A couple students today were debating the value of the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I've never read anything by him but have heard of his books as being soft. This review by Chris Brauns covers Miller’s latest book (A Million Miles in a Thousand Years) and sounded like an even-handed critique:
"Reading the strength with which I have expressed my concerns, you may question if I was sincere with the initial positive things I said about AMM. Was I only taking a preliminary swipe at being charitable before I unloaded? My response is that I truly do affirm those things about AMM. But, that is why this book is a dangerous combination. Many will read this book. It will resonate. But, I fear that it plays to the weakness of our day. We spend too much time looking at ourselves. We don't need a million more mirrors all pointed back at our small stories. Rather, we need to see how our individual episodes relate in a Christ-centered way to the story of creation, fall, and redemption."
Does anyone have other reviews of his books to recommend?
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This is Jennifer writing.
ReplyDeleteI read the book Blue Like Jazz last year after hearing some upper school students talking about it. As Donald Miller's book/story unfolded I found myself inspired and compelled by his ability as a believer to engage the culture around him, not remain insulated in his walk with God, to artfully draw out those he engaged in conversation and to love and enjoy them where they are in life. All things that I'd like to grow in. But as I continued reading I became frustrated as I realize that his conversations with unbelievers never really went anywhere. That while he exuded love and grace on many levels, there was not a point or time when he, in light of their hard stories or circumstances, ever expressed the gospel in the form of "we are sinners in need of a savior" or "searching for purpose and meaning in life is futile without a benevolent God whom we desperately need to be reconciled to - to give us that purpose and meaning"…for example. His expressions seemed consistently man centered, focusing on our journey through life and absent of the hard but life giving truths of the gospel and the centrality of Christ.
.... This led me into another study about the Emergent Church… A fast growing movement of churches in the US that Donald Millar is associated with. (a good good book to begin reading about the "Emergent Church" is called "Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Ought to Be", by Kevin DeYoung and some other dude whose name is escaping me right now. VERY helpful read).
BTW, information on the Emergent Church is a subject that our children/students would be well served by to know about as they go out into the world...they will be sure come upon it.
Enough of my pontifications and back to your original question. I highly recommend an online book reviewer named Tim Challies who we use a lot. He is fair and I believe writes from a Reformed point of view.
http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/book-review-blue-like-jazz
So glad you inquired… or did you.:)
Jen
Thanks so much, Jen! Tim Challies' review was great and his blog looks like a very helpful resource. I added it to the links collection and plan to pass on his review of Blue Like Jazz to a couple students. I'd heard of Miller's association with "emergency." Stephen Rayner and I spent a lot of time slogging through emergent church stuff last year, and I have a brother-in-law who has been reading about it extensively as his father (a pastor) has gone far in that direction. The more I learn about the emergent folks, the more the "movement" strikes me as cheesy pop conglomeration of contemporary intellectual fads and a virtually nonexistent ecclesiology (the natural child of American free-market Protestantism). It's a strong candidate for the ideal 21st century American religion. But now look who's getting up on their high horse. :)
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