Book Review - Not Who I Want to Be by Glenn Sasscer

Glenn Sasscer's book, Not Who I Want to Be, attempts to look at how the person God wants you to be may differ from you are now, how various factors in life can affect you and cause this difference, and how you don't have to stay the person who you do not what to be.

Sasscer’s book offers some useful insights. He delves into a very broad array of influences in our lives, from family to the media to the spiritual realm and even the deep emotional pains many have held onto much of their lives. In that sense, it is more broad than deep, but it does a good job of getting the ball rolling. And the soul-searching that the reader is walked through in the final chapters does go fairly deep, for what it is worth.

I have no doubt that many readers could benefit from the book. It should have at least a positive influence on the reader. I would say I personally fit into that camp. For some, I could see this book as being potentially be life-changing, depending on where you are with God.

One element that fell a little flat was the way chapters ended. I liked the idea of prayer at the end; that part was fine. But the endings sometimes leave you hanging, giving you the feeling that you’ve started to look at the issue, but that where you should have some sort of resolution, there is just a vague concluding statement and prayer. Actually, most chapters are like this, but for some it made sense and seemed appropriate, as what was discussed in one chapter would be built upon in the next. At times, however, it wasn’t always clear what the practical application of anything you had just read was, whether there is even supposed to be a concrete practical use or whether it was just something to keep in in the back of your mind when you are taking the actual practical steps in soul-searching at the end of the book.

Other shortcomings were generally little things that for all I know may have only bothered me. Over and over we are reminded that Sasscer doesn’t mean to offend anyone and isn’t judging anyone. I know that we Christians need to be sensitive and avoid being the loud and angry fundamentalists that people think we are, but it was a bit overdone. At one point toward the end, I think when he made a comment about crying like a little girl, followed by “no offence to little girls” (which normally I would just take as a joke), without even thinking about I literally just blurted out “alright, we get it!”

Still, it is a very positive book. It’s final emphasis on keeping our eyes on Jesus at the end, though hardly a new concept in Christianity, was presented in such a way as to really drive the point home and end on a strong note. Although individual threads were not always completely tied, that ending tied the book together as a whole, making it stand out.

Overall, I recommend this book, as it is useful in helping one who feels that they are not the person they want to be.

Disclosure of Material Connection:

I received this book free from ACU Press/Leafwood Publishers as part of their ACU Press Bookclub Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”