The little book Do Not Be True To Yourself by Kevin DeYoung is a grab-bag of short sermons and addresses (including a commencement address) brought into one place. In that sense, I suspect this could have been a blog post rather than a book (and in fact some of it was originally published on a blog). Still, the content is excellent, as we’ve come to expect from DeYoung, and while perhaps not worth the price of a whole book, is still solid.
In the titular essay, DeYoung tells us:
“The world tells us that our identity is found in what we desire. So to deny the fulfillment of what you desire is to deny your truest identity. We are all awash in what Carl Trueman calls ‘expressive individualism.'” (3)
DeYoung notes that this push from the world both has something true about it, and yet is still ultimately destructive. We should be true to our desires, if they have been redeemed and renewed by Christ in our conversion and have become aligned with God’s character as expressed in His Word. That is not where we begin, however–as sinners we all have to begin by distrusting ourselves and our desires. And that is something all graduates need to hear.
Also useful is DeYoung’s list of 12 books every Christian should read. I’ll not share it here–you can get the book and read it on your own. But know that it’s a good list and everything on it is worth your time.
Overall, this little book is intended to be given to graduates of high school and college, and it’s certainly good for that. It’s also good just to read and reflect on for those of us who have our graduations behind us…
Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO
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