Review – “Fearless” by Max Lucado

A couple of weeks ago, a few hundred bloggers received a free copy of Max Lucado’s new book, “Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear“. In exchange for the free book (which we find impossible to refuse), we agreed to read the book and post a review of it. Fair enough – it’s a deal I’ve made a few times in the past. What’s different this time is that I am completely unfamiliar with Max Lucado. Not unfamiliar as in “Max who?” but as in “Oh, that guy who writes a lot of books with nice covers that I have no interest in reading. The ones that seem very comforting, in a shallow sort of way.”

So give me one point for reaching out to Max. He’s not the type of writer I usually read.

Were my preconceptions true? Partly. Lucado falls far too easily into cute turns of phrase and tear-jerking stories (which are not all bad).  For example, in one section Lucado does a good job explaining a cycling strategy, but then abruptly and awkwardly attempts to parlay that into a spiritual truth. It doesn’t work, except maybe as a bumper sticker. Another example, comparing the cheap rivets that sunk the Titanic with the the bolts we use to construct our lives, does seem to work a bit better. This probably has much to do with personal metaphorical preferences – for me, boats work, cycling doesn’t.

In addition, each chapter ends a bit too tidily like it began. I suppose this is good practice for a writer of this genre, but it gets a little tiresome after a while. This creates a weakness in the book in that it is much longer than it needs to be.

I know that repetition is the key to memorability, but it can also lead to episodes of hypersomnia.

But enough about that. Around those weaknesses are a lot of strong ideas about a radical Christ. In its best moments, Fearless gives us strong pictures of Jesus as the firebrand prophet he was seen as by the people into whose lives he came. Some received his message; others plotted to kill him. Lucado is at his best when when he’s giving us fresh eyes for Christ. Several passages do this as effectively as Yancey’s work in The Jesus I Never Knew.

The best chapter in the book is probably the one on doubt. Lucado goes bare knuckles with his doubts, revealing a faith that overcomes, even in the face of improbability. “Sometimes in the dawn-tinted, pre-pulpit hours,” Lucado admits, “the seeming absurdity of what I believe hits me.”

And aside from one three-line section of rhyming questions, he seems to suspend his affinity for cuteness.

In the end, this book hasn’t made me a fan, but I do have a greater respect for Lucado’s writing. There are many sections worth quoting, equally for the clarity of the ideas expressed as for the quality of the writing. Bottom line: Cut the fluff Max, you’re an excellent writer. An entire book of these quotable sections would open a new audience for Lucado. But there are other authors who convey the same message more efficiently and with equal potency.

Verdict: recommended with one reservation. If you are used to reading more distilled, academically oriented books, you’ll find Lucado a bit tedious and unfocused. However, anyone who sees Jesus as Max Lucado does and fearlessly writes about it is OK in my books. (How’s that for a tidy, cute, and clever ending?)

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