How To Be Rich {A Review}

 

 

It starts every January: our annual quest to organize and purge the house of unwanted, unused, or underutilized goods. It ranges from an all out frenzy to a slow, methodical deep clean and organization.

 

Some years, we quit early. Like most people, our resolve begin to grow stale by February, and by March are completely forgotten. It happens.

 

This year, we may persevere. We are motivated to rid ourselves of the extra burden stuff has on us. Part of that motivation was our read through of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover followed by Andy Stanley's How to be Rich. 

 

The Book

How to be Rich is a short book packed with wise teachings on what to do with all you have. In case you have ever wondered if you could actually afford to be extravagantly generous, Andy Stanley begins his book by offering substantial evidence that you (and me) are, in fact, rich. We just don't feel rich. Stanley asserts that we don't feel rich because we live beyond our means, purchase more stuff we don't need, or our finances have no substantial margin. While Stanley does not focus on how to 'get your finances right' (see Ramsey's book for that), he chooses to focus solely on our riches and what to do with them.

 

Stanley's message is clearly outlined in his book from the beginning. We, middle class Americans, are blessed. We are rich. While the standard of our living is a blessing, it also comes with a responsibility. Generosity to those with less is not only our duty, but our privilege. 

 

The first part of the book is spent convincing readers of our abundant blessing. If you have ever read the statistics concerning world wide income, then you may feel like the citing of these stats are familiar and have perhaps lost their shock value. However, Stanley does not stop with the statistics. He offers readers a fresh perspective of several common every day occurrences that we can easily relate to and understand. Standing in front of a closet full of clothing and saying "I have nothing to wear," and trading in a perfectly good car to purchase another are two of these examples.

 

Once our rich status has been firmly established, Stanley moves onto the central message. Using Biblical passages and personal allegories, Stanley wants readers to move their hearts from their treasure to the Provider of treasures. This is essential. Without the proper heart attitude, our riches become burdens and not blessings.

 

The final section of the book covers generosity. Stanley urges readers to give stuff, time, and money away. This is the effect of having our hearts fixed on the Lord. In fact, Stanley concludes that generosity is the vaccination for greed. If we want to be rich, and to do it well, we need to give to others. Furthermore, Stanley clarifies and encourages readers to give to those with less. Give to the poor.

 

The book includes a small group study session. For those readers hoping to have discussions and a more in-depth look at the referenced Scriptures, short guides are located at the back of the book.

 

The DVD

After reading through the book, I shared the accompanying DVD with my family. We watched through the full messages over three nights. Since the children have not read the book, the full messages, which cover the highlights of the book and its central message, were easier to understand than the group study sessions. {The DVD includes both versions.}

 

Any time I have heard Andy Stanley share a message, it has been interesting. Even though I had read almost all of what he shared in the messages, I was still compelled to listen. He is an engaging speaker, mixing humor, personal stories, and God's wisdom into each message.

 

My Thoughts

Overall, the message may not be unique. We've probably all heard of how rich we really are and what a blessing it is to give to the poor. However, the message is important. What we do with those riches and how we live matter. Andy Stanley's new book and accompanying DVD will help motivate us to live better. It already has. It is mid-February and I just cleaned three closets with the help of my daughters. We bagged clothing to be sent to Zambia and found shoes to send to Shoes2Share.

~ Dorie


Fine Print: I received both the book and DVD for an honest review. However, when the shipping was excessively delayed, I was absolved from having to review the materials. After reading and viewing, I decided to post a review anyway. Good materials should be shared.