Journey of We

    It seems like forever since I posted last...I recently finished Michael Spencer's Mere Churchianity.  I've been following his blog for the past 2 years.  I never had the opportunity to meet him or have a conversation with him but I've been impacted by him through his writing.  The Internet Monk has been my Internet Paul.  He has challenged me to love like Jesus loves.  He has challenged me to bring the conversation back to Jesus.  He has challenged me to be more transparent and honest in life.  The words he left with us in Mere Churchianity reflect an honest, vulnerable pursuit of a Jesus-shaped life.
    Like much of Michael's writing, Mere Churchianity isn't your politically correct user friendly version of how to be a better Christian.  It's an honest look at modern day western Christianity from the perspective of a self ascribed post-evangelical, reformation-loving Jesus follower in search for what he terms "Jesus-shaped spirituality."  The provocative title is classic.  There is no question that the Western instututional church is called out in many areas in this book.  In fact the first part of the book is dedicated to the Jesus disconnect in western church culture.  At one point Michael claims that the Western church's dilemma is that it "doesn't look like Jesus, act like Jesus, or promote the agenda of Jesus" and the reason the church got distracted from Jesus-shaped Christianity is that "discipleship got lost in a fog of church traditions, human rules, and religious culture."  As heavy as those statements are I don't want to give you the impression that this is a church bashing book.  It's not.  It's a call live as Jesus lived.  Michael is unrelenting with his focus on Jesus-shaped spirituality.  It's about asking Jesus-related questions before you ask any others.  It's about the equation "Salvation = Jesus + nothing" instead of "Salvation = Jesus + church."  It's about being honest in what it means to be human and messed up.  It's about being forgiven.  It's about creating a community of vulnerable, recovering ship-wrecked people.  It's about humbly placing our confidence in Christ.  It's about Kingdom living.  It's about loving and serving the least of these.  It's about discipleship being a call to me but a transformational journey of we.  It's about Jesus.  I highly recommend this book for anyone on the journey.  May we continue to learn, unlearn, and relearn...