How Good is Good Enough – by Andy Stanley

I just finished this very short book called How Good is Good Enough by Andy Stanley. It is a very short book designed for non-Christians to read to find out more about Jesus and salvation. Though it is short, and though it is designed for non-believers, it is a very good refresher of Christianity to read.

Andy Stanley, throughout the first half of the book, emphasized that no one is good enough to get to heaven. Thankfully, he has a second half of the book. In the second half, he explains about Jesus, how he [Jesus] did not subscribe to this good-people-go theory and that Jesus was the Son of God. He tells how Jesus’ way of bringing people to heaven is repentance of sins, not a yard stick of our good deeds.

The first half of the book, like I said, is entirely dedicated to disproving the theory that good people get to heaven. Unfortunately, this is a theory that ‘religion’ has worked into the minds of many people and it is sad that before we can tell people about the gospel, we must unwork in their mind all the misconceptions that religion or a set of legalistic rules has placed there. However, the author does a very good job of showing how imprecise the world’s definition of ‘good’ is, and how we cannot know what God’s definition of ‘good’ really is.

I usually am leery of books that present the simple gospel to unbelievers for fear that they will simplify it so much that what they present is a watered-down, dead version of the gospel. Luckily, Andy Stanley’s book is not like that. He mentions the Law, and how the purpose of the law was to show in man what sin was, not to provide a way to heaven, and tells how Jesus is the replacement of the Law. He came to fulfill the Law.

This book is very good. I highly recommend that you pass it along to friends or neighbors or family who do not believe in Christ Jesus. Along with More than a Carpenter, this book is a clear, concise telling of the gospel and proving the veracity of Jesus’ deity and ends with an appeal to the reader to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord.