Wow, Mere Christianity by Michael Spencer is a thought provoking book! I didn't appreciate it's negative tone at times, but it definitely made me think quite a bit.
My favorite part was when he talked about Jesus Fandom vs. Discipleship and Refusing to Sell Out. Here's an excerpt:
"We've come a to something crucial; something that can't be missed or underestimated in significance. Jesus-shaped spirituality doesn't come in a prepackaged consumer edition. And it doesn't grow out of Christianized consumer culture. The Church sign that promises you success if you'll only sign up, join in, attend, participate, and swear the oath is lying. If you're after Jesus -shaped spirituality, you'll discover that it's difficult to find if you keep looking behind the signs and advertisements for the latest product, experience, personality, and worship event.
My favorite part was when he talked about Jesus Fandom vs. Discipleship and Refusing to Sell Out. Here's an excerpt:
"We've come a to something crucial; something that can't be missed or underestimated in significance. Jesus-shaped spirituality doesn't come in a prepackaged consumer edition. And it doesn't grow out of Christianized consumer culture. The Church sign that promises you success if you'll only sign up, join in, attend, participate, and swear the oath is lying. If you're after Jesus -shaped spirituality, you'll discover that it's difficult to find if you keep looking behind the signs and advertisements for the latest product, experience, personality, and worship event.
Jesus-shaped spirituality for Bob, myself, you and everyone else comes in one form only - in the form of Jesus as we find him presented in Scripture. Jesus hasn't suddenly forgotten how to make disciples, so we can't blame him for the current situation. It's we who are slow to recognize that the life of a disciple doesn't happen at the circus.
We may want to treat discipleship like a product and the process of knowing Jesus like buying a new car. You won't experience Jesus-shaped spirituality with that mind-set.
Like a baseball fan, we may be emotional, devoted, willing to sacrifice, and be excited about the game of Christianity. we might even have tender feelings about Jesus. But we won't experience what Jesus said it means to be a disciple if we engage in all the activities of a fan but never become ball players. It's time to leave behind the life of of a fan and commit to becoming a player.
Most of the people who have left the church or are still hanging out in the church but not understanding why, already know these things. When Jesus talks about what disciples do, how they see the world and how they live with other people, we realize we've been misdirected. We've been reading the wrong advertisements.
We may be thought of as lost, but we aren't that far away from being exactly where we should be. We simply have to admit the three ring circus we're living in isn't Jesus' way of making disciples. Consumer Christianity is not what we see in Scripture. Buying a version of faith is not the approach taken by the Holy Spirit to prod us toward Jesus. None of the Jesus-shaped people in history followed a slick, entertaining, success-driven, celebrity-oriented path of faith and discipleship. A road populated by massive churches, loud music, smooth-talking preachers, media, and meetings is not the road to Jesus-shaped spirituality.
If you need someone to tell you it's okay to feel that way and to be on the outside of all this, then here's my hand. I'm glad to meet you.
Now it's time to take a look at that other road - the narrow, overgrown, largely rejected one - and see where Jesus - shaped spirituality really takes us."
pages 195-196
This book is worth reading, whether you agree or not. These concerns should be addressed.
I received this book free from the publisher, Waterbrook-Multnomah.
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