Do Not Be True to Yourself: Countercultural Advice for the Rest of Your Life

by Kevin DeYoung

Paperback, 2023

Status

Available

Genres

Religion & Spirituality

Nonfiction

Philosophy

Publication

Crossway (2023), 80 pages

Description

"This booklet offers countercultural advice to graduates: "Do not follow your dreams. Do not march to the beat of your own drummer. And whatever you do, do not be true to yourself." The world says you are what you feel. The world says your is equals ought. The world says you must find yourself, be true to yourself, and express yourself. Jesus gave us a different and better way to live. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life will lose it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:24-25)"--

User reviews

LibraryThing member blbooks

First sentence: In May 2022, I had the privilege of giving the commencement address at Geneva College (Beaver Falls, PA). I didn't want to recycle the usual commencement fare: "Follow your dreams! Be all that you can be! Go out and change the world!" Instead, I decided to give the opposite sort of

advice, as you'll see when you read the first chapter of this book.

This LITTLE (gem of a) book contains five addresses (sermons) by Kevin DeYoung written for young people--high school graduates and college graduates. There are five sermons in all: "Don't Be True To Yourself," "Choose For Yourselves," "The First Day of the Next Chapter of Your Life," "Two Ways to Live," "Horseshoes, Hand Grenades, and the Kingdom of God." While all five sermons have the same target audience in mind, each can stand alone. They share similar themes--how to best live life or how to best prepare for living life. DeYoung keeps God central in all of these addresses, and he's urging his listeners (readers) to do the same. Because the general topic is HOW TO LIVE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, these sermons while geared towards the young are just as true, just as relevant, just as on point for listeners/readers of ALL ages (and stages).

I particularly LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the first chapter, "Do Not Be True To Yourself." I think it is a must read sermon.

Another thing that I appreciated is the appendix, "Twelve "Old(ish) Books to Read When You Are Young." I can't say that I agree with his choices. I'd say about seven or eight are ambitious/intimidating undertakings. They are arranged in order of publication, his contemporary choices (R.C. Sproul, J.I. Packer, C.S. Lewis) are more realistic. This is an annotated bibliography so there are descriptions of each book. It did make me think about what books I'd suggest for "Twelve Old(ish) Books To Read When You Are Young." (I may make a post of that yet.)

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