Steve Furtick
Multnomah, 2012, 224 pp., $19.99

Steven Furtick’s second book, Greater, is a simple, yet powerful reminder that God’s dreams for our lives are usually a whole lot bigger than our own meager assessment of how we believe God can use us. Furtick pulls lessons from the life of the prophet Elisha in encouraging readers to live a greater life, which he defines as “the life-altering understanding that God is ready to accomplish a kind of greatness in your life that is entirely out of human reach” (p. 10, advance reading copy). However, don’t dismiss this as yet another evangelical self-help book loosely based on a few Bible verses sprinkled in to legitimize its spot in a Christian bookstore. Furtick’s approach isn’t to say that God is calling all of us out of our normal lives to something better than the humdrum reality we currently occupy. Furtick simply calls his readers to consider that God might have something greater in mind for us, and the path of that something is the path of faithfulness and obedience. Furtick reminds us that many times, “something greater” means remaining in our current state, yet doing it for God’s glory, not just to survive.

Refreshing in Furtick’s book is that his reminders of God’s provision and strength comes when we rely on Him to help us live a greater vision for our lives, coupled with cautions that dreaming big doesn’t make our lives easier. Furtick addresses the fact that at times, “The journey toward greater things is marked with setbacks and real suffering” (p. 92). This isn’t a one-size-fits-all book riddled with the prosperity gospel. Furtick admits the biblical advice he’s giving might lead to greater faithfulness and perhaps a greater perspective of God’s kingdom, but it isn’t likely to lead to greater comfort. Because of this honesty, Greater is a book that will help readers prayerfully consider if their vision of God and what God desires to do through them might be too small.

The companion small-group video curriculum for Furtick’s book (available in DVD format) is a good addition to the book for those discussing the book as a small group. It’s certainly not a stand-alone resource, and a group going through the DVD alone will miss the bulk of the message of the book. However, the videos are captivating (and filmed at Abbey Road Studios in London and in Israel) and are sure to create discussion around the themes Furtick writes about in Greater.
—Benjer McVeigh

Pastor Steven uses Greater to illustrate the biblical command that for Christians, good is no longer good enough. The regrets of a wasted life can be avoided by dropping our personal finite presumptions and grasping the infitinite vision God has for people who are willing to follow Him. This is a great resource for youth leaders to use to encourage, inspire and push their students to break our culture’s low expectations for their generation. It changes the mindset from satisfying the status quo to working smarter toward the greater vision God has for His followers.
—Nathan Cline, Teaching Pastor, REVO, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

This product included Steven Furtick’s new book Greater, a DVD and discussion guide. The book is well done and very motivating. I could see it used for adults, young adults, or more mature high school youth. It comes with discussion questions; the DVD and discussion guide are meant to complement the book, but could be used independently. The discussion guide is also well done, although it may be geared toward more mature believers and older youth/young adults. The DVD is phenomenal and can be used in almost any youth ministry or adult ministry setting in the church. The best use of this product for a youth ministry would be for the youth leader to get all three pieces, read the book and then use the DVD for youth group or small groups. I would recommend utilizing the discussion guide and the book for small group or youth group discussion along with the video. Greater can motivate anyone to a God-sized vision and help provide the confidence needed to achieve those visions.
—Rev. Marcus J. Carlson has worked with children and youth for more than 14 years and is a spiritual director. He current serves as associate pastor at Bethel Lutheran Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

I love the idea of living a greater life for God; however, I found Furtick’s book to be one more watered-down, theologically light read from a mega church pastor. The stories of Elisha are taken from their context and wrapped in anecdotal stories designed to build on the theme of living a greater life. Many of the stories are compelling witnesses to God’s work of redemption, but the reference to Naaman as Captain Awesomesauce was just too much. Our students are already bombarded by theology-light programming—the last thing they need is another resource that perpetuates therapeutic Christianity.
—Steven Bonner, D.Min., assistant professor of Youth and Family Ministry, Lubbock Christian University, Steven Bonner

In our culture, everyone wants to be great. Students do. Their parents do. If we’re honest, we do, too. For this reason alone, Steven Furtick’s new book, Greater, will gain an audience. After all, how awesome would it be if our faith in Jesus could make us great? According to Furtick, it does…kind of. Furtick argues that through Jesus, we need not accept spiritual mediocrity. Instead, we can be greater, a notion Furtick distinguishes from greatness. According to him, greatness is a vague, unrealistic aspiration of doing better that doesn’t work in real life and instead leads to endless frustration. In contrast, being greater involves a life-altering understanding that God is ready to accomplish a greatness in our lives that is entirely beyond human reach.

Furtick bases this understanding on Jesus’ words to His disciples in John 14:12, “Whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to be with the Father.” He then further unpacks what it means to live this kind of greater life by exploring four images from the prophet Elisha’s life in a detailed examination of Scripture.

The corresponding DVD curriculum does the same, though this is one instance where the movie is better than the book. Though designed to be used in connection with one another, my advice is skip the book and just use the DVD curriculum. The curriculum suffers from neither of the book’s two main weaknesses: It’s wordiness and it’s flirtation with a prosperity gospel. Due to its subject matter, the curriculum is ideal for use with upperclassmen high school students, college students and adults wrestling with their purpose and sense of vocation. The DVD curriculum features videos reminiscent of the Nooma Series, with Furtick in a creative setting giving mini-sermons that each explain one of the four key ideas from Elisha’s life that are crucial to pursuing the greater life. In addition to the DVD, the curriculum includes a series of thought-provoking questions ideal for small group settings and written in such a way that they can easily be used by volunteers, with very little preparation or training.
—Jen Bradbury

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