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Master of One Book Review
Early 2019 I read a fantastic book, Called to Create, authored by Jordan Raynor. It quickly became one of my favorite books and I have recommended it to a lot of my friends and family since then. So when I got an email from Jordan himself asking if I would like to be a part of the Launch Team for his new book, it was a very easy yes!
I’m really excited to share this book with you because it honestly changed the way I view my work.
Related: 5 Books on Faith and Work that Every Christian Should Read
Watch My Interview with Jordan Raynor
Watch my interview with Jordan Raynor here. Find out more about the process of writing Called to Create and Master of One. And hear a bit about who his favorite interviewees were while doing research for his book!
Who is Master of One Written For?
Master of One is truly written for all Christians.
As Raynor said in our interview, he can’t prove any of this Biblically. However, this concept of becoming a master of one thing is a strategy that we as Christians can use in order to love God and love others.
After interviewing 25 different Christians who are world-class at what they do, Raynor found that this strategy has been implemented over and over.
If you are a Christian and you believe that we are called to do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31), then this is a book you need to read. I think that you will find it very convicting, just as I did.
Why I Recommend This Book for All Christians to Read
One thing that I am extremely passionate about is letting our faith impact the way we work. This means sharing the love of Christ with those we encounter in our jobs; bosses, coworkers, clients, and customers. Sometimes that can be difficult to explain to others when this concept is fairly new to them.
However, in this book, Raynor gives us a very tangible way of implementing our faith into our work. He creates a convincing case as to why we should become masterful at one thing. Becoming a master of one thing allows us to truly love others well, and it ultimately brings glory to God.
Related: Business Principles We Can Learn from Proverbs
Jordan Raynor’s First Book Called to Create
In Raynor’s book, Called to Create, he taught how we are made in the image of the great Creator himself, God. We, as Christians, are called to reflect God’s character and one of the ways we can do that is by being creative ourselves. The book is mainly geared towards entrepreneurs, artists, writers, and other creatives who take risks and create things in order to honor God.
The book was such a great encouragement for those of us in these creative avenues. It helped me to understand that God calls people to take risks like building a business. And our purpose behind creating and taking risks is to live out the Gospel.
Related: What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Called to Create
What is the Inspiration Behind Called to Create?
Jordan has been gifted with the talent to start-up businesses. He is a serial entrepreneur. Years ago, he was getting ready to start up a new venture when he heard a sermon on church planting.
He felt like his entrepreneurial skills lined up well with church planting, however, he didn’t necessarily want to go plant a church. Guilt set in after feeling like he wasn’t doing the truly God-honoring thing by going and planting a church.
That’s when a mentor got real with him and expressed that his gift of entrepreneurship should not be set aside to go plant a church. In fact, Raynor’s work as an entrepreneur is a ministry!
After reading Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller, Raynor realized that all work is eternally significant, meaningful, and a way to love his neighbors as himself.
How Does Master of One Build Off of Called to Create?
Called to Create was such a great book that helped to challenge me and a lot of other professionals to really see their work as a way to intentionally live out the Gospel. It helped to express that all work is eternally significant.
Now in Raynor’s second book, Master of One, he poses another big challenge. To become masters of one thing in order to love God and love our neighbors.
After coming to the conclusion that our work is one of the most eternally significant things we do in the world, Raynor realized that if he continued to be a Jack of all trades and a master of none, then he was not bringing true glory to our Father.
Why Become a Master of One Thing?
Our society has put a large emphasis on becoming a “Jack of all trades.” While there is nothing necessarily wrong with knowing a little about a lot, it makes it difficult for us as Christians to love God and love our neighbors well.
Raynor challenges this Jack of all trades emphasis by saying, “If we believe that our work is eternally significant, then we Christians ought to have the absolute highest standards in our work.”
In becoming a master of one thing, it allows us to embody the character of God and to love others as ourselves. Raynor comes back to the Bible verse Colossians 3:23 throughout the book which says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”
If God calls us to work with all of our hearts, how can we do that if we are dividing our talents among many different things? Raynor then dares readers to set aside those things that we are not called to master and focus on our one thing in order to better honor our Creator.
