Even If You Were Perfect, Someone Would Crucify You: Stop trying to please people. Start pleasing God

by Rob Shepherd

He should have seen it coming. Anonymous letters are rarely good. On the day after preaching a sermon at his church, Rob Shepherd opened a letter filled with hurtful words and a very strong opinion about how awful his sermon was. On his fourth reading of the letter, Rob heard a still small voice say, “Even if you preached the perfect sermon somebody would crucify it.” That thought began the process of setting Rob free from being a lifelong people pleaser.

With humor, personal stories, and great conviction Rob shares his personal story of learning to care less about what people say and more about what God says. Even If You Were Perfect Somebody Would Crucify You uncovers what our real struggle is when it comes to pleasing people. You can be set free from the fear of saying no to people, win the battle with avoiding confrontation, learn the power of confession, and find your true identity in Jesus.

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Rob Shepherd is the pastor of Next Level Church in Yorktown VA.

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Protestant author I actually liked and could relate to. His writing style reminded me a lot of Craig Groeschel. He isn't preachy, like Joel Osteen, but actually talks to his readers as if he's on your level.

There's a lot of good stuff in here; the title alone was enough to pull me in.

Deducting a star for the small Catholic dig regarding confession. I guess I should expect that for a Protestant pastor. It did make me a little sad, though. I really, really liked this book and then I read that comment towards the end. I still appreciated the book but it made me stop and think. He says you can't please everyone and to be kind, but then throws Catholics under the bus.

He did say, however, he wasn't perfect. At least he's honest.

[Anthony Hiltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great encouragement to me! It was very easy to read and filled with the truth of the scriptures. It was funny, encouraging, convicting and most importantly Jesus focused! I've heard Rob preach before at my church as a guest preacher and he's hilarious. He knows how to get people's attention and point them to the One who deserves the utmost attention, Jesus! Kiddos bro, great book! And, it was the 24th book I read this year.... As a Lakers fan I'm sure Rob will dig that! But please don't ever say Kobe is better than MJ. He's just not. I digress. Keep preaching the gospel boldly my friend and pointing folks to the true GOAT.... King Jesus!

I highly recommend this book!

[Dr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rob has hit the proverbial nail on the head. From one People Pleasing Person, this book hit home. I believe that Rob was speaking directly to me from his own experiences. I can identify with this book, and I am going to apply what he instructs. A must-read for everyone.