Jim and Casper Go to Church - book review

An atheist and a Christian do a road trip around Evangelical Church-land in America.  They take along their laptops and decide to record the experience.  The result is "Jim and Casper Go to Church", a short and easy read which is a bit of a religious travelogue through a smattering of Christian churches.  Jim, of Off The Map, wants to know, really know, what an atheist thinks when he or she walks into a church service.

They start out big, with a visit to Rick Warren's Saddleback, which is on the corner of Purpose Drive ("yes, those are the actual street names", p.1) and Saddleback Drive.  On the west coast they visit the Dream Center, and then the current incarnation of Mosaic, where they have a brief (and seemingly unproductive) chat with Erwin McManus.  In Chicago they go from classic Presbyterian to inner urban - from "King James" to "w'sup, Coach".

i didn't find that there were many surprises in this book.  On the one hand, a sophisticated and educated atheist goes to a variety of Christian expressions, and finds the various faults which they embody.  Fair enough.  There are enough specific "techniques" which the various branches of the vine use on a regular basis.  My favorite ritual is described like this:

...I waited for the moment we had come to expect at the close of every church .  We call it the "breaking-voice phenomenon."  For some reason, the pastor ends the service sounding as if he's about to cry.  Christians are largely inured to this.  It's so common that we either endure it or enjoy it because it's the tribal signal that services are almost done. (55)

So is it just a church-bashing exercise? As St Paul says, by no means!  What Jim Henderson wants to communicate is a two-fold proposal.  First, Christians are largely unaware of how their "services" look to the outsider who is unchurched.  It's the sort of principle that, I believe, you either get or don't get.  Second, Jim tries to reshape our vocabulary.  Rather than seeing Casper as "lost", the reader is encouraged to see him first as a person, not as a project.  Jim uses language like "a person whom God misses".  Rather like the Father "missing" the prodigal son, rather than focusing on the son as "lost".  What we need to do, says Jim, is to "defend the space" of friendship and discussion and listening to the unchurched, rather than focus on the "place" of worship.

The heart of the book is not the critique of various churches and worship styles, but rather the modeling of a conversation between a Christian and an atheist.  The book can raise a number of questions:

• do we think our "church services" are helpful to the unchurched?
• should they be?  or should evangelism take place primarily in another "space"?
• what is the experience of the outsider walking into our church?
• do we even connect at all, personally, with people outside a Christian circle?

Overall, I'd give it a 6-7 out of 10 simply as a book to read, but closer to an 8 as a tool for starting a conversation within my own church about "us and them".

Next up is a return to Budziszewski...

Comments

[Mrs. Falstaff]

That is why I think Alpha is such a wonderful programme. We had "Alpha in the pub" this fall - many people would attend at a pub and not a church.

[joseph]

Mrs Falstaff: The idea of Alpha in the pub - not having another "program in the church" - is a great example of getting beyond the walls and doors of the building and into the neighbourhood. I think the hidden genius of the book is to get people thinking and acting outside the typical "Christian ghetto". Sure there will always be a place for stuff within the church, and the necessity of gathering with Christians, but the push is to ask ourselves about the reality of our relationship to the wider community, and our personal approach to people who are outside our Christian circles.

[steve the z]

wow, at the corner of "purpose and saddleback", there has to be at least one license plate that just reads "life", so that whenever rick drives down that road he is truly living a purpose driven life.

a string walks into a bar...

[joseph]

steve the z - you're not one of them there "emerging church" groupies, are you? :^)

[Donald]

Part of the problem lies in the fact that we view churchs as places where we do spiritual things. I know of people whose view is that nothing should ever happen inside the walls of the church building if it does not contain an explicitly "Christian" - God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life - message to it.

The irony is that too often we host evenings that innoculate people against the Gospel. For example, a games night with opening and closing prayer and perhaps a folksy little homily from the priest. The type of event that leaves everybody with a warm fuzzy and a sense that they've spent time in a "spiritual" environment.

Unfortunately, too often these type of evenings neither present people who attend with the hard realities of the Gospel, such as "loving those that hate you," nor do they allow for a deeper chance at relationship between the people who attend, thereby giving them a chance to build community together.

Now on an entirely different topic. When are you going to review "The Grouchy Ladybug" Joseph

[steve the z]

emerging church, not really, more of a menno-lutheran paradox that sleeps in on sundays.

[joseph]

steve - I'm personally of the opinion that we should follow our Lord's example of the Last Supper, which most likely began in the late afternoon or early evening...