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It has been a while since I've reviewed a Christian book, and there's a
reason for that. For a long time I had gotten sick of Christian books.
To put a fine point on it, many Christian books are lousy, and I don't
review books that I think are lousy. I've liked every book that I've
chosen to write a Tekton review for. I'm a simple, peace-loving kind of
guy, and I don't like to write harsh reviews because it just makes me feel
tense and agitated, plus it ruins the alignment of my chakras. Okay, I'm
just kidding. While I do practice meditation, I don't really believe in
chakras. But if I did, I guess it would be important for them to be
aligned. I've emerged again (pun intended) to review "Blue Like Jazz" by
Donald Miller.
"Blue Like Jazz" is authentic. Now hold on, quit groaning. Yes, I know
"authentic" has been a trendy buzzword in Christian circles for a while
now (and so does Don Miller). Let me try that again: "Blue Like Jazz" is
real, the way jazz is real. It's true in the way a good painting is true.
But just like jazz or paintings, the book will only resonate with you if
you can relate to it, otherwise it might leave you feeling unsettled and
possibly angry.
Donald Miller, the bestselling author of "Blue Like Jazz", "Searching for
God Knows What", and "Through Painted Deserts" (formerly known as "Prayer
and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance") has elicited a firestorm of
criticism for his "Emergent" views in some quarters, and has been ripped
apart as a false teacher in other quarters, and I decided I'd read enough
of that. Donald Miller's only real crimes, if any, would be that he has a
postmodern writing style, his political views appear to be left of center,
and he talks about real things that real humans do without being stuffy
and judgmental about it. But make no mistake about it: Donald Miller
holds to Mere Christianity, and that's good enough for me.
See, I've never really been one to care very much where people's political
views are. I've never believed that God is either a Republican or a
Democrat, and I tend to pity people who think that God is either/or. I'm
a registered Independent myself, but I don't know whether Jesus would
necessarily subscribe to all of my politics either. And as for
postmodernist writing styles, I'll confess that I liked "Gravity's
Rainbow" by Thomas Pynchon, the granddaddy of postmodernist literature.
Before I had gotten very far in Jazz I posted an entry in my journal about
it which said "This book fits me. It fits me the way birds fit the sky,
flitting about here and there, with honesty and faith and doubt mixed with
birdsong... before I had gotten past more than a half dozen pages, I knew
I had found a kindred spirit."
In a cover article for "Christianity Today", Donald Miller has been
described thusly: "Miller is a bridge to an irreverent, Bohemian world.
His work is framed with Bohemia--a road trip, a pint of beer, an
occasional curse word--but filled with explicit longing for Jesus. He
never takes on basic Christian tenets or Evangelical priorities such as
biblical authority or spreading the gospel." And to a certain extent, I
think this is true, but that doesn't mean that Miller is advocating a
lifestyle of lawlessness--he just has a gift for writing to the people who
have been around the Bohemian scene. But he does indeed spread the
Gospel, and if you're paying attention, you'll hear the beautiful music of
the Gospel of Grace.
And sometimes grace sounds kind of like Jazz.
While authenticity might be a buzzword, it is not mere trendiness to say
that Miller has written an open and authentic book; and yes, I truly
believe that the Church needs more openness and authenticity like this.
For years, my favorite author has been CS Lewis, and what I love about CS
Lewis is that not only was he a great apologist and a great writer, but he
made me feel like he could be a favorite uncle, a lovable old chap puffing
away at his pipe while he wrote about magical animals. In his apologetic
books, he also wrote about his struggles with some of the seemingly
insurmountable problems with Christianity, but by the time he was done
explaining how he faced them, I felt closer than ever before to the core
of "Mere Christianity." While Don Miller doesn't come across like a
traditional apologist, I feel the same way about him as I did with "Jack"
Lewis, like he could be a great person sit around puffing a pipe with by a
fireside. And like CS Lewis, Donald Miller allows his human face to show
like a photograph, rather than like the painting of some pious saint with
a halo. I think that is why CS Lewis was such a great ambassador for the
faith, and why I think Don Miller is as well.
