3 Seconds: The Power of Thinking Twice
Les Parrott, foreward by John C. Maxwell
Zondervan
Hardcover, 192 pages
Suggested retail price: $19.99/Available for $13.59 at Amazon
I once worked at a Christian treatment center for women and adolescent girls suffering from eating disorders. During that time I became somewhat aquainted with the world of “integrationism,” and “Christian psychology.” One cannot travel far in that world without encountering the name Les Parrott.
Parrott has established himself, according to an article in the Seattle Times as a “relationship expert.” Despite Parrott’s background in “Christian” psychology, to the best of my estimation, this book as no “Christian” ties other than being published by Zondervan (in conjunction with Harper Collins). Truth be told, this book is actually marketed not just as a “relationship” book but as “business/professional growth.” Let’s just call it what it is: self-help. In trying to convince you of your need for this book, the jacket asserts:
Just three seconds. The time it takes to make a decision. That’s all that lies between settling for “Whatever’ . . . or insisting on “Whatever it takes.”
3 Seconds show you how to unleash the inner resources that can move you to a whole new level of success. It comes down to six predictable impulses that most of us automatically accept without a second thought. You can replace them with new impulses that lead toward impact and significance.
The book is built on the assumption that we are steeped in negative thinking and to overcome this, we need to let our “first instinct” pass and actually think about the decision we’re about to make, taking three seconds to work things out. He focuses on six specific areas of putting this into practice by reminding that it only takes three seconds to:
- Empower Yourself
- Embrace a Good Challenge
- Fuel Your Passion
- Own Your Own Piece of the Pie
- Walk the Extra Mile
- Quit Stewing and Start Doing
The assumption, of course, is that if we just take “three seconds” to examine our first impulse and then replace it with a more “positive” one, that many of our problems will be solved. We might as well market this as a companion book to Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now because it’s all focused on making your own life better. It’s certainly true that we need to break destructive patterns in our lives, but it’s equally true that Scripture teaches that we cannot do this on our own. The approach with this and books like it is that they simply present everything as up to you, minimizing sin and therefore salvation in the process. What happens when the person still living in slavery to sin (John 8:34, Romans 6:15-23, Galatians 4,, etc.) tries this and soon fails at even taking three seconds to make “positive” changes?
The book sets people up for an autonomous free-will approach in which your entire life is up to you and is all about you. At least Rick Warren understands that it’s not about us. Parrott seems to still be learning that lesson.
The book mentions the Bible and prayer, but without placing such practical steps in the context of the Gospel and under the influence of Scripture, Parrott is helping us do little more than rearrange deck chairs ont he Titanic. For those wanting some bandaids to their problems, a book like this might be a good option but for those wanting to actually understand why we make “bad” choices we make, I would consider a book that considers Scripture.
