Breaking Barriers

Over the last several years, reading has become a staple in my life. Specifically, I’ve made it a point to read things that challenge me to grow or change or expand my knowledge or outlook in some way. I do read some things just for fun as well, so I’m not saying fiction is a no-no, but my focus is on things that will grow me. The reason I started The Endeavor was because I believe we all have some person in mind that we want to become, and I also believe that there are steps we can take to become that person. We aren’t stuck where we are. For me, reading has been one of those steps.

I wanted to share a few reasons why I value reading, then challenge you to pick up some books if you aren’t already an avid reader. Here’s the deal – I know that we don’t all learn the same way. For some, reading is really not the best way their brains retain information. I get it! But I still stand by the fact that there are some things you’ll get from reading that you just can’t get elsewhere. Even if you’re not a “book person,” I think there’s a lot to gain be stretching yourself and reading anyway!

One of my favorite things to do is to sit and hear people’s stories. You can learn from anybody if you have an open mind. Even a fool can teach you what not to do. However, there are some people we are completely removed from, either by time or space. Speaking specifically from the point of view of a Christian, there are so many great men and women of God who have lived in the distant past, and there are so many contemporary men and women of God who, chances are, we will never get the opportunity to see.

Books break the barrier of time and space. They bridge the gap between people us and the people we will never otherwise see. Think about historical figures you’d love to just sit and interview, to have coffee with and ask them questions like you would a good friend. Books are the closest thing we have to that connection! I will never be able to talk to Eugene Peterson or R.C. Sproul or C.S. Lewis or G.K. Chesterton or Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Augustin. It isn’t likely I’ll ever get a face to face meeting with Timothy Keller or Judah Smith or Steven Furtick or John Eldredge or Mark Batterson. Even if I did get that opportunity, who knows if I would even know what to ask! However, I do have their books. I do have collections of their thoughts and stories, the things they’ve seen worthwhile enough to take the time and effort to write down and pass on. Reading books is like having access to a huge number of spiritual mentors you would otherwise have no access to. I think that’s amazing!

Books also break the barriers of our own experiences and prejudices. Part of what makes us all unique is that we all see every event through a different lens. I have a twin sister. We both grew up in the same house, with the same parents and siblings, and experienced the same life events. However, we’ve both done all of those things from our own unique perspectives, which has given rise to different outlooks and different responses. That’s not a bad thing! God made us unique! However, due to that fact, it can be pretty easy to favor our own outlooks and to be confused (or offended, or downright unaccepting) at somebody else’s.

Reading something somebody else has written on a subject you’re already pretty certain of can give you different lines of thought, different angles, a different understanding of the subject matter. Your opinion may not change, but you will at least have a fuller, and often more human, view of the other side of the matter. When you see somebody articulate their thoughts with reason and life experience, it’s a lot harder to just write them off as a whack-job their differences from you. While you may never have agreement, you can at least have understanding, and that is very valuable!

Finally, books challenge us to change our perception of what’s possible. When we see what others have done, when we hear their thoughts and get to witness through their stories where they’ve come from and what they’ve done, it awakens something in us that says maybe it really is possible to become more, to be better, to achieve something that everybody else says we could never do. It’s been done before, so why not again, and why not with me?

Reading the words of some of the people you look up to and put on a pedestal helps to bring them down into the realm of reality, into the same world you live in. You get to hear about some of the things they’ve struggled with, the things they’ve had to overcome, and how they did it. When that person becomes, in your eyes, a person just like you, it helps you realize the implications that you could also become a “great,” just like them. It will take some work, it will take some growth, it will take some change, but it can be done.

So, that’s why I read. There’s a person I want to become, and there are a lot of other people who have some of the characters I hope to embody some day, so why not learn from them on the journey and let them speak into my life rather than trying to figure it out all on my own?

I’ve kept lists of the books I’ve read over the last few years, so I put amazon links to some of my favorites on this page. Take a look! Put some of these on your Christmas list! Here is a picture of my finished books lists from the last three years (2018 isn’t finished yet). There’s a lot of fiction on these too, and that’s okay! We’re supposed to enjoy life too, so I’m all about fun reading as well! If you have any questions about any of these books, let me know! I’d love to chat about them!

I’d love to hear your feedback. What have been some of your favorite books? Why? Leave a comment below and let me know!