Something Needs to Change

Good But Has A Few Problems. This is an intriguing book in that it takes a week long trip Platt took into the Himalaya Mountains - apparently just weeks before becoming the President of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention - and combines it from passages from the middle of the Gospel of Luke to present a case that “something” needs to be done about human suffering.

A cynic or pessimist is likely to rate this one closer to a max of 3, because if nothing else it is repeatedly jarring to see Platt admit so openly to ignoring the human suffering in front of his face on this trip - he would rather speak to someone about Jesus than discontinue his trip and help them get to the closest hospital, despite their *eye rotting out from their face, in just one memorable (and early) example.

An Evangelical Christian is more likely to rate this at 5* and wish for more, as Platt's prose speaks exactly their language and ideology - he is quite explicit and unapologetic in exactly what he is, and this reader doesn't fault him for his honesty here in the least.

Ultimately, I go with the 4* because even while Platt uses the full text of much of the passages he uses as primary sources, he still uses the concept called proof texting - wherein a particular verse is cited out of context in support of some point or another - as ancillary evidence. Further, I simply can't ignore the cynical/ pessimistic points above, yet at the same time I understand the worldview - to use one of their favored terms - Platt is coming from, and I get that he thinks he is doing good. Also, knowing the culture Platt is steeped in - I grew up in it - honestly, this book could have been far worse for readers outside of the Evangelical Christian movement Platt is a part of. Though there is one final craw in my jaw in the final chapter: After spending an entire book proclaiming the need for others to be bold and “do something”, and indeed just before leaving readers with a challenge to do the same, Platt is so cowardly that he cannot bring himself to name the organization he represents and of which the International Mission Board is a key component: the Southern Baptist Church.

Overall, the book does indeed raise some topics that needed to be raised. Platt does a solid job of showing people what “life on the ground” is like in these rural, remote, and poor villages of the region. While it could have gone much further in a positive direction (showing the misery of the poor within yards of his own locations, for example), at least it didn't go quite as far in a more negative direction as it could have. So I feel the 4* is warranted here, and I do in fact recommend this book for everyone.