Just out from Amazon.com is a new book from Kevin DeYoung, who previously gave us Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be). DeYoung, who is the senior pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Mich., has written his latest book, Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach To Finding God’s Will or How to Make a Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Impressions, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing In The Sky, Etc., for those in this day and age who have become paralyzed by indecision. DeYoung will be one of the speakers at the Next conference May 23-26 in Baltimore. From an excerpt from Just Do Something, he explains why being decisive matters:
We’re not consistent. We’re not stable. We don’t stick with anything. We aren’t sure we are making the right decisions. Most of the time, we can’t even make decisions. And we don’t follow through. All of this means that as Christian young people we are less fruitful and less faithful than we ought to be. …
The hesitancy so many of us (especially the young) feel in making decisions and settling down in life and therefore diligently searching for the will of God has at least two sources. First, the new generations enjoy—or at least think they enjoy—“unparalleled freedom.” Nothing is settled after high school or even college anymore. Life is wide open and filled with endless possibilities, but with this sense of opportunity comes confusion, anxiety, and indecision. With everything I could do and everywhere I could go, how can I know what’s what? Enter a passion to discern “God’s will for my life.” That’s a key reason there is always a market for books about the will of God.
Second, our search for the will of God has become an accomplice in the postponement of growing up, a convenient out for the young (or old) Christian floating through life without direction or purpose. Too many of us have passed off our instability, inconsistency, and endless self-exploration as “looking for God’s will,” as if not making up our minds and meandering through life were marks of spiritual sensitivity.
As a result, we are full of passivity and empty on followthrough. We’re tinkering around with everyone and everything. Instead, when it comes to our future, we should take some responsibility, make a decision, and just do something.
To learn more about Kevin DeYoung, who he is and what Next is all about go here.