Bob Goff, Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World. (aff) Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012. 224 pages.
This book sat on my “to read” shelf for a while. I heard Bob Goff’s story several years ago and it intrigued me. Then I spoke at a conference in Orlando with him. He was a delightful, humorous, inspiring speaker, and afterward I went right out and ordered his book. I knew it wouldn’t be a heavy-duty leadership tome or a cutting-edge critique on modern culture, so it never pushed itself to the top of my reading list. But during the summer, I reward myself with some pleasurable reading, which is when I read this book.
Bob Goff is an attorney who co-owns the law firm Goff and DeWalt. He is also the founder of Restore International, a non-profit that fights injustices against children in Uganda and India, and the honorary consul for Uganda to the United States. His approach to life is interesting. He is an adventurer who is not afraid to say “yes” to whatever God asks him to do. As a result, he has experienced a lot.
This book contains a series of short stories about adventures Bob has had and the lessons he learned from them. His primary thesis is that love is primarily a verb, not a noun. He keeps his faith simple, which is both good and bad. The positive side of his approach is that he doesn’t devolve into theological hairsplitting while doing nothing for God’s kingdom. On the other hand, he speaks as a layman who is untrained in theology, so he is not always as accurate or precise as some would like. As with many books I review, this one has some strong points that make it worth reading. But just because I recommend a book does not mean I agree with every statement it contains!
You do not have to read far into this book to realize that Goff does things differently than most people do! He does office work on Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland (xv). He notes, “As I sit on my island, it becomes clear that we need to stop plotting the course and instead just land the plane on our plans to make a difference by getting to the ‘do’ part of faith. That’s because love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn’t just keep thinking about it, or planning for it. Simply put: love does” (xvi). He also states, “Something happens when you feel ownership. You no longer act like a spectator or consumer, because you’re an owner. Faith is at its best when it’s that way too. It’s best lived when it’s owned” (xiv). Those statements sum up the essence of Goff’s book: take ownership of your life and faith and DO something!
Goff opens with a great story that reveals much about Goff and his approach to life. Goff decided to drop out of high school and get a job at Yosemite so he could climb mountains in his spare time. A young man named Randy had befriended him. Goff stopped by Randy’s house on his way out of town to let him know he was leaving. Randy quickly grabbed a backpack and declared, “Bob, I’m with you” (3). Randy told Goff he would go with him to help him find a job and get settled. Randy had no time to prepare, he simply responded in the moment. Goff applied to every business in the area without success. He concludes, “A dream of mine had just checked in to hospice” (7). Throughout the experience, Randy continually encouraged Bob and said that whether he chooses to stay or return home, he is with him. Eventually, Bob returned home to finish high school. As Bob dropped Randy off at his house, he discovered that Randy had just been married, and he had left his new bride and a stack of wedding gifts in his humble home to take off with a high school dropout. That experience deeply impacted Bob and his approach to life. It’s a great story.
This book is an easy read with each of the 31 short chapters telling a tale in Bob’s life. Many of the stories are hilarious, and Bob’s self-deprecating humor is quite engaging. He tells of the time his friend Doug shot him with a pellet gun. Bob says, “Doug prayed for me and told me not to walk toward the light” (12). Bob tells about Ryan, a total stranger, who asked to borrow his back deck so he could prepare a meal for his girlfriend and propose to her. Eventually, Ryan asked if 20 of his friends could serve them dinner at Bob’s house and if Bob could take them out on his boat afterward. Bob kept saying yes, which led to an adventure of doing what love does (24).
Of course, because Goff is action oriented and a born rebel, you may not always agree with his viewpoints. Or you might worry that if taken too far, his ideas could lead to heresy. One potential issue is Goff’s view of Church. He states, “I think of church as a vibrant community of people consisting of two or more of varied backgrounds gathering around Jesus. Sometimes they are at a place that might have a steeple or auditorium seating. But it’s just as likely that church happens elsewhere, like coffee shops or on the edge of a glacier or in the bush in Uganda. All of these places work just fine, I suppose. When it’s a matter of the heart, the place doesn’t matter. For me, it’s Jesus plus nothing—not even a building. . . People who follow Jesus, though, are no longer typical—God is constantly inviting them into a life that moves away from typical” (14-15). While he is mostly correct, Goff writes very little about belonging to a formal church. Perhaps he does, but his faith appears to be linked not to a church but to the kingdom of God. I tend to think the Bible encourages Christians to actively participate in both.
