Never Settle for Normal: The Proven Path to Significance and Happiness

by Jonathan Parnell

Discover the personal meaning and gladness you hunger for—without settling for normal!

Every human wants to matter and be happy, which is as it should be. God made us to resemble and reflect His worth as we enjoy our true identity in Him.
 
But we too often swap that calling for the trifles of this world, pursuing cheap substitutes to fill the craving of our souls. As Jonathan Parnell puts it, we settle for “stupid normal” over the transcendent, even though this world can never satisfy our hopes and dreams.
 
In Never Settle for Normal Jonathan speaks to the heart of both skeptics and searchers by addressing their deepest longings. With insight and passion, he examines the key tenets of Christian faith—creation, fall, redemption, new creation—and reveals the life-changing glory of the Christian story in a fresh, new light.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Nonfiction

1 pages, Audio CD

Published March 1, 2021

About the author

Jonathan Parnell is the lead pastor of Cities Church in Minneapolis-St.Paul, a church he and his team planted in 2015. He is the Send Network’s City Missionary in the Twin Cities, where he also serves as a church-planting trainer. He is the author of Never Settle for Normal: The Proven Path to Significance and Happiness (2017) and coauthor of How to Stay Christian in Seminary (2014). He and his wife, Melissa, live in the Twin Cities with their eight children.

Reviews

[Etienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just me thinking I pick a book about marginalize and originality because I did go way to blindly with the title. This book isn't about not settle to normal, this is about going all out for God. Totally not what I wanted or expected. Probably m bad, but still...

[Sabrina González · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and eye opening, GREAT BOOK!!

[Dr. David Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid. Cliff notes for John Piper's, Desiring God.

A great book to introduce to people prior to reading Desiring God.

[Bethany McIlrath · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jonathan Parnell believes “normal” is something we shouldn’t just accept. In his book Never Settle for Normal, readers are encouraged to consider that there is more to life than just the usual and that it isn’t wrong to want for more.

After several chapters of chipping away at normal concepts about life, God, and the human appetite for glory, Parnell turns readers over to the Gospel story. He walks through the basic elements of the grandest truth: creation, the fall, sin, Jesus, and Christian hope.

Smattering the story with philosophical insights from the likes of Augustine and C.S. Lewis, Parnell’s approach to telling the good news is atypical. He also includes ideas from stories like Moby Dick and movies like Nacho Libre.

Several themes rear their heads occasionally throughout Never Settle for Normal, making it difficult to pinpoint a singular thesis of the book. In the end, normalcy and living beyond it is only loosely related to the main ideas. Some themes include:

• The human bent toward glory-seeking
• Happiness as what everyone wants to attain
• That sin confuses worldview
• We are searchers by nature
• Idols won’t really satisfy
• God’s story is true and it matters

Examples of the sort of thought-provoking statements Parnell makes include:

“You don’t have an inner champion. You have an inner brokenness that desperately needs to be healed by Jesus.”

“Prominence and popularity are temporary means to satisfy an eternal appetite.”

“Sin is both the act and disposition beneath, before, and after the act.”

“If gospel messengers were meant to merely blast out information, Jesus would have told his church to go make subscribers, not disciples.”

Parnell’s style reads a bit like stream-of-consciousness writing. It’s almost as if he is imagining a conversation as he writes, but readers only hear his side of it.

For those who enjoy casual contemplation and mulling over philosophical concepts in relation to God, the book will likely prompt discussion or lead to personal pondering. Study questions are included in the back of the book for this purpose.

While I personally found Never Settle for Normal had little to say about normalcy and what we can do with that concept, readers may find the book valuable for exploring various philosophical topics related to the human tendency to seek happiness and God’s answer through Jesus Christ.

[Jon Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking back on the book, what Parnell does best is bring us back to reality. The search for significance and happiness consumes us all, and time after time we fall into the “stupid normal.” We search for the meaning to life in a decaying world leading us to a place that “pretends that God doesn't exist, that casts a vision devoid of ultimate reality.” Parnell presents the only remedy to this futile search, the Gospel, in a clear, concise and straightforward manner. He beautifully juxtaposes the reality of sin and it’s very real consequences with the reality of a loving Father God who made a way for us to experience real relationship with Him. He presents Jesus the the real man who was really God who died a real death on the cross and really rose again. His death and resurrection paid our real debt and make real relationship possible through faith wrought in us by the real power of the Holy Spirit. This real faith in Christ as our savior and all-satisfying treasure is the only thing that produces a real hope. And what a hope it is. One day we will be united with Him to be completely satisfied for all eternity. This is the kind of hope that satisfies now, that produces significance and happiness even until it is fully realized. Praise God for this wonderful reminder.

[Carter Hemphill · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, the positives... I liked the way that the author provides an approachable summary of the main theological components of the Christian faith, and I appreciated the review of such theology. My concern is that the title may be misleading. It wasn't clear what the author intended by "normal" (other than a cute anecdote from his daughter about the term "stupid normal") and the focus on significance and happiness weakly linked through the book -- only to be emphasized at the end of the book once again. I appreciated what the author was covering, but with some of the scriptural passages, I'm not sure if a new Christian or unbeliever would have the patience to finish the book. With a good leader to guide the discussion, this book would likely be better suited for a group bible study than as a stand-alone book.

[Erica (The Literary Apothecary) · Rating 5 out of 5]

He takes us on a theological journey, gently reminding us that answers will not be found in scholarly tomes, or other collections of theories. Moreover, he directs us to a leather-bound itinerary that has captured everything we need to know, from the intricate moments of the world’s formation to that apocalyptic moment leading to its end. Parnell shares, with astounding accuracy, what it means to be a Christian in a text that is a conceptually accessible primer to all Christian readers wishing to explore their faith.

[Lovely Loveday · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be very insightful, a really good read. This book will really make you think about life and the future. After reading this book you will feel refreshed and renewed with a more godly purpose and meaning. A true must read.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for something specific so it's hard to blame a book for not conferring with my needs before being written. I was searching for something existential to be given to a skeptic and did not find that here. A decent intro to those unexposed to Christianity or new to the faith. Short read.

[Daphne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about having greater expectations of the Christian life and not just settling for regular humdrum lives.

[William Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book that allowed me to grow stronger in my faith as well as my understanding of what God did for us.