Book Review

BIOGRAPHICAL ENTRY

Patterson, Dr. Horace, If Jealous People Raise Their Heads, Don’t Lower Yours. Nashville, TN: R. H. Boyd Publishing Corporation, 2009, 164 pp.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF AUTHOR

Dr. Horace Patterson is the pastor of the Mount Canaan Baptist Church in Talladega, Alabama. He is an experienced pastor, civic leader, counselor, father and husband.

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

Dr. Patterson gives us insight into the various ways that jealousy can stunt our Christian maturity and hinder our ministries. The book is divided into ten chapters. Patterson uses stories from the Bible to illustrate how jealousy is manifested in various ways. In addition to the stories, Patterns uses parables, other Scriptures, and secular stories to support the actions or non actions that he believes will help us to avoid the debilitating effects of jealousy.

CHAPTER 1: “Jealousy in Us or at Us.” Dr. Patterson tells us that jealousy can come from within us or without us. It is not an emotion. It is a spirit. It is a destabilizing force whether it is initiated by an outside influence or wells up inside us of our own imaginations. Jealousy harms one’s walk with God, and it jeopardizes our growth and ministries.

CHAPTER 2: “If Jealous People Raise Their Heads, It Could Be Because You Are the Subject of Somebody’s Song.” Patterson highlights the story of David and Saul. David leads the army of Israel into battle against the Philistines and comes home victorious. The women sing praises to David and Saul is jealous because he fears the loss of the kingdom (1 Samuel 18:6-9). It is not what you have. Rather it is because God has caused you to shine by raising you from a low position to a high position.

CHAPTER 3: “If Jealous People Raise Their Heads, Don’t Let Them Send You to the Plain of Ono.” Nehemiah is rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. The enemies hear of Nehemiah’s progress. They send him an invitation to meet them in the plain of Ono, but Nehemiah declines (Nehemiah 6:1-15). Their goal is to stop him from rebuilding the wall, but the wall is completed in fifty-two days. Jealous people want you to stay in the present so that you don’t reach your future. Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked by convincing you to disobey the command of God.

CHAPTER 4: “If Jealous People Raise Their Heads and You Don’t Have to Confront Them, Don’t.” Jealous people respond in one of two categories: indirect and direct. King Saul acts directly by attacking David. Another direct method may be an attempt to outshine others in socially approved ways. Indirect attempts are more subtle and harder to recognize. One may revert to childlike behavior such as pretending to be sick. Jealousy can kill your valuable time, energy, and resources. Jealous hearted people can tempt you to hoard your blessings because of their covetousness, stinginess, and avarice.

CHAPTER 5: “If Jealous People Raise Their Heads, Don’t Leave the Feast Your Father Has Prepared in Your Honor.” The parable of the “Prodigal Son,” Luke 15:11-32 tells of the father who restores his wayward son to his rightful position and gives a feast to celebrate the son’s return. The older son who stayed at home becomes jealous, feeling that his father has slighted him. The son who returned home stayed at the feast given in his honor. Patterson believes that you should never leave your throne for a battle that is not yours. We should take what God gives us because God knows what we need.

CHAPTER 6: “If Jealous People Raise Their Heads, Find Yourself a Safe Country Near a Wilderness Where You’ve Been a Winner.” In John 11 Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, and the Jews seek to kill Him. He leaves Bethany and He goes back to the wilderness where He was baptized by John the Baptist. He was tempted by Satan and was victorious. Then, He returned to Galilee to announce the kingdom of heaven. After leaving Bethany, He returns to the wilderness and resides in a village called Ephraim (John 11:54). Patterson suggests keeping a dairy to recall positive life experiences.

CHAPTER 7: “If Jealous People Raise Their Heads, Don’t Let Them Steal Your Passion.” “Passion is the voice in your soul that says, ‘You can regardless of who says you can’t.’” God uses passionate persons even though their theology may be misdirected like Paul’s before his Damascus Road conversion. Esau had the birthright, but he had no passion for it. On the other hand Jacob had passion even though his ethics were suspect. If you allow jealous people to steal your passion, you allow them to chain and enslave the best part of you.

CHAPTER 8: “If Jealous People Raise Their Heads, Beware of Whose Countenance They Might Change and Keep Close to Him Who Changes Not.” God can take the place of anything, but nothing can take the place of God. God removed His spirit from King Saul because he failed to obey God’s commands. Laban’s sons became jealous of Jacob and Laban’s countenance changed before Jacob. He sought to harm Jacob, but God warned him in a dream to go home.

CHAPTER 9: “If Jealous People Raise Their Heads, Never Let Them Make You Devalue Your God-Given Assignment.” The jealousy of John the Baptist’s disciples caused them to try to make John jealous of Jesus, but John knew his assignment and how valuable it was.

He was not the Messiah but was glad that he was a voice crying in the wilderness to make a straight path for the Messiah.

CHAPTER 10: “Prayers.” In this chapter Patterson has written prayers to help the reader understand God’s power and His availability to help us when we are confronted with jealous people.

CRITICAL EVALUATION

Dr. Patterson adequately helps Christians to recognize when they have jealousy within themselves and when they are confronted with conflicts because of the jealousy of others. Christians must first be aware of jealousy in their own life before they can rightly recognize the jealous spirit in others. Reading this book can help us to recognize jealousy in others that we previously did not know about and understand. Patterson makes us aware that jealousy can be at the heart of our own actions toward others as well as the actions of others directed toward us. Patterson helps us to avoid jealous people and appropriate actions to take when conflict arises. Don’t allow jealous people and their actions to cause you to stray from the path that God has laid out for you.