Platt, David. Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need. Multnomah, Colorado Springs, CO. 2019. 224 pages.
This past summer I went with a team from my church to the Philippines on a ministry trip. We support a missionary there and were able to serve alongside him and his family during our time in the country. In a context where poverty is seen up close, I noticed my missionary brother’s concern for not only the physical needs but ultimately the spiritual needs of the people. For his ministry, ministering to spiritual and physical needs was not an “either/or” proposition; it was a “both/and” reality. I came away from that trip convicted, challenged, and called to action. Then I read David Platt’s new book Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need and am convinced that this conviction, challenge, and call cannot fade but must translate into lasting change.
Sharing His Trek
Platt approaches Something Needs to Change with a different format than his previous works. He takes the reader on his 8-day trek through the Himalayan trails, sharing what he and his team did, what they witnessed, and how he was impacted. The reader is given a “behind-the-scenes” look from David Platt on this journey through a place that has great physical needs to combat like extreme poverty and sex trafficking while also recognizing the great spiritual need of sharing the gospel in places where people are hostile to Christianity and where salvation in Christ has not been heard. Each day in the book ends with reflection questions to invite the reader on the trek and to make the most of their journey as they come to terms on how they can best answer the call to make their lives count.
Risk of This Book
In typical David Platt fashion, he does not shy away from the cost of following Christ and he warns the reader of the risk of this book. David faces this risk himself as he details his trip through the Himalayan trails and opens up as he meditates on God’s Word and is moved to action in God’s calling for his life to count in a world of urgent physical and spiritual need. He is honest about his struggles in how to help those in need and wrestles with the possibility of moving to the Himalayas to care for and reach others in need and with the gospel. Readers should know Platt does not hold back on the great physical needs he saw as the book contains heartbreaking accounts (page 39 for example). Yet, David Platt makes clear broken and moved hearts must result in affections and produce action.
Life-Changing
While some may wonder if they need to respond as radically as considering a move across the world, David is wise to point out that not everyone’s trek to this call will look the same. Still, he affirms, “God has created your life to count in a world of urgent need” (Platt 195). If someone picks up this book and their life still looks the same, then this book has failed its purpose and has missed its mark in the reader’s life, according to David Platt. That is to say, Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need by David Platt is a life-changing book for any Christian who wants to obey the call of God to love their neighbor in need. Yet, because of the great challenge this book presents, this may be one of the riskiest or most rewarding books Christians can read because their lives will never be the same. If you want to find biblical conviction and accept the challenge to answer the call of God in reaching out to those in physical and spiritual need, then you will want to be sure to get a copy of Something Needs to Change: A Call to Make Your Life Count in a World of Urgent Need by David Platt today.
I received this book for free from WalterBrook & Multnomah as a member of their launch team program for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own and are my honest review of the book.
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