Evan Doyle

This is the first in a series of book reviews I’m going to start doing. Hopefully. I’m calling them O Book Reviews. Why? Because all of the points I analyze start with the letter O. I’m a dork, I know. Hope you enjoy.

Overview:
Churched is a semi-memoir/semi-humor/semi-theological book by Matthew Paul Turner. (That sentence had more semis than a truck stop…) Matthew tells the story of his experiences growing up in a fundamental Baptist church, from “Baptist haircuts” to Barbie burnings. Through all of this, Matthew still manages to grow up and become someone who’s madly in love with Jesus. (But not John Piper.)

Originality:
Matthew’s book is unlike any other I’ve ever read, but in a good way. He approaches his experiences with fundamentalism with a lighthearted yet serious attitude. The book isn’t designed to give Christendom “5 Steps to Overcoming Fundamentalism”, but to address the situation and let you chew on it. While he’s using personal stories, he makes you feel like you experienced the story right along with him. It’s got a memoir-ish feel, yet you know you’re learning from it. Another great original work from Matthew Paul Turner.

Overall Readablity:
Churched is extremely easy to read. I read all the way through in about 4 or 5 days. While it may be a quick read, it’s an enjoyable, profitable read too. Matthew adds lots of great detail without using obscure wordage. It’s a great break from the extreme depth of many books in the Christian publishing world.

Outstanding Quotation:

“People said odd things about God. They said he was in control, but then when a teenager was killed in a car accident or a young mother died of cancer, they said that he allowed those deaths to occur so other people would come to know Jesus. That only made me fear God more, not have faith in him.” -p. 151, emphasis added

Observations:
I’ve grown up in what I would call a semi-fundamentalist background. Yes, my pastor graduated from “Fyles Sanderson”, as Matthew calls it in the book. Yes, I’ve read the Sword of the Lord newspaper. Yes, my pastor’s sermons are rated in decibels. Yes, we have a bus ministry. But we’ve managed to keep a bit more sane than the church Matthew describes in his book. We’re free to dress as we please, cut our hair as we please, and play with Barbie dolls. And yes, we can even listen to “satanic” Christian rock music. So I’m able to relate to many of the stories Matthew shares in his book, and laugh and be pained right along with him. Anyone who’s spent any time with Baptists will relate to Matthew’s stories.

However, I’m not entirely as ready as Matthew to discard fundamentalism entirely. In the form he describes, yes, for the most part I am. Yet I also see the value that it does have in some respects. I disagree with his assertion that “fundamentalism has little to do with Jesus.” (p. 213) Do I think it needs to change? Absolutely. It can’t continue like this. It doesn’t reflect Christ’s character. But I also know some “fundamentalists” who are the most loving, compassionate people I know.

Overall, I loved Matthew’s book. It was great, and he makes great points about Christianity in the end portion of his book. There’s something here for everyone to learn from.

Own it?:
Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Everyone should have this book on their shelf. When we begin to get too caught up in the “rules” of Christianity, Churched serves as a reality check reminding us to come back to what Jesus is all about: love.

O Book Reviews Rating:
4.5/5 Os

Buy your copy from Amazon (affiliate link):

“Angels! Were those angels? Why us, the shepherds? Why did we hear about his birth? I don’t know. But I know this is big. This is momentous. The One we’ve been waiting for is here. Let’s go and see.”

“Look, a new star. Is it the predicted one? Something is new. Something we’ve awaited has arrived. Let’s go and see.”

“I wish I had somewhere else to put Him. Something warmer to dress Him in. But I’m so glad He’s here. I may not be his “father”, but I feel a connection with Him like no child before. The one I’ve awaited has come. Can I see Him, Mary?”

“I can’t believe it. A teenager from Nazareth. That’s all I am. Why was I chosen? I’m so glad He’s here. (And I’m so glad He’s out!) The long awaited, momentous One has arrived. Let me see Him.”

Whether the world knew it or not, it was transformed on this day. He came to change things. The awaited One arrived. Not in the way anyone expected, however. All throughout the Christmas story, we see the unusual being chosen to do the extraordinary. They all ask “Why me?” They can’t believe that a glorious God would choose them. But He did. He chose to use them to bring peace to the world. Today, He’s chosen us to bring peace to the world. We’re called to be His Marys. And Josephs. And shepherds. And wise men. And temple workers. And stable-owners. We all have a part. And we can all rejoice in His arrival. Thankfully, we know that not only did He arrive once, but He’s arriving again. His Kingdom has been established for us to work in and love in and grow in and change in. One day not too far away, He’s coming to rule His Kingdom. What kind of kingdom are we preparing for Him? Are we anticipating His momentous arrival?

Live life all year in Advent mode. Anticipating. Have an incredible Christmas in remembrance of what He has done, is doing, and will do. He changes everything.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!

Luke 2:14

I love the definition that Princeton University gives for the word advent: “arrival that has been awaited (especially of something momentous).” My church has never really taken part in Advent and the rituals surrounding it. This year, however, I’ve really begun to be exposed to it at college and begin to understand it and what it means. It’s the awaited arrival of the most momentous thing in history–Jesus Christ.

