First Review of 2026: WORTH FIGHTING FOR

John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, activist, and story-teller who writes a blog, Stuff that Needs to Be Said, aimed at anyone who is feeling frustrated with the Christian Nationalist barrage of messages aimed at us every day --  that some people, mainly rich white people -- are more deserving of God's favor than everyone else, especially poor people of color. I became aware of Pavlovitz in 2016 after Trump's election because he wrote a blogpost "Here's Why We Grieve Today" where he spoke to all of us who were aghast at the results of the election. For the past eight years he has kept up the drumbeat, calling to disenfranchised Christians to action. There are many of us -- people raised in the church and Jesus-loving folks -- who simply cannot understand how our faith has been co-opted by a movements which is antithetical to everything Jesus came to earth to teach us -- that God is love and all people were created in His image.

Pavlovitz has written several books, I think Worth Fighting For: Finding Courage and Compassion When Cruelty is Trending is his fifth. Since I find solace in his blogpost, I figured a bigger dose of his essays in book form would bring even more comfort.

In the introduction, Pavlovitz let's his readers know he is not interested in placating anyone. "Love isn't real until it moves from aspiration to incantation." This book provides a wake-up call. God is not going to magically make things better, even if we pray harder. People who are upset about the state of the nation right now need to get moving to make things right. He gives a whole litany of things we need to act on now:

• God isn't going to ensure that schools are safe for all children, including LGBTQ kids.
• Love isn't going to make assault weapons less available on our streets.
• Jesus isn't going to rescue our elections to prevent wannabe dictators from taking power.
• Love isn't going to protect our planet, the, poor, the marginalized.
• God isn't going to dismantle racism and bigotry.
• Love isn't going to push back against anti-immigrant mentality.
• You and I are. "Human beings fighting like hell together for the common good will do all those things."

Since since I am not a regular reader of Pavlovitz's blog, I am not sure if the essays in this book originated there and made their way to the book, or if they are original thoughts. Some of the essays were misses for me, not information I needed at this moment. Others essays cut to the quick. In the essay "How Much Is a Black Life Worth" he begins by asking, "White friend. how much is your father worth to you? Your son? Your sister? Your spouse? Would they be worth stopping traffic for if they were suffocating on a street?" He goes on to say we should all be sickened by a white cop placing his knee on a black man, suffocating him to death. Yet the greatest resistance to the Black Lives Matter movement came from the evangelicals. "Until white Americans are willing to have our own hearts as broken for the injustice Black Americans experience as they would for their own family members, we'll keep perpetrating injustice and rationalizing police brutality" (115).

This is not an easily digested book. Every essay gave me a moment to pause and reflect. And I hope I can remember many of the quips like: "You simply cannot be both 'for God so loved the world' and 'America First.'" God is not small, Pavlovitz argues. Many people treat God as if he is limited and small, as if he can only love and care for a finite number of people, so they shove any marginalized person off the list for not being worthy. Pavlovitz says we need to make our table bigger and invite everyone to join us so we can all partake together of the goodness of our earth.

There are not words minced here. We are in for the battle of our life and the time is now. We have to act now because later will be too late. "America, we are not helpless victims in the fight for our best selves, we are the sole combatants. It is up to us whether we rise to this occasion or find ourselves free-falling. May we become a nation that shuns the toxic fool's gold of greatness and reaches for the invaluable medicinal riches of goodness" (150). Love can win, but it may require overtime on our part.

Pavlovitz does offer a few suggestions of places to start. For example, he started a ministry around the concept of a bigger table -- envisioning a table big enough for everyone. Imagine sitting at a table and being willing to sit and listen to everyone you are supping with, even those whose opinions are not the same as yours, or people of different races and creeds. It is a good thought. Now to make it a reality.

Worth Fighting For was a good choice as my first book of the new year. It sets me up to stay encouraged, ready to stay engaged and willing to fight for the right way to live, a returning to more compassionate country. On the other hand, there is nothing fun or lighthearted in these prose. I would think the book has only limited appeal to many. So many people are discouraged with the state of affairs today, one needs to feel like they are not alone in this fight. Reading this book will help you feel like you are not alone.

Happy New Year! This is my first book/review of 2026. Thanks Sheila for hosting this important event. Join her at Book Journey.

Happy Reading in 2026!

-Anne