Book Review - Die Young

In his well-known hit about a Catholic girl and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, Billy Joel crooned that he’d “I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints/ the sinners are much more fun.../ you know that only the good die young”.  Joel was attempting to persuade the morally superior Virginia to walk away from her religious and pious upbringing with the thrust of his argument being that the good die young. Hayley and Michael DiMarco use their book, Die Young: Burying Yourself in Christ, to turn the tables on this line of reasoning and encourage Christians that they should die young. This, of course, is not a literal bodily dying; rather, it is a biblical dying to self which occurs on many levels. The DiMarcos have delivered a book with fast-paced prose and many personal reflections that introduces the reader to the seemingly negative and somewhat paradoxical aspects of the Christian faith. Through their frank discussion and personal experience, the DiMarcos convey that these seemingly negative aspects are just that; they only seem negative.

The first thing I noticed with this book is that I initially had some difficulty reading it. I generally find myself reading books that cover one topic thoroughly and they do so in a somewhat slow manner. The DiMarcos’ style is anything but slow. Once I switched gears from a plodding pace to a speed more in line with a sprint, I found I liked the rhythm and flow of this book. Ideas and examples, Scriptures and anecdotes are related expediently. It seems to me, this would be ideal for  teens and young adults. It is my guess that the authors have targeted that group. Nevertheless, even older curmudgeon-types like me can enjoy a bit of the need for speed.

This book is permeated with personal testimonies, reflections and anecdotes from the authors. I found these insights into the authors’ lives enjoyable, educational, and edifying. Having a front row seat to how the issues raised by the DiMarcos played out in their lives was an integral part of this books appeal. Their candid confessions gave a real-life feel to their ideas and they helped me to better relate to the concepts under consideration.

The authors’ primary goal with this book was to introduce and enlighten the reader to some foundational truths about the Christian faith that could be interpreted as negative and are definitely portrayed paradoxically. The potential for these ideas to be misunderstood is apparent when one simply considers them: death is the new life, down is the new up, less is the new more, weak is the new strong, slavery is the new freedom, confession is the new innocence, and red is the new white. I’ll leave it to you to investigate in detail how each of these conundrums is explained. Paradox, according to Scott Oliphint in his wonderful book God With Us, involves “conflicting or seemingly contradictory propositions that themselves are presumed to be true." The DiMarcos do an excellent job of introducing the reader to these Christian tenets that are paradoxes to our modern, fallen way of thinking. They follow this up with an explanation of how these seeming contradictions work themselves out in the Christian walk. Their constant reference to Scripture solidifies their ideas and helps the reader formulate the ideas into their worldview.

The one area which I think would have been helpful for the authors to address in greater detail is the practical implications of this discussion. This book does not address many of the ‘how to’ questions that might arise. How does one, practically speaking, live in weakness or practice confession or die to self. Practical considerations are not entirely absent, but I thought this might be helpful particularly for younger readers.

I enjoyed reading this book particularly when I adjusted to its fast-paced prose and I found the personal stories and experiences invaluable. The explanations of the paradoxes covered were helpful and encouraging. I think this is a book well-worth reading.