The real purpose of mastery is to glorify God and to love others well. As Raynor says in his book, “We ought to pursue excellence in our work not as a means to an end, but as a simple act of obedience to the Lord’s command to glorify God and, in the words of Jesus, to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ (Matthew 22:39)”
Related: 5 Awesome Books for Christian Entrepreneurs
Is Being a Jack of All Trades Bad?
Being a Jack of all trades is not necessarily a bad thing. However, we are constantly bogged down with the concept that we need to do it all. And by buying into this trend, we stretch ourselves too thin.
By overcommitting ourselves to so many different things, we cannot possibly do our work “with all our heart,” as it says in Colossians. Sure, we can do many things well, but nothing with excellence.
And if we are doing a bunch of different things well, then we are doing nothing masterful. Raynor says that the opposite of mastery is mediocrity, and mediocrity is a poor way to love our neighbors and represent our Father.
In reality, we can only do a small number of things masterfully well. So the challenge is to figure out what things we should become masterful at.
However, we all need to start somewhere. Beginning with being a Jack of all trades is a great place to start. In Master of One, Raynor describes how we should test the waters of different career fields in order to find the one thing we want to pursue.
How Do We Figure Out What Our One Thing Is?
Finding our one thing is like finding our calling in life. So how do we figure out what our calling is?
Raynor expresses that there are different versions of becoming a master of one. For some people, their one thing is very broad and for others, it is extremely specific.
For example, Raynor’s one thing is entrepreneurship; which is broad. Whereas, in Master of One, he gives the example of a piano tuner who is exceptionally masterful at that one craft.
If your one thing is broad like Raynor’s, it’s a matter of applying that same discipline into many different contexts. Raynor explains how C.S. Lewis’ one thing was teaching, and how he applied his masterful teaching into many different contexts; books, radio shows, being a professor.
So don’t be overwhelmed by the idea of becoming a master of one thing. Raynor says that he believes that for most of us our one thing is broad verses very specific.
In the book, Raynor takes you through a 4 step process of figuring out what your one thing is. He gives real examples of how he went through this process and how he has seen other masters go through the process.
Following Your Passions Will Not Lead You To Become Masterful
In Master of One, Raynor debunks 3 lies that we have been told about vocation. The one I found most interesting is that our happiness is not the primary purpose of work.
Growing up, many of us were taught that we should follow our dreams and to do what makes us happy. However, Raynor provides studies and research done on this subject and it turns out that as millennials, we are some of the most unhappy people when it comes to our work!
Why is this? Because if we only chase what makes us happy we will not become masterful. Passion actually follows mastery. And from our vocational mastery, we will find more joy.
“Follow your passions,” makes our work all about us. Whereas Jesus calls us to serve others through our work. This is the God-honoring strategy of finding happiness within our vocation.
Related: Is Our Calling Always Our Dream Job?
Warning Before Reading Master of One
Before you dive into this book, I want to warn you of something that happened to me while reading it.
Prepare to be deeply convicted and challenged by Master of One. This book truly made me rethink the work that I am currently doing.
It made me question if what I was doing was truly honoring God and bringing value to others. Not in a shaming sort of way, but more in a respectful way. As a Christian, I want to honor God in every area of life. This book has challenged me to take another step in my relationship with Christ through my work.
I haven’t made any serious changes at this point, but now I am continuously thinking about whether or not the things I’m doing are masterful. And if it isn’t I plan to make corrections!
And I promise you that the book will do the exact same thing for you.
More Resources on Faith and Work
- 5 Books on Faith and Work That Every Christian Should Read
- Grab your copy of Called to Create and Master of One.
- Pick up the book that Raynor mentions in our interview, Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller.
- Check out Raynor’s new podcast Call to Mastery.
- Connect with Raynor at JordanRaynor.com where you can sign up for his faith and work devotional emails
- Read through this list of Bible verses about entrepreneurship to find out how God wants us to run our businesses.
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I’ve been wanting to grab this book! Thanks for the in depth review – because of this I want to read Called to Create now too! (Like I needed help growing my list🤦🏼♀️)
I’ll be listening to the interview as well!
It is such a wonderful book! And you should definitely read Called to Create as well. I think you would really enjoy it as you get started with your business!
This book looks so great. I’ve added both this and Called to Create to my “to read” list. 🙌🏼
They really are super fantastic! You are entered to win a copy of Master of One so maybe I can help you out with one of those books! ;D