This weekend (I hope), I’ll be posting the first of many book reviews. I read a digusting amount of books in a year (such is the joy of not having cable!) and want to share with anyone reading a few that are worth your time… and maybe a few that aren’t. Look for a review of D.A. Carson’s “Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor” tomorrow or Sunday.
The latest from the blog
The challenges of broadness
There’s an interesting challenge that comes with working at a multi-denominational Christian organization: Trying to maintain a certain theological broadness. What I mean is this:
Because in our work, we speak to well over 65 different denominations that all fit within the Evangelical Christian tent, we can’t get too particular. This is incredibly frustrating at times because I am very, very particular in my own bend, like most people. I like precision. I like well-thought out statements that leave absolutely no room for error (I realize that this never happens, but I can dream, can’t I?). But because we’re speaking to an audience that doesn’t agree on every detail it’s sometimes challenging to be trying to keep the message clear for folks who speak in Christianese & Glory-isms and those who don’t.
But the challenge is exciting at times. We get the opportunity to connect with Christians of all stripes and talk about the thing we ALL agree on: Jesus! It’s exciting, and humbling, to see that although we can disagree on a variety of (what some would consider) secondary issues, there’s at least one thing all Christians agree on, that being Jesus, His crucifixion and resurrection.
And at the end of the day, that’s really all that’s worth talking about.
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Loving people well
I got into a discussion today about books just before I left the office today. I love books, so I’m always ready to talk about those. However, I was asked about a book that has been going around the Christian circles that has caused a great uproar (hint: it rhymes with “Da Black”).
Because I have very deep convictions about the importance of being grounded in solid biblical theology, I truly believe its important to both protect yourself from reading damaging books and be very discerning in everything we read. I gave my very honest concerns about the book and was asked: What would you say, then, to someone who has read the book and enjoyed it or gotten a lot out of it?
Simply this: I love you and I don’t want you to be deceived. I don’t want you to be confused and start believing ideas about our great God and Saviour that simply aren’t true. I am concerned about my friends reading certain books because I love them and I want the best for them.
This left my coworker a bit dumbfounded.
Regardless of where you stand on The Shack, almost everyone admits that there are some pretty serious problems in it (I’m not going to get into them now because that’s not the point). While some say “yeah, it’s wrong on some major points, but it’s fiction, so go for it” and others denounce it as heresy, I think you have to ask yourself the question:
If I know this isn’t truly good for my brother or sister, but I say nothing, do I really love them?
