Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality
By Donald Miller
Read 29 September 2009; I own a copy for lending.
Blue Like Jazz is unlike almost any other book I’ve read and respected on Christianity. The author’s writing feels comfortable and friendly, while his content is honest and often challenging. This book is essentially an organized memoir of his own spiritual journey, filled with stories and meditations on what it means to be a follower of Jesus in today’s world. Miller explicitly states he did want to write about Christianity, since that is a religion, and aside from all the negative things in the Bible about empty religion, it tends to offend and separate people in the world. Instead, he writes about Christian spirituality, the practice of walking as a Christ follower. Quite a few conservative commentators seem to be very much against this book. They cite theological differences and technical problems. My feeling is that Christianity is very much heart—perhaps more so than mind. What they are missing is the heart here. Miller’s writings are heartfelt, honest, authentic, and real, in a world where Christian literature is too often all logic and intellect. Certainly I can find minor points of theological difference, but on the whole, Miller gets it. In writing about the experience of living in relationship to Christ and to others, I found many things comfortable and familiar, but I also was challenged about my lack of love for Christ, my lack of love for those around me, and what it really meant to be a Christian. Overall, an excellent book that definitely deserves to be read by you