I have just finished reading the latest book by pastor Graig Groeschel entitled
Altar Ego. The concept of this book is wrapped around the central statement,
"You are not yet who you are supposed to be." For Christians who struggle with the mess that is written across their past and present, Groeschel challenges us to seek out ways to find who we are in Christ. Once we learn who Christ wants us to be, our so-called
"altar ego", we can find the freedom to put aside any old unhealthy, untrue, unbiblical thoughts about ourselves.
The book is broken down into three main sections:
- Sacrificing Your False Self for Your Sacred Identity in Christ - Recognizing the false labels that you or others have used to form your identity.
- Sacrificing Cultural Relativity for Eternal Values - Moving beyond what the world expects of us to develop traits (e.g. patience, integrity, honor, gratitude) that bring us closer to God.
- Sacrificing Self-Justification for Passionate Obedience - Learning to step out boldly in full obedience to our God.
In each, Groeschel illustrates how our troubled self-images get in the way of getting to know our God and fulfilling our purpose in His kingdom. The chapters contain lots of anecdotes and humorisms from the author's life. Sometimes corny, sometimes trite, sometimes moving, sometimes powerful. If you have read any of Groeschel's other books, this one is aimed at the same audience and written at the same level. It contains nothing groundbreaking or that hasn't been said in dozens of other books that sit next to it on the shelves at your local bookstore. Yet it served
me as reinforcement and strength as I battle with my daily demons. In this role it was a decent addition to my devotional time.