Just think back to this night some 2000 or so years ago. Mary and Joseph just finished up a long few days of travel from home to visit a little town called Bethlehem to be counted in a census. They searched the village for any place to stay: a home, an inn, a tent, anything. Yet all they found was a little stable.

I can only imagine the thoughts flying through Mary and Joseph’s minds. Did they know the time was coming? I mean, Mary was probably 9 months pregnant and looked like she was about to pop. (I wonder what the pregnant food was in Israel. I suspect they didn’t have nachos and milkshakes in the stable.) They had to suspect it was coming soon. But would it be tonight? They were anxiously awaiting the arrival of something incredibly momentous.

Today, the Christ child has come, lived, died, and risen again for us. Today we live anxiously awaiting the arrival of a Savior again. Before His last coming, He sent a messenger named John. Before this coming, He sent a messenger named you. He wants you to share the anxious awaiting with others. Something momentous is coming.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Luke 1:68-79

The book Built to Last introduced the world to the BHAG: Big Hairy Audacious Goal. In the over 10 years since, it’s entered the vernacular of most business people, and even many outside the business world. But this post isn’t about BHAGs. It’s about another big hairy audacious thing: BHAPs. Big hairy audacious problems.

I don’t know about the world at large, but here in America, we seem to have a tendency to ignore the LISPs. (That’s Little Insignificant Simple Problem.) We don’t like tackling the insignificant problems. We’ve got more pressing issues that must be taken care of. Those little issues will just have to wait. The problem is that LISPs don’t stay that way very long. They turn into BHAPs.

They remind me a bit of the ever-growing Fib from the VeggieTales episode “Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space.” They start out small, but before we know it, they’re monstrosities that will take many times more work to overcome. We see this with the big healthcare debate here in the US of A today. 50 years ago, healthcare was a LISP. It was a problem that could have been foreseen and treated many years ago. But we had more pressing things to do, so healthcare became a BHAP. Now it’s a huge, massive problem that we don’t even know how to begin to handle.

The church tends to do this as well. We ignore what seem to be the LISPs. The “little” things like maybe the church is becoming hypocritical. Maybe these corrupt televangelists will just go away. Slavery and poverty aren’t any big deal. But those were just LISPs. No big deal. They’ll work themselves out.

Here we are many years later, and guess what’s happened with many of those. We’ve got BHAPs on our hands. They’re pushing the unChristian populous out of the church they’ve gotten so big.

Sometimes this even occurs on a smaller scale within a local church. Staff refuse to tackle an issue, whether it be personality conflicts, policy issues, or what have you, because it’s just a LISP. Imagine their surprise when 5 years later the now BHAP comes back to haunt them.

Don’t let your problems become BHAPs. Stop them early. Find a solution while it’s easy. Save future you some time.

I grew up in an AWANA club at my church. I was the over-acheiver AWANA kid. In Cubbies, I memorized a verse backwards. (It was backwards night. I won a pen.) In Sparks, I finished my book twice through most every year. In Pals and Pioneers (retro AWANA), I always made it through the missions projects. (It did take me 6 years to finish my last book though. Procrastination set in.) Yep, I was that kid.

One of the verses I learned nearly every year in my AWANA book was Hebrews 10:25, which reads:

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (KJV)

Now naturally, I took the verse at face value as it was explained to me. It meant we needed to come to church. That’s it. No more, no less. Hebrews 10:25 meant “come to church.”

Over the last few months, I really began to reevaluate what this verse meant. It seemed like it had to hold some truth other than just “come to church.” That’s when I read the verse in its context for the very first time. Hebrews 10:23-25 say:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (ESV)

Do you see the difference? The command isn’t just to come to church. It’s to come and stir one another to good works. The church is not a spiritual gas station where the pastor sticks the nozzle down our throats to give us fuel for another week. It’s a community.

That’s what the writer of Hebrews was trying to convey. He wasn’t trying to condemn someone because they didn’t go to church while they were on vacation. He was admonishing us to come together not just for us, but for the community of believers. Some may think that listening to a sermon tape, watching a church service on TV, or listening to their worship playlist on their iPod is an acceptable substitute for coming to church. I say that’s ridonkulous. It’s like trying to substitute ice cream for veggies and fruit in your diet. It’s OK, and it will keep you alive, but it’s not what’s best for you. The community that we experience in coming to church is irreplaceable.

Another realization that I’ve had is that just because we’re sitting in the church building for a service doesn’t mean we’ve not forsaken the assembly. There are lots of people sitting in chairs every Sunday that have forsaken the assembly. They’ve forgotten community. I’ve realized this in attending chapel at Indiana Wesleyan. Going to chapel and listening to the sermon is great. It’s great sitting next to other believers and doing it. But it somehow seems empty unless I’m experiencing it with my friends and able to share my emotion and the message the Spirit is giving to me with them. I’m at a “church service”, yes. But I’m not in community. I’m not stirring them to love and good works. What say you?

P.S. I love AWANA. My misunderstanding of the verse isn’t their fault. Just wanted to clarify.