Book Review: Love Does

A few years ago in a moment of weakness, I bought one of those books of generic sermon illustrations. You know what I’m talking about. Stories that people have written or collected to help someone else drive a point home. The book was being touted by a speaker at a conference I attended, and at the time it seemed like a good idea.

I’ve only been preaching just a little while now, but so far I’ve not used one of those stories in a sermon. I don’t think I ever will.

In my search for the perfect sermon illustration, I really wish I had waited for Bob Goff’s book Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World. It’s full of the best kind of sermon illustrations—the kind that really happened…the kind that change lives.

I heard Bob Goff speak this past February at Jubilee, and he blew me away. But that wasn’t the first I’d heard of him. I first read about Bob, and the parade he and his family started on their street, in Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Don and Bob are good friends—in fact, Donald Miller wrote the foreword to Love Does, and in it he says Bob Goff has had a greater impact on my life than any person I’ve known.

I believe it.

Because Bob Goff has what he calls “whimsy.” This is a man who is on a great adventure with God. And he has saved a few lives along the way.

A life of whimsy, says Goff, is a life where love does...It’s whimsy that spreads hope like grass seed in the wind…

He oughtta know. Bob Goff is the founder and CEO of Restore International, a nonprofit organization that endeavors to address atrocities and injustices throughout the world. That kind of work needs hope spread like seeds in the wind. Bob is a lawyer by profession, but you can forget about all those bad lawyer jokes when you consider Bob. In his book, Bob tells us that he went to law school so he could help others. How's that for letting faith inform your work?

…I want someone else’s suffering to matter more to me, he says. His life tells this story. This is one reason he serves as the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Uganda to the United States. One reason he and his partners fought to free hundreds of Ugandan boys who were imprisoned unjustly. Why they work to change the laws in Uganda to protect the children. Why they founded a school there and made it a place of excellence.

Because love does.

The stories from Bob Goff’s life read like a series of great sermon illustrations. This is a man who claims Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland as his office. A man who calls in the Coast Guard to help a young man he barely knows propose to the woman he loves. A man who encourages his children to write to world leaders and invite them for sleepovers—who actually takes his children to visit said world leaders and hosts them in his own home when they become friends with his kids. A man who advocates for the marginalized and brings witchdoctors to trial.

And that’s just the beginning. Love Does is like a book of sermon illustrations on steroids. You won’t find deep, theological essays here—this is a book about doing, after all. Each story points to a simple truth about God that will inspire action and a fresh look at the world. Love Does challenges us to live a life of engagement—to step out and turn our faith into action.

I’m planning on using Love Does as part of a summer Bible study with my two teenage boys. It’s short, action-packed chapters and quick pace are perfect for capturing the imaginations of two up-and-comings. And it inspires their mamma too.

Love Does inspires me to stop this search for the great sermon illustrations. It inspires me to live them.

Image by Thorsten Becker. Used with permission. Sourced via Flickr. Post by Laura J. Boggess.