My wife read this book a few years back and really enjoyed it. I only recently got around to reading it, but I really liked it. I had heard that some Christians were offended or put off by the book and I cannot understand that. I mean, I can understand it because I know how a lot of Christians can be (self-righteous, scared of liberals, offended by "curse words" and smoking/drinking, etc) but I just don't get it.
The book is written by Donald Miller and is basically just a story of his journey and a compilation of his thoughts. The subtitle of the book is "Nonreligious Thoughts On Christian Spirituality". I didn't find it to be terribly well written, but Miller is very creative and self-aware. By self-aware I mean that he thinks about himself deeply, considers his actions and beliefs, etc. He also thinks deeply about the world around him and doesn't take things for granted... and I think that should be respected. Too often we take our own experiences, or our own understanding, and we assume them to be truth. Miller honestly examines his thoughts and beliefs... he struggles through big questions, like why hippies are more loving than the Christians he knows.
I'm not going to say too much about the book except that it was a fun, easy read and can prod a person to question why they live the way they do.
Oh, and I think this is also a great book for people who aren't Christians to read as it shows that not all Christians fall into the same category. There are plenty of Christians, myself included, who break the mold of "typical" Christians. I think it's probably a topic for a different time, but I'll just briefly say that I'm saddened to think that the image of Christianity portrayed by most Christians is:
- Stuffy
- Angry
- Unloving
- Judging
- Un-gracious (I don't think that's a word)
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