Dunedin, New Zealand, my city - my people

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

A book for me?

I am reading a book entitled "Saving Jesus from the Church" by Robin Meyers. I have only got about a quarter of the way through and I am thinking, "This guy knows me!" Here are some bits.

  • Sub-title - "How to stop worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus"
  • Dedication- "I dedicate this book to all the men and women who have chosen the parish ministry as their life's work, and yet do not wish to be considered harmless artifacts from another age. May all those who labor in the most misunderstood, dangerous, and sublime of all professions be encouraged and inspired by the possibility that one's head and one's heart can be equal partners in faith. Lest the church end up a museum piece whose clergy are affable but laughable cartoons, we must once again dedicate ourselves to this wild calling - one that led us away from more comfortable lives and into the only profession where radical truth-telling is part of the job description. ..."
  • Hey he has a Sunday nap too! - "I came home one cold January afternoon after serving communion to mt beloved flock and took a nap, which is my Sunday ritual. Parish ministry is tiring in ways most people do not understand, and a Sunday afternoon nap is as sacred to a middle-aged clergyman as the Psalms. Rising before dawn and still fooling with the sermon (or finishing it), many of us preachers are obsessive-compulsive types who believe that no matter how many times we have done this before, this time we will get it right. Preaching is after all, an audacious and dangerous act."
  • Describing his church - "... we are doing our best to avoid the worship of Christ and trying to get back to something much more fulfilling and transformative: following Jesus."
I could go on giving quotations I identify with. It is encouraging to find people thinking the same sorts of thoughts, asking the same questions and having the same struggles. It is good to to have such clever people put into words your own jumbled thinking. Reading such writers helps you to identify your own journey.... I find myself saying, "That's what I would say if I could have thought of it that way! Amen to that!" Reading such books feeds the inner being. Thank you Robin Meyers.

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