Of course, you have to believe that Phil Callaway is telling the truth to really enjoy this memoir about the year he accepted a challenge to go twelve months without telling any lies. Really. None. Not even little white ones! Imagine how it would affect your job if you were brutally honest – all the time. How about your marriage? Your friendships? Your church?
You’ll have to read the book to find out how successful Callaway was in his quest. Let me assure you, you’ll be glad you did. Callaway is a gifted humorist, and almost every page will bring a grin, a chuckle, or even an outright guffaw. But he’s also a very human man who is trying to figure out how to be a husband, writer, entertainer, and even a golfer, while living out his Christian faith.
At times the book is brutally honest, most remarkably when he shares his deeply personal struggle to avoid having an extramarital affair. His isn’t a simple statement that “I was tempted, but I triumphed because…” No, Callaway shines the light of honesty into some of the darkest parts of his soul as he shares his very real struggle to remain faithful to his wife. His candor, publishing all of this in a book that his wife and friends will read, is humbling. It’s also a good model of how Christians should deal with temptation – sharing the struggle with trusted friends, rather than trying to overcome it by our own strength of will.
And are there times when it’s better to stretch the truth? Callaway writes, “How honest should a person be when in church? Do I tell the pastor that the sermon was great, but it was like a pie it needed some shortening? Do I shake his hand and say, ‘Pastor, that sermon was… uh… timely’? Certainly I should stop telling Jerry Root, ‘I love your tie!’”
Phil Callaway is not a perfect guy. What’s cool is that he doesn’t pretend to be. He lays it all out there for us to see, but always with a wink and a nudge so that we don’t pity him, admire him, or despise him. We just like him, because he’s a regular guy, doing the best he can. Just like us – but a lot funnier!
To Be Perfectly Honest: One Man’s Year of (almost) Living Truthfully Could Change Your Life. No Lie.” by Phil Callaway. The title says it all.
The publisher, Multnomah Books, provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.
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