Goff states, “The thing I love about God is He intentionally guides people into failure” (29). After reading his explanation, it becomes clear that he is not claiming that God delights in making His people fail. Rather, God stretches people so they are likely to fail until they learn the lessons he intends for them to learn through their failure. Taken on their own, however, some of Goff’s statements are eyebrow raising, which I assume is his intention.
While not a profound book, Goff makes some memorable statements. He notes, “. . . I used to be afraid of failing at the things that really mattered to me, but now I’m more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter” (30).
Goff includes a series of entertaining, yet thought-provoking stories. He tells how he was turned down by every law school to which he applied (40). So he camped outside the Dean’s office for more than a week until Goff wore him down and was allowed to enroll. He tells of his hilarious attempt to win the heart of his future wife (46). He tells of a near disaster at his wedding (54). He tells the story of his three children writing letters to world leaders from around the globe and inviting them to become friends. Several responded and invited the children to meet with them. Goff and his wife traveled the world so their children could meet with the leaders. This one chapter could easily have become its own book if he had taken time to describe the various experiences they had. Chapters like this one can inspire parents to consider how we are rearing our children and whether we are teaching them to be world changers.
Goff sees life as a grand adventure. He states, “What I like about Jesus is that He didn’t try and recruit people or use spin . . . He just asked people to join the adventure” (101). He also notes, “We talk about Satan way more than the Bible ever talks about Satan” (113). Goff has an unconventional worldview. He tells about being in a traffic accident where an elderly lady plowed into his vehicle. That vehicle was later stolen. Though Goff is an attorney and could easily afford to purchase another vehicle, he felt led to learn how to depend on others. So, he purchased a skateboard and skateboarded to work or asked for rides. This unusual approach to life’s circumstances constantly leads him to have fresh adventures!
When Goff’s children turned ten, he let them choose their own adventure. I loved this chapter, as I did something similar with my kids. He states, “I think a father’s job, when it’s done best, is to get down on both knees, lean over his children’s lives, and whisper, ‘Where do you want to go?’” (129).
Goff is refreshingly candid about his personal walk with God. He shares how he has not heard God speak to him like others claim they have. When it comes to knowing God’s will, he unsurprisingly leans toward action. He suggests, “I take the fixed points of His character and my particular hardwiring and extrapolate from there” (141). He adds, “I think direction is the point” (142). He concludes by writing, “For those who resonate with formulas, here it is: Add your whole life, your loves, your passions, and your interests together with what God said He wants us to be about, and that’s your answer” (143).
I appreciate that Goff discourages people from becoming immobilized because they have not heard God speak audibly. But his whole book is about the personal adventure of following Jesus. Following Jesus means you must go where Jesus goes, and that entails more than guess work. There are lots of ways God can communicate His will to us beyond merely speaking out loud.
Along this line, Goff claims he stopped attending Bible Studies, because they tended to be about studying things without ever doing anything. He claims he began attending a “Bible Doing” group where the participants put into practice whatever they encounter in the Bible. He notes, “In fact, they have a name for guys who just study things about a person they like but don’t do anything about it—they’re called bachelors” (199).
As I have shared, if you are looking for a great read on ecclesiology, this is not your book! But if you need to be reminded occasionally that the Christian life is not just about attending services or believing doctrines but about having a grand adventure in the company of the Son of God, this is a great choice. If you have been playing it safe and have built a comfortable, predictable, boring, and largely unimpactful life, this book just might help to shake some things up for you. I think we all need to be reminded at times that the Christian life is the most exciting, rewarding, and joyful life we could possibly lead.
Rating: 3
