Don't Waste Your Life

This special DVD supplement guides small groups and classes to make their lives count for eternity.

Most people spend their lives on trivial diversions, seeking to gain comfort and pleasure for themselves. But Jesus said, "Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." If the path to God-exalting joy and purpose is to "lose" your life rather than to waste it, then this Group Study Edition and the other components in the newly designed Don't Waste Your Life Group Study Kit are essential.

A redesign of John Piper's best-selling book Don't Waste Your Life, this special volume is divided into ten chapters and accompanies the DVD with fourteen presentations. Combined with the other kit materials, the Group Study Edition will help churches, small groups, and teachers warn people away from a life that counts for nothing-and into a life that means everything.

I would also like to add that this book is probably a bit more hard hitting than his other stuff. He comes right out and calls people to bigger and better things. I can imagine some people actually being offended by some things that he says - that simply going to work and raising your kids aren't all that God has called you to. There's a great calling to consider cross-cultural missions work. :) He says things like:

"Oh, how many lives are wasted by people who believe that the Christian life means simply avoiding badness and providing for the family. So there is no adultery, no stealing, no killing, no embezzlement, no fraud - just lots of hard work during the day, and lots of TV and PG-13 videos in the evening (during quality family time), and lots of fun stuf on the weekend - woven around church (mostly). This is life for millions of people. Wasted life. We were created for more."

and

"God does not promise enough food for comfort or for life - he promises enough so that you can trust him and do his will."

All in all, it's a great book, and a little more application than Desiring God. A little easier read, in that it's not as theologically heavy, I think. Definitely quality


Absolute Must Read   June 20, 2003
88 out of 90 found this review helpful

When I first heard the title from this book, I was intrigued. His flier that was sent further intrigued me. On the one side it said something to the effect of "If you could have a good spouse, good kids, nice car, long weekends, a few good friends, a fun retirement, a quick and easy death and no hell, would you be satisfied?" You turn the flier over and it said "This is a tragedy in the making. Don't waste your life". Wow. You can see where he may be going...

What he has put together in this book is truly life changing, and will shatter many of your (and my) preconceived ideas on living a godly life - by using Scripture as his basis in all areas.

The first couple of chapters are more biographical/introductory, and how he came to where he is now. Although interesting, he does seemingly wander a bit in dealing with subjective and objective truth and existintilism in his life (the beginning was not my favorite part of the book). Those are phrases that put the majority of Christians to sleep. Do not let that stop you!! By the end of the 2nd chapter, he is going full force, and the book will seriously begin to challenge your ideas on how we are truly to live.

He has chapters focused on areas such as constantly looking to the Cross of Christ for our joy and our daily living and bearing fruit and being selfless in the manner that we live, as well as a fun expositional on Philippians 1.

However, while all the chapters were very good/excellent, Chapter 7 alone is worth ten times the price of the book. If you don't read anything else in the book, read Chapter 7. This chapter will grab you and radically force you to deal with your life. He quotes 1 Peter 3:15 about "always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you.." and turns around and asks the question (something like) "do people see hope in your life by the way you live - or is your life so much like the world's that there isn't much of a difference". I don't want to ruin the chapter by revealing all of the information, but he deals with money, finances, Christian living, and media - for starters. He gives wartime examples of living and shows from Scripture how we are to live.

For those who may be a bit intimidated by Piper, as a few of his books are more difficult to read for "mainstream" readers, this is also one of his easiest books to read and can be read by virtually anyone. This book is very "practical" and deals with daily issues of life. You will find few better authors today than John Piper, and while this book won't get the reading that a "Prayer of Jabez" or "Purpose Driven Life" will get - which is extremely unfortunate and a shame - those that do read this 190 page book will have transformed lives, and not just a warm fuzzy feeling at the end.

Be warned - you will be challenged, and you may not like what he says. However, what he says in the book is what needs to be taught and read today - and most importantly he is right, because his book is based on Scripture. I read a lot of Christian books, and not all of them are as good as I hoped. Trust me - you will NOT be disappointed in this book.


