In our social media saturated world it’s easy to be fake. We hand-select what we want people to know about us.
Nicholas MacDonald’s new book, Faker: How to live for Real When You’re Tempted to Fake It is a fantastic little resource for students, either high school or college. I say little because it’s only about 70 pages long and completely not overwhelming or intimidating. He writes personably and shares plenty of anecdotes to connect well with readers. The chapters are short, but not light.
What MacDonald does remarkably well is weave in profound theological truths and terms so that his conversational and even humorous tone carries great meaning. He shows how propitiation and justification are far more than just $10 words; they actually free a soul to trust God and let go of anxiety and self-consciousness. Readers will come away with more than a sense of a Big God – they’ll get a concise explanation of His nature and His work, all packaged in a way that it is digestible.
This is precisely the kind of book I would have loved to use with the small groups of high schoolers I used to lead. It would be perfect for discipling college students. Faker is perfectly structured for a 7 week study or for an individual reader to work through. There are interactive portions well-designed for discussion or personal reflection. I strongly recommend this book to you as a reader and for use in ministry.
Here are some of the punchier, more memorable quotes from Faker.
“I’d been a human chameleon for so long I forgot what color I was.”
“Religion for me was a springboard to what I really wanted: applause, attractiveness, attention . . . for me.”
“The seeds of gossip and mass murder are sown in the same moment – one person looks at another and says: ‘because of my race, my religion, my education, my clothes, my family, my friends . . .I’m better.'”
“Fame will never cure our thirst for true “rightness”.”
“Self-righteousness is never satisfying righteousness.”
“Is your religion making you real or fake?”
“We need a God who dethrones us.”
“We are like dogs, leaving our mark on the world.”
“Are you a people pleaser or a people lover?”
“Love isn’t God. God is, among other things, love.”