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Summary: Confession - I haven't updated my blog for two months now. It isn't because I haven't been reading - in fact, I'm currently three books behind. Rather, it's because I'm stuck on how to do justice to this book, one of the best I've read in recent years. At this point, I guess i just need to take my best shot.
Miller starts the journey by describing his visit to a Christian writer's convention, during which he is taught 'the formula' for successful Christian non-fiction. First you identify a need, then convince the reader that it's a vitally important need, and finally present 3-5 steps for solving it (sound familiar?). If that's the case, he reasons, he should be able to find those kinds of formulas in the Bible. So he looks thru the New Testament, and discovers...
"...there was a guy named Stephen who was miserable, and then became a Christian, and then was stoned to death. That formula wasn't good enough. Neither was the one about Paul, who was a murderer and then was blinded while traveling, met Jesus in a burst of light, and then spent various painful years moving from city to city, prison to prison, routinely being beaten and bitten by snakes. No formula there. I moved on to Peter, who was rescued from a successful fishing business only to be crucified, some historical accounts claim, along with his wife. And of course that wouldn't work. So, I decided to ignore the actual characters of scripture and just go with the teachings of Jesus. And that is when things became really difficult. Apparently Jesus had not heard of the wonderful tool of acronym. He mostly told stories, some of which were outlandish. Step one: eat My flesh. Step two: drink My blood. Do you know what having to read that would do to a guy trying to digest dairy products?"
OK, now you know why I like his style. But even more compelling was the point that he was making, which is that Christianity can't be boiled down to a formula, or series of steps. Not salvation, not the Christian lifestyle. Rather, it's all about our relationship with God. (This isn't to say that there are no absolutes, or that salvation isn't a yes/no proposition. It's more about keeping our emphasis and focus on the main goal).
As always, Miller is quick to illustrate his points with anecdotes. He describes being in a classroom at a Christian university, and asking the students to explain the process of falling in love. After allowing them to wrestle unsuccessfully with the question for a few minutes, he asks why, then, do we let ourselves think about our God relationship in those terms? Why do we suggest to ourselves and others that our spiritual health is a function of following steps A, B and C?
As he digs into this concept, Miller draws frequent parallels with human love relationships. Issues of communication, trust, commitment and fidelity are all explored. I really enjoyed the final chapter, where he takes the story of Romeo and Juliette and draws some amazing parallels between one of humankind's most familiar and enduring love stories and the greatest love story of all time.
Anyway, I've barely scratched the surface of this must-read book. It's a surprisingly easy read, and Miller's offbeat sense of humor makes the going fun. But you won't want to read it quickly, and you can't have my copy - because you'll find that it demands some pretty serious underlining along the way.