Sends an important wake-up call to the Christian.   November 11, 2003
Erik Olson (Ridgefield, WA United States)
113 out of 122 found this review helpful

It seems that Christian publishers tend to simultaneously release books that deal with similar themes (work of the Holy Spirit, grace, etc.). The latest trend appears to be on rising above the ordinary and living passionately for Christ. "Don't Waste Your Life" is a stand-out book among this crowd. John Piper is one of the giants of modern Christian writing, and this book is another showcase of his gifts.

Movies and TV series like "Office Space" and "The Office" strike a nerve because we identify with their main theme - the futility of the average life. How many of us feel that we've somehow managed to settle for complacency and boredom instead of the risk and passion that we dream about? In the Christian's case, how many are just playing it safe by focusing on the 'thou-shalt-nots' instead of actually stepping out in faith to DO God's will? These are difficult questions to answer honestly, but we must do so for our own eternal good. For as Piper states, "only what's done for Christ will last."

Each chapter of "Don't Waste Your Life" deals with different aspects of magnifying Christ. Risk-taking, suffering, and the workplace are all arenas where we can glorify God and enjoy Him as we lead our daily lives. However, the last chapter reveals Piper's heart: missions. Ultimately, the overarching theme of this book is winning others to Christ by our lives, and if necessary, by our words. To that end, Piper implores the reader "in the name of Jesus to wake up, and enlarge your heart, and stretch your mind, and spread your wings." For when all is said and done, what really matters is that those who are lost are lost no more.


Worth a little time   July 17, 2003
AlexForrest (Louisville, Kentucky United States)
45 out of 46 found this review helpful

Those familiar with Piper have come to expect Scripture saturated pleadings to readers to find their ultimate fulfillment and joy in "all that God is for us in Christ." For those unfamiliar with Piper, he is a passionate writer and pastor who spurs his readers to greater depths of devotion to God and sacrificial living. He is typically motivating and convicting.

In this book, short by Piper's standards, he drives home the biblical principle that we must give up our lives to find them. Piper applies this passion for Christ in different areas of life: work, relationships, missions, etc. The chapters on risk-taking and work are alone worth the price of the book. I highly reccommend this book as a gift for graduates and college students, but it is worth reading for every believer who doesn't want to waste their life.


Bookblog: Don't Waste Your Life   March 2, 2006
Russ Reaves (NC)
27 out of 30 found this review helpful

From http://russreaves.blogspot.com

Having heard John Piper speak at the NC Evangelism Conference (by the way -- great conference and the messages are available for free download at www.calvarynow.com/evangelism), and knowing that he was preparing for major prostate surgery, I felt compelled to read yet another of the works of this great man of God. When I met Dr. Piper at the Conference, I found him to be a gracious and humble man. I told him that I had quoted him so often in conversation that my wife just assumed that he died 200 years ago (I don't quote many who are still around -- dead preachers don't change their minds). He chuckled with me about that, and assured me, just days before his surgery that he was "alive and well." He did endure that surgery very well from reports I read online, and for that we praise God. Now on to the book -- Don't Waste Your Life.

What drew me to the book was the humbling story that graces the back of the book. "I will tell you what a tragedy is," Piper writes. "I will show you how to waste your life. Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader's Digest: A couple 'took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 50 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball, and collect shells. ...' Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: 'Look Lord. See my shells.' That is a tragedy."

As I read those words, I thought, "Oh my! That is the American Dream isn't it?" That is what most of the folks in the congregations I have served would think is success in life. And I confess that on far too many days, that is what I long for more than the daily grind of being stretched and stressed in the work of ministry. But like a mirror -- not one of those funhouse mirrors that you know is making fun of how you look -- but a true mirror that reveals the awful blemish that scars us, Piper's words pierced me. Inside the pages of the book, the wound grew deeper, but it was a cut toward healing.

Piper's autobiographical glimpses in the early chapters are a blessing to one like me who has enjoyed his writings for many years. Many of the phrases that recur in all of his writings ("God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him," "Missions exists because worship does not", et al.) are found in this book as well, but his autobiographical sketch allows us to follow him on the life journey that led to the discovery of these wonderful truths. A theme that I am seeing more and more of in Piper's writings is that being loved by God does not mean that God makes much of us, but rather that God has done all that is necessary to enable us to make much of Him forever.

