Live Your Truth and Other Lies: Exposing Popular Deceptions That Make Us Anxious, Exhausted, and Self-Obsessed

In this irascible misfire, Childers (Another Gospel?), a former member of the Christian pop group ZOEgirl, lays out Christian critiques of popular maxims. Lamenting that such sayings as “live your truth” focus on the self, Childers contends that readers should instead “ensure that our foundation is Christ” and rebuts such folk wisdom as “you only live once” and “you are enough.” The author takes to task the notion that “God just wants you to be happy” and posits that being a good Christian often requires hardship, citing when Paul endured shipwreck, abduction, and imprisonment to live out his faith. Childers uses personal anecdotes to mixed effect, such as when she discusses her eating disorder and recounts when her bandmates “lovingly asked” what was going on “so they could help me,” but the author then confusingly and unconvincingly tries to cast this concern as a constructive form of “judgement” that disproves the saying “you shouldn’t judge.” The author’s pugnacious outlook (she offers lengthy takedowns of the advice of Brené Brown, Rachel Hollis, and Jen Hatmaker) and some contentious assertions (she warns against the “sin of tolerance” and writes that in the “economy of heaven, suffering actually produces joy”) mean this won’t be for everyone, and the sometimes difficult-to-follow lines of argument further limit the appeal. This comes up short. (Oct.)