The Gospel of ‘Worth It’: A Review of Steven Furtick’s ‘Is it worth the Dirt’
This is a quintessential example of a pretextual sermon, using Scripture as a launchpad for a therapeutic message on personal validation. The parables of the Kingdom in Matthew 13 are reinterpreted anthropocentrically, shifting the focus from Christ and His Kingdom to the listener's inherent worth and personal journey. This hermeneutical failure is compounded by a weak, decisionist soteriology in the altar call and a concerning 'God told me' claim that blurs the line of biblical authority. The extremely low ratio of Scripture read to words spoken leaves the congregation with self-help principles rather than the substance of the Word.