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Not Afraid of Truth, Wherever It Is Found
I read a lot. I come from a family of readers. My wife and children read voraciously. Often I mention something I have read and am amazed that people at church ask, “Is that a Christian book?” I am never sure how to answer.
I have always believed truth sets us free. I am seldom concerned whether the truth I learn is “Christian” or not. That 2 +2 = 4 is truth I learned, just like the truth of Jesus resurrected from the dead. Both set me free from falsehood and open my life to possibility and joy.
People seem to become particularly annoyed when the truth I speak or write about has not come from a Christian source. Do Christians have a corner on truth? Are only Christians capable of articulating profound realities? Are we not all made in the image of God, and as such, reflections of his handiwork?
I celebrate truth and beauty wherever I find them. It does not mean I endorse every aspect of the work of those who produce great art. Joel and Ethan Coen’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a brilliant movie full of redemption and mercy. On the other hand, Raising Arizona was hardly a redemptive triumph. Does that mean I cannot enjoy their brilliant send-up of The Odyssey in O Brother?
Just because someone is a Christian does not mean his or her art will be better than that of a non-Christian. It is my opinion that virtually all of the best-selling “Christian fiction” authors do not produce very good books. They do not even belong on the same shelves with the great classics.
It is true some of the greatest writers in history were believers, like Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, T.S. Eliot, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tol-kien. Many great contemporary authors wrestle with issues of faith in redemptive ways as well, including John Updike, Garrison Keillor, and Wendell Berry. That they are not classified as “Christian” authors is of little concern to me.
Wherever I see true greatness reaching toward a redemptive ideal, I believe God is at work reconciling all things to himself, whether the writer or artist realizes it or not.
I will continue to enjoy the movies produced by the Coen brothers, the novels of Doris Betts, and the scripts of Aaron Sorkin. That one is a Christian and the others are not is not that relevant to my enjoyment, beyond the wish that all of them knew the source of their giftedness.
So the next time you are inclined to ask me, “Is that a Christian book?” please reconsider. A simple, “Do you think it is a good book?” will suffice.
PREVIOUS COLUMNS:
November 18, 2009 - You Can Please Some of the People Some of the Time
November 11, 2009 - Lost on the Short Walk Home
November 4, 2009 - What Are Your Plans for the Future?
October 28, 2009 - For Whom the Bell Tolls
October 21, 2009 - An Urban Delight
October 14, 2009 - Why Are We Watching This?
September 30, 2009 - No Proper Sense of Inadequacy
September 23, 2009 - In Search of Eloquence
September 16, 2009 - We Have a Conundrum Here
September 9, 2009 - Can’t See the River for the Water
September 2, 2009 - The Joy of Preaching
August 26, 2009 - One Crazy Day
August 19, 2009 - How the Mighty Fall
August 12, 2009 - Not Far from the Tree?
August 5, 2009 - To Kill a Mockingbird
July 29, 2009 - Of Math Books and Carrots and Such
July 22, 2009 - The Care of the Soul
July 8, 2009 - On Finding Balance, Or Not
July 1, 2009 - What I Read on an Airplane
June 24, 2009 - Born of the Heart
June 17, 2009 - The State of Franklin and Beyond
June 10, 2009 - Generation to Generation
June 3, 2009 - Well Conceived and Thoughtfully Presented
May 27, 2009 - Social Networking Gone Mad
May 20, 2009 - This or That?
May 13, 2009 - What Goes Around, Comes Around
May 6, 2009 - ‘Look, I Did It All By Myself’
April 29, 2009 - Holding One’s Tongue Can Be Good
April 15, 2009 - They Just Keep on Growing
April 8, 2009 - A 20th-Century Prophet
April 1, 2009 - One Troubling Subject
March 25, 2009 - Celebrity Obsession
March 18, 2009 - We Get Letters
March 11, 2009 - Time to Reevaluate?
March 4, 2009 - The Cloud of Unknowing
February 25, 2009 - For the Remission of Sins
February 18, 2009 - Through the Centuries
February 11, 2009 - One of the Good Guys
February 4, 2009 - A True Gentleman
January 28, 2009 - I Cannot Look Thereon
January 21, 2009 - ‘I Love Faith, but Have None’
January 14, 2009 - Messy, to Be Sure
January 7, 2009 - Some Things Remain the Same, and It’s a Good Thing Too
December 31, 2008 - Looking Back, Looking Ahead
December 23, 2008 - An Old Column Revisited
December 17, 2008 - One Christmas Pageant
December 10, 2008 - Preparation for Things to Come
December 3, 2008 - How About Some Balance Here?
November 26, 2008 - One Church in One Place
November 19, 2008 - Emergent, Emerging, and So Forth
November 12, 2008 - Good Preachers, Good Elders, Good Memories
November 5, 2008 - From an Unexpected Place, Hope
October 29, 2008 - Conversation Is Good
October 22, 2008 - Certain Unalienable Rights
October 15, 2008 - On the Making of Christian Celebrities
October 8, 2008 - Tirelessly, Day After Day
October 1, 2008 - All Pressed Together, One at a Time
September 24, 2008 - To Succeed or Not to Succeed
September 17, 2008 - Those Short Conversations
September 10, 2008 - To Worship Is Sublime
September 3, 2008 - Deep or Successful?
August 27, 2008 - Driven to Distraction
August 20, 2008 - Christian Colleges–-Caring for Their Constituents
August 13, 2008 - What Is