Three main points I want to highlight here are Piper's comments on suffering, on vocation, and on global missions. Several years ago, I read a chapter written by Piper in a book on expository preaching called Feed My Sheep. That chapter was on preaching to the suffering, and in it, my entire outlook on the pain and suffering of God's people was challenged and changed. Those same convictions were found in this book as well, as Piper reveals (in this culture of concealment) the true cost of discipleship. Following Christ might just be lethal -- but what other alternative do we have? He suffered for us. Not that we won't have to suffer, but that our suffering might be for His glory and the spread of His name among the nations.

Concerning vocation, Piper reiterates the doctrine of priesthood of believers advanced during the Reformation by Martin Luther. "Career Ministry" in the form of pastoral work or missionary service is by no means more important than the calling to live for Christ in secular vocation. Piper gives a biblical theology of secular work for the glory of Christ in Don't Waste Your Life that is unparalleled in modern literature. However, he acknowledges that in that role, one may find a connection with the life of suffering and the life of missionary advance.

If you have ever read Let the Nations Be Glad! (and shame on you if you haven't!), you know that Piper has a "white-hot passion" for global missions to the unreached peoples of the earth. In Don't Waste Your Life, Piper unashamedly calls every follower of Christ to examine his or her life to evaluate the contribution being made to the advancement of the gospel on the frontlines. He even pleads that many who read this book will give their lives to career missions, a challenge that he confesses issuing to himself each year at Bethlehem Baptist Church's Missions Conference.

Jonathan Edwards, C. S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, Adoniram Judson, Samuel Mills, and a host of other (perhaps more surprising -- like the Marines of Iwo Jima) influences make cameo appearances to reinforce Piper's points along the way. Their words resonate with his own calling the reader to abandon all pursuits that will lead to wasted life, and in exchange begin to seek nothing but the glory of God being displayed through one's life.

I don't think I have read a book in recent days that I have enjoyed more than this book, and I would encourage all in my limited readership to acquire a copy and devour it at your earliest opportunity. It is plain to me that Piper has written this book to a younger audience (college students and early career adults), but I found myself on multiple occasions pricked in my own conscience by his stirring words, and thinking how relevant his message would be for the most advanced senior adults as well. I have recently picked up his latest book God is the Gospel, which looks like it will expand some of the themes introduced in Don't Waste Your Life.

As I bring this bookblog to a close, let me say a word concerning a popular prejudice against Dr. Piper. I overheard this conversation at the NC Evangelism Conference before Dr. Piper was to speak. Someone asked a colleague, "Who is John Piper?" (Can you imagine!). The colleague smirked and retorted, "Just some Calvinist!" The following week, the Biblical Recorder (or Biblical Distorter as it is called in some circles) reported on the conference with banner size headlines reading something to the effect of "Piper Adds Calvinist Flavor to Conference." Indeed, John Piper is a Calvinist. He would be the first to tell you that. But I believe that he would also be quick to point out that he is not a hyper-Calvinist who believes that only the elect should be preached to. In fact, I heard him say that we do not know who the elect are, so we must preach to everyone. And I would also like to say that Piper is a Calvinist, but he is more than a Calvinist. In Evangelicalism today, we feel like once we've labeled something, we have it figured out. People don't read Piper or go to hear him speak because they have him figured out already -- "He's just some Calvinist." Beloved, I am not a Calvinist, though I often get mistaken for one because my views run so parallel to Calvinism (If you must know I am a Molinist, meaning I hold to Middle Knowledge. I used to be a "reluctant Calvinist" because I thought my only other alternative was to be an Arminian, and who wants to be "a dopey Arminian" as my undergrad philosophy professor said.). Yet, even though I am no Calvinist, I don't think there is a writer alive today who blesses and feeds my soul like John Piper. So, can I call us evangelicals to a laying down of the labels and an opening of our minds to hear one another share our passions for Christ and rejoice together where we agree and dialogue together where we disagree? Please, for the glory of Jesus, let us do this all the more as the day approaches.