Miller writes about living with hippies in the woods, and freely admits to
preferring their company to clean-shaven "clone Christians." He writes
about his struggles to perceive God as Father when his own father
abandoned him as a child. He writes about his friends like Tony the Beat
Poet, who wears "loose European shirts...that lace up the chest with
shoestrings" or Nadine, a descendent of Scottish royalty who could talk
about Jesus with unfeigned love without sounding like she was trying to
sell Him, and Penny, who discovered that the Bible isn't a salad kind of
book, but a chocolate kind of book. These things may seem trivial and
unimportant if you don't care about the details of people's lives, but
that doesn't mean that Jazz is superficial or shallow. It really isn't,
because at the core of the book is a message about grace and Christian
love that burns so brightly it nearly blinds.
Now if you're looking for a book that will tell you more about the social
background of the Ancient Near East, Jazz isn't for you. If you're looking
for the Case for Christ, go to someone like Lee Strobel or any of a dozen
other good marching band apologists. But if you're looking for a book that
is relevant to contemporary American society, that talks about building
Christian relationships and community and social activism and the meaning
of grace and true charity, then Jazz is for you.
The over-arching message of "Blue Like Jazz" is that Christianity is not a
formula, but something lived. It's more like music than math. His message
is that grace is available to all, and not just the privilege of the
clean-shaven church clones. He retells the Good News in a way that can
engage those who feel disenfranchised by TBN churchianity. Donald Miller
is not "churchically correct", to coin a phrase, and judging from this
book's success on the NYT Bestseller list, he has a refreshing message
that many people are welcoming.
Don't get me wrong, this book is going to aggravate a lot of people,
particularly uptight religiously and politically conservative types. I
say "uptight" because I know some very strong conservatives who love this
book. It doesn't disturb me that people will be politically opposed to
Don Miller, because I don't exactly agree with all of his politics
either. What disturbs me are the vicious attacks by people who claim that
his teachings are dangerous and false, but I think that's only because
they don't have an ear for Jazz, they're not hearing the music the man is
playing the way I am. I think that "Blue Like Jazz" would be a fantastic
gift for young college students; in fact, one source reports that Campus
Crusade for Christ has purchased thousands of these books to distribute as
"Freshmen Survival Kits." When I was in college, the big deal in
Christian circles was Josh McDowell's "Evidence That Demands A Verdict".
No offense intended to Mr. McDowell, but I think today's students will be
far more likely to relate to the riffs of Jazz than to the drums of ETDAV.
Jazz is not a work of scholarship, nor is it exactly a work of
apologetics, it is more of a work of art. It is a mistake to think that
Donald Miller doesn't have an apologetic, though, because he does: The
Argument From Beauty. Only he doesn't argue it with proofs or syllogisms,
but with examples of beautiful moments of grace. Jazz is also work of
evangelism, only not in the three-piece-suit televangelist sort of way,
but in a quirky, artistic, Bohemian sort of way. If I had to take issue
with anything about "Blue Like Jazz" it would be that he occasionally
seems to care a little bit too much about what is cool, and about what
"feels right" and not enough about what is objectively true, but that's
precisely why I think his book will speak to many college students where
many other Tekton books will not. Miller himself openly admits that he's
less interested in an intellectual defense of the Gospel than he is with
an experience of the soul, which (to him) is more like art or Jazz than a
mathematical formula.
But love, like painting and poetry, is not like a mathematical formula
either. I wrote the very first mail I've written to any Christian author
to Don Miller, and I concluded with this: "The absolute best passage in
Jazz for me was the chapter on how to love other people, on how love ought
not to be bartered like a commodity, but given freely and unconditionally
to any and all--even the ones who don't seem to deserve it--and perhaps
that's because I know myself well enough to realize that to the eyes of
perfect holiness, I don't always deserve unconditional love either."
That's the message Miller is sending: don't withhold love from anyone, not
even the ones who are (or who you think are) your enemies. It only fuels
people's hatred for Christianity, and ruins your effectiveness as an
ambassador for Christ. Plus, if you lived in the woods with them for a
while, you might discover that you actually like them.
Keep on playing the music, Mr. Miller, and keep on keeping it real. I can
relate.
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