The Christian life isn't intended to be lived in isolation, but community. Let's face it though: community has its risks. Being open and honest with people can leave you just as vulnerable for attack as it leads to greater intimacy. Sometimes the people who talk the most about love seem the least likely to demonstrate it. And everyone seems to know someone who left the church because of someone's cruel behavior.
B--, the world-traveling wunderkind, recently passed the book When Bad Christians Happen To Good People along my way. I must have been having a bad day or something. I was interested to see what author Dave Burchett had to say about the wounds that get inflicted in the church everyday. Would it be an angry diatribe about every parishioner who ever sat in his pew at church? Thankfully, no.
Burchett writes about a serious subject matter in a witty and conversational tone. He proves that being a sincere Christian and having an opinion aren't mutually exclusive. Trust me -- you'd want to sit at this guy's table at a church potluck.
Burchett recounts some painful incidents directed at his family that made my blood boil. But he's just as quick to point out his own foibles. The book doesn't offer any deep insights -- it's more of a kick in the rear end to people who "should know better." And truthfully, I found my rear end to be the target of Burchett's foot on more than one occasion. Many of his illustrations hit way too close to home. I winced so many times during the reading of this book that T-- thought I had developed a facial tick.
The book is strong medicine, but a necessary prescription for a church that has forgotten its purpose is to be ever-increasingly transformed into the image of Christ.
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