Book Review #3

I just finished reading Jim and Casper Go to Church by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper. The introduction almost turned me off completely, but I'm glad I ignored my first impression and continued reading.

Jim Henderson is a pastor who is reevaluating how people "do church." He hired an atheist (Matt Casper) to be a "secret shopper" in church services. Jim's comparison to this business practice was what almost turned me off. He started by comparing churches to businesses. Ugh.

It turned out that premise aside, good could come from the dialogs these two had when they visited and observed churches. They took a road trip, armed with laptops and just a bit of cynicism. They visited big churches, small, and mid sized. Overall, it was a good experience and worth sharing with the reading public.

The part that hit me hardest was the fact that of all the churches these guys visited (12 in all) only one person approached them voluntarily. No one knew why they were there, so it had nothing to do with that. A friend of theirs even pointed this lack of communication out, disgusted, while they shrugged and said they were used to it by that point. It was normal to be ignored in church.

Sometimes what Casper said should be taken with a grain of salt (he is an atheist after all) but when the atheist complains "Why aren't they talking about Jesus" you know some thing's wrong.

My favorite parts are when Casper visited his drummer's house church (he plays in a rock band) for no reason other than their friendship. Jim didn't ask him to, as it was their day off. Casper even said he'd go again.

The drummer didn't want people thinking he was using the friendship to gain anything, because he wasn't. It was all based on relationship.

Another favorite part was when Jim and Casper were in a church that showed a movie. The message pointed clearly to the gospel (A man sacrificing his son's life for a group of unsympathetic people), and Casper admitted he felt moved.

And then the pastor opened his mouth. He felt the need to explain the obvious.

"Just tell the story", Casper insisted. Don't burn me at the stake or anything, but I agree with the atheist on that one.

He applied that to the Bible as well, as he didn't hear many stories from it. Instead he heard snippets of Scripture here and there. A lot of Scripture was taken out of context. You shouldn't take anything out of context, "...so you'd think it'd apply tenfold to the Bible!" Ouch.

They attended Imago Dei church and Mars Hill for "Emerging Church Weekend". The latter was a hellfire and brimstone list of don't s (minus the do s), but J&C seemed fairly impressed with the former.

I like how everyone at I D was involved in their community yet sang songs about the blood of Jesus. Of course Casper mentioned how creepy that sounds. I'm glad to hear the cross still causes offense.

My only issue with the book is that it could have taken Casper's advice about just telling the story. Jim interjects sections that sell his idea of what it means to develop relationships and refers to books he's written quite a few times. It reminds me of the pastor who talked after the movie. Let us interpret, will ya?

I enjoy the Q&A section that's included at the end of the book, where readers get to say "What about..." and J&C answer them. That's not the same as over-explaining.

Answering questions is good. I just think they shouldn't underestimate the story itself.