Emphasis

I've brought this up before: The current emphasis in Christian publishing on the "mess." You know, books are written (that I happen to like and often recommend, by the way) where jazz is blue and doesn't resolve; the you need mercy on the road while you travel; that spirituality is messy. Again, don't get me wrong...I've enjoyed the books and the way they focus on intropsection can be a good thing.

Unfortunately, thus far, the introspection turns into navel-gazing. None of the books really focus on the beauty of transformation in the spiritual life. It reminds me of how the fitness industry is focusing on the abdominals--getting those washboard abs. Without the diet and well-rounded fitness programs that are needed, you're just going to have washboard abs covered by 3 inches of flab. The Christian navel-gazing is just going to result in discovery of the cobwebs and skeletons in our closets.

The beauty of the walk with Christ is found in TRANSFORMATION. What I once was I no longer am. The exchanged life with Christ, lived as a responce to and exhibition of GRACE.

Again, maybe all of those authors will focus on that reality in their next books. That'd be a good thing, too. They're gifted and provocative writers and I've read their other books as well. I'll pick up the others they write. Let's be clear: I'm not saying those books they've already written are bad or shouldn't be read. They've helped plenty of folks be more transparent with themselves and others. This is generally a good thing.

But, the first book I'm reading this year is titled, Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be). I can't imagine that needs any comment or explanation. The two guys are Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. They touched on what I've been thinking thusly, after quoting a musician he knows who said, "In the music scene it's cool to search for God. It's not very cool to find Him.":

"The destination matters little. The journey is the thing...Because the journey is an experience more than a destination, the Christian life requires less doctrinal reflection and more personal introspection. The postmodern infatuation with journey feeds on and into a preoccupation with our own stories. If my grandparents' generation could be a little stoic and not terribly reflective, my generation is introspective at a level somewhere between self-absorption and narcissism. We are so in-tuned with our dysfunctions, hurts, and idiosyncrasies that it often prevents us from growing up because maturity it tantamount to hypocrisy in a world that prizes brokenness more than health."

Wow.

Have at it, patrons.