Michael Sherrard (MDiv, Luther Rice College & Seminary) is senior pastor at Crosspoint Community Church and faculty member at Summit Ministries. He is the author of Relational Apologetics and a national speaker specializing in a biblical worldview, ethics, and evangelism. He lives in Peachtree City, Georgia, with his wife, Terri Anna, and their five children. 

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Books and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.