All the Places to Go (by John Ortberg)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve very much appreciated John Ortberg’s books over the sixteen or so years since I first discovered his writing. He’s an American pastor from an evangelical Baptist background, but he’s far from being a fundamentalist. He writes with some humour, some personal anecdotes, and an excellent way with words that makes even well-known truths take on a new light.

I’m gradually re-reading some of his books, and have just finished ‘All the places to go’. I last read this in 2016, amused that the front cover looked like something from a Dr Seuss book. I then discovered that there are several quotes from Dr Seuss in the book, as well as some parodies. So the front cover was deliberate.

What is important, however, is the content. It’s mostly about doors - open doors, closed doors, tempting doors, forbidden doors, and the need to listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we look for where to go. Ortberg isn’t just writing about the ‘big’ issues, such as vocation, or life partner. He reminds us that life is made up of opportunities, some of them as small as a kind word to a supermarket cashier, or a hug for an unhappy child. When we’re following the way of Jesus, every positive moment is a step in the right direction.

I didn’t remember much from the book, and thought it quite inspiring. It didn’t say anything particularly new, but what it said was thought-provoking and inspiring. The most important thing about doors, John Ortberg says, is who we are with. If Jesus is there, beside us, then even a ‘wrong’ door can turn into something good. And there are times when there’s no clear guidance, when we need to make up our own minds between two or more different opportunities. What matters is that we, as people, grow and move further towards God, and the decision of taking a job, for instance, or moving to a new house, is less important from a spiritual perspective.

Having said that, I don’t relate to everything in the book. I don’t, for instance, suffer from the ‘fear of missing out’, or ‘FOMO’, as the author puts it. I don’t at all mind that other people have more friends, more interesting lives, more experiences. My problem is the other extreme: if I’m comfortable, and secure, then I’d rather just stay where I am and not take any risks. But it’s important to have a balance; that’s why the concept of an open door, set before us (or a series of doors) is such a helpful image. Some are wide open, some can be gently pushed, some are closed and it might (or might not) be a good idea to knock or even push a little to see if it will open.

It’s not a perfect image, of course. Some may find it unhelpful, but that’s okay too. The chapter looking at some of the Christian myths about open doors is a useful one to get the theory into perspective, and I think the book is well worth reading, even if you don’t like the conceptual idea. We all have to make decisions, and while most of them are relatively minor, it’s important to take into account God’s guidance, the principles of Scripture, and our own experience and common sense.

What is most important is to keep looking at Jesus, and to see all ‘doors’ or pathways or decisions as opportunities for growth.

The author deliberately doesn’t take any specific denominational stance, which I think is helpful. While some of his anecdotal references are rather ‘American’, occasionally incomprehensible to this non-American with no interest in sports, it’s easy enough to skim them.

I love John Ortberg’s writing, and would recommend this to anyone who is a believer and who would like to know a bit more about the theory of guidance and ‘open doors’ in the Christian sense.

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