book report

Lately people have been giving me "Christian books." You know, the ones that EVERYONE in church circles love to read and discuss. Not sure what it means, but recently I've been the recipient of 5-6 different books that fall into this category. Maybe people are trying to tell me something?

I try to approach them with an open mind. I thought "The Shack" was entertaining. I was less intrigued by the author's innovative conceptualization of the Trinity and more interested in what happened to the little girl- must be the SW'er in me. But my friend Michael (somewhat rigorously) expressed feeling the book was "heretical." He prescribed me with another book, "The Way of the Master."

Admittedly, I'm not finished with Michael's book yet. But it's already challenged some things and caused me to really examine some long held beliefs. "The Way of The Master" posits that we ("the Church") have watered down the message and that we should put less emphasis on "happiness" and more emphasis on deliverance from sin. The author(s) suggest we are lying and creating "false converts" when we reel people into the church by telling them they'll be so much happier and so much more fulfilled once they believe in Christ.

I'm still sorting it all out, honestly. It seems like there has to be a balance between the "feel-good" Gospel and the "fire and brimstone" Gospel. But it is true that following Jesus meant embracing a life of suffering, poverty, torture, and death. Look at the fate of the disciples: stonings, crucifixions, beheadings, and exile (the lucky ones!). And now Evangelists tell people that joining the faith will "solve problems."

Today I miss my grandfather. He'd know exactly what to say. Can anybody help make sense of this?