Review – Getting Over Yourself: Trading Believe-In-Yourself Religion For Christ-Centered Christianity

Let’s Table That Discussion

Sure, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover….but what about the table of contents? Might that be where judgment begins?

Mortimer Adler once wrote a whole (good) book about HOW to read books (titled How To Read A Book, no less). In his book, Adler talks specifically about the importance of reading a book’s table of contents beforehand. It becomes a mental map for the reader, essentially.

When I opened Dean Inserra’s book called Getting Over Yourself: Trading Believe-In-Yourself Religion For Christ-Centered Christianity, I turned to that trusty table of contents and found the map indeed.

Instantly, I knew this book would be addressing some of the more important and timely matters impacting churches today. Here, take a look at these chapters:

Not Your Father’s Prosperity

As those chapters and titles indicate, this book addresses the “new” “prosperity gospel” that is so prevalent in many American churches today. This isn’t the blatant cries for money in return for “blessings” that you see in the TV-preachers of years gone by. This new prosperity gospel is more subtle.

As Inserra writes:

“Instead of the health-and-wealth message of late night Christian television, the new prosperity gospel centers on self-actualization and self-worth, wrapped in a Sunday morning pep rally where the gospel of self-fulfillment is preached with passion…..This new teaching is not centered on overnight rags-to-riches stories or immediate physical healing, but rather on the idea that God is ‘in my corner’ waiting to give me my ‘breakthrough.’”

This is incredibly accurate and it has deep ramifications on crucial parts of the Christian life and Christian beliefs. To give one example, Inserra argues that this fundamentally changes how people view God as he says, “He (God) has become a personal life coach, sent to help us be winners rather than losers in this world.”

As someone who regularly reads Christian books, watches preaching/services from other churches, travels to speak at different churches, and observes Christian/church culture at large, I find this description to be real and accurate.

There has been this subtle shift in prosperity gospel churches. A “2.0” if you will. 

Getting Over Yourself

What Inserra has accomplished in this book is two things:

1. He accurately describes the problems and ramifications
2. He lays out a way forward 

I would highly recommend this for all Christians to read and consider his arguments. And for church leaders/pastors, this would be a must-read. The stakes cannot be higher because this approach impacts the most important doctrines and applications of the church.

As Inserra writes, “the real gospel reminds you to get over yourself and recognize the greatest gift as the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now, that deserves a seat at the table indeed.

Have you read this book? Have you experienced the 2.0 prosperity gospel? 

Thanks for reading. Your comments and insights are always welcomed. If you enjoyed this, please share it. Want more content? Check the archives, my youtube channel, or listen to me on the Cross-Cutting Culture Podcast. Follow if you want to subscribe and always get the latest.