Blue Like Jazz - My Take, Part 1

The book "Blue Like Jazz" was recommended to me many years ago by a friend, then later by a former pastor. Dan was quite interested in the book, and I saw it on the dollar table at a bookstore several years ago and picked it up. There it sat for a few years until recently...

I've been fascinated about the whole emerging/emergent/postmodern church movement lately and why some things about it concern me. A lot of this came after reading "The Shack" (which is a lengthy review for another time that I may or may not get around to doing.) I've been concerned about some trends in the church recently where, in a nutshell, people are picking and choosing what they want to believe about God, and in essence, creating God in their own image.

Now...I am human, I am imperfect, and my opinions can be wrong. My intention is in no way to slander or attack Donald Miller (a man I do not know), but rather to share some concerns and hopefully back them with Scripture.

So, that brings me back to "Blue Like Jazz"...I get where the author is trying to go, but I'm just not so sure about how he gets there or the conclusions he makes along the way. The subtitle of the book is "Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality." Okay, okay...I get that if we are going to reach the world, we need to be able to relate to the way others view God, Christianity, etc. However, while society and culture are always changing, GOD NEVER WILL (Malachi 3:6, among others). Having said that, I have huge red flags waving at me when someone writes a book about Christianity and never quotes (as far as I recall) from the words of the living, unchanging God (that is, the Bible.)

So...here are some notes I wrote along the way and my thoughts (which I pray align with Scripture).

p. 5 "I started to sin about the time I turned ten."

Okay...I have a six-year-old; I was once a child myself. Maybe he became aware of his sin when he turned ten, but we are ALL sinners (Romans 3:23); every one alive has a sin nature with the exception of Christ (1 Peter 2:22.) I think a volume on Christianity should have a Biblical view of sin.

p. 51 "The goofy thing about Christian faith is that you believe it and don't believe it at the same time. It isn't unlike having an imaginary friend."

That's the thing about faith...the more I read and hear from others, the more I realize that those who don't know Christ very much view Him as imaginary; and to those who do know Him and have a vibrant relationship with Him, He is very, very real. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18. It frightens me that a man writing a book about Christianity would compare Jesus to an imaginary friend. Maybe this wasn't the point Miller was trying to make, but a statement like that at the beginning of the chapter was very difficult to get past as I continued reading.

Another concern I have from the book is the flippancy that Miller seems to give to things of God. Something that I see as having changed for the worse in recent years is a very casual attitude toward approaching God. Yes, He is here with us (Emmanuel) and He calls us His friend (John 15:15) and we can come as we are. But I also believe that we are called to come before Him with an appropriate reverence (Hebrews 12:28). One such example of flippancy is on p. 88: "Powells is another church to me, a paperback sort of heaven." Now, I LOVE Powells Books in Portland, and I am an avid reader. I think reading is a wonderful gift that God has given us. I also believe that you can worship God anywhere. But Miller's statement here, seems to me more like he's worshiping books and reading...it smacks to me of idolatry.

Miller also seems to be content being "in the world, but not of it," but that contentment seemed a bit like complacency when it comes to sharing his faith. On page 115, he recounts a conversation where he is asked to defend his Christianity and refuses. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." I'm the first to confess that many Christians today aren't doing this with gentleness and respect, and I need to search my own heart as I share my faith with others. But, when God opens a door and someone is flat-out asking why you believe, why would you refuse?

Okay...now here's the one that really got under my skin. In fact, I got so angry after reading this, I almost put down the book for good.

In the churches I used to go to, I felt like I didn't fit in. I always felt like the adopted kid, as if there was "room at the table for me." Do you know what I mean? I was accepted but not understood. There was room at the table for me, but I wasn't in the family. p. 130

What a horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE picture of adoption. And definitely not the picture that God gives us in Ephesians 1:5 where He says that He has adopted us as sons. Does God really look at me, His child by adoption, and say, "She's not really in the family"?

He could have made the point that today's church could do a better job accepting everyone with a different analogy. But when you bring such a wrong picture of adoption to the table as your analogy...well, my blood is boiling again, so I'll move on...

Actually, I think I'll set this aside and finish my thoughts in the next blog post.

Stay tuned...