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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Hard Look In The Mirror, April 4, 2008
Lord, Save Us From Your Followers will challenge your comfortable Christianity. Dan Merchant and Jeff Martin spent months traveling and interviewing a variety of people from all walks of life to get a picture of what the American culture thinks of Christians and of Jesus. What they found will likely offend many Christian readers...not because its untrue or offensive but because it is painful to see what the secular world's image of us really is.
In one of the most powerful chapters of the book Dan takes a page out of Don Miller's (author of Blue Like Jazz) playbook and sets up a confessional booth at Pride NorthWest...not to hear the confessions of the people there but to confess to them his sins and the sins of the church universal as it pertains to our treatment of the homosexual community. Reading that reminded me how much power honest confession and seeking forgiveness has to heal.
This is something that the church has forgotten. We claim we believe 1 John 1:9 and James 5:16 but we don't live as if we do. We hide behind our stained glass walls and we pretend to the world we have it all together. Its no surprise that one of the most commonly occurring answers to the question Dan poised, "Name something Christians are known for?" was "Hypocrisy."
The book is written as a series of collected experiences, much like an anthology of short stories, I liked that I could jump around and read what caught my attention and not lose the thread of the story. I can't wait to see the full version of the documentary. I hope Dan succeeds in sparking the conversations he hopes to...the Church needs to have them and this book is a great starting point.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Dan, you can count on me", April 7, 2008
This is a wonderful book! The story of how it came into my hands follows,but since this is a review I'll lay that down first! I felt an almost weak- kneed relief while reading this book--the relief that comes when you discover that there is someone else out there that sees what you see, and has the courage and kindness to tackle the thing. The subject of the book--"why is the Gospel of love dividing America?"-- is a subject that has been at the forefront of my own experiences as an Evangelical believer, and a nagging distress that will not go away.
As I was reading, I kept remembering the scripture that tells the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4. He entered into a dialogue with her and they talked story. He asked her questions and listened to her answers (even though He already knew them!). Right away we see the ginormous generosity of God's heart, because He entered into conversation with, and listened to, this woman. I felt the same spirit of generosity in this book Dan Merchant has written. He approaches people, asks questions and listens to what they have to say. He is playful, good humored, and balanced, without hiding his own beliefs or his own shortcomings. I am so thankful that he has had the warmth of heart to write this book. It is a welcome respite from the (I am sorry to say) mean-spirited tone that seems to be prevalent in the monologues of so many believers. I expect there will be many in the conservative tradition who will dismiss this book, or perhaps boycott its reading from the pulpit, but i would encourage them to model the fearless generosity of Jesus and read and listen to all the voices speaking through this book.
In an effort to be detailed and specific I tried to single out portions of the book that stood out, but I couldn't, because the whole thing was like a delicious meal--every ingredient was just blended together beautifully. There are interviews with regular folks and notables, a cartoon that had me screaming with laughter, a quiz, fun graphics, and plenty of heartbreaking beauty in the words of the people and the author.
This book came into my hands in a roundabout way. Scorched and appalled by my experiences in the Evangelical church, I took a hiatus--most specifically from Christian books. Most of them had this TONE, and I got to the point where I couldn't stand the rant any more. I found that same tone to be howling like a bitter wind during worship services. Where were the gentle and kind hearts and the stalwart yet joyful conviction of the believers I remembered as a child? This Easter, I once again attended the sunrise service of a local church held at the zoo nearby, and was again reduced to tears by the gorgeous, simple message of beautiful Jesus.A message delivered by a gentle pastor with warm words, and a young guy leading worship trying to hit chords on the guitar with frozen fingers (it was 20 degrees out). All fifteen or so of us could see that as the two of them fed the hungry with the hope, and the extravagance of the Easter story , they didn't feel the cold one bit. Back home, I could feel the charred areas of my believer's heart coming alive again. I found myself asking God to show me that there was something more to embracing the treasure of our faith than dodging the guys with political agenda sign-up sheets in the lobby after a message loaded with everything we're not supposed to tolerate. He led me to this book.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful and Helpful, April 7, 2008
I got this book last week and have, for the most part, thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a narrative of a series of trips that the author made around America with a novel painter's jump suit with several bumper stickers and other symbols that are being used in the culture war between Conservative Christians and Liberals.
There were three things that make this book particularly valuable to me. One is the interviews. He interviews Anthony Campolo, Al Franken, Michael Reagan, Rick Santorum, Sister Mary Timothy (a homosexual) and others in his quest to open a dialog between Christians (Followers of Jesus) and "them". The interview with Al Franken was a highlight to me. It reshaped my impression of Al Franken. All of the interviews were helpful and gave insight into some areas that I glance over and don't dig into.
The second thing that makes this book valuable to me is his approach to homosexuals (Sister Mary Timothy and The PRIDE festival in Portland). I, as a conservative evangelical have struggled greatly with how we approach them with Jesus' love and his approach resonated. I'm not building a confessional, but I do believe that I have an insight into how to glorify God in this.
The third thing the book did for me was take a lot of the bogey men that many ministries use in alarmist mail outs to generate funds. He exposes them to the light of day and they aren't daunting. In some of the cases, I had already figured it out. However, for the ones that I hadn't figured out, my response was "Of course!"
I could do without the chapters on how to make a bumper sticker man costume, his comic strip gospel, and his bumper sticker quiz. Living in the Austin area and having seen all of these stickers and medallions hundreds of times on cars from top of the line Mercedes to junkers, I am turned off by their banality and ignorance. I scored 0 on his test because I didn't think any of them were worth considering. The comic didn't shed any additional light on the subject that hadn't already been thoroughly and clearly presented up to that point and was sufficiently reviewed in the rest of the book. Maybe he could have replaced those chapters with some more of his interaction at the PRIDE festival or some of the interviews he had elsewhere.
Overall, I enjoyed the book very much. Like any author, he must be read with discernment, but I think you will be helped by this book.
P.S. My copy came with a 60 minute DVD, which I believe is his documentary. I haven't watched it yet but plan to do so very soon.
Rusty Bullerman
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