Ok - so what didn't I like about Donald Miller's "Blue Like Jazz"? Well, aside from the typo on page 126, it is simply the theology of the thing. Or is it the lack of theology? I do not know Donald Miller and I do not know his thinking on a variety of topics. What this book clearly communicates is a love for God and a passion to pursue that with friends, i.e., a hunger to be in authentic community. But in the process of communicating love and openness, I could not tell that he had any sense of repentance from past sins and joy over current righteousness. His story telling almost seems to condone sin. He discussed sex, drugs, drunkeness, stealing, etc.. There were no caveats offered indicating that what was done in the past was wrong. There was even discussion of continuing this behavior after his conversion. More - it was communicated in a way that led me to believe he was proud of his "realness" and ability to relate to a fallen world.
But again, he didn't come out and say these things were ok - he just did not say they weren't.
The one bit of theology he did teach, i.e., tithing, I did not agree with so while I enjoyed the book, I would be hesitant to recommend it...ok, too strong, any recommendation would come with cautions.
Technorati Tags: Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz
No comments:
Post a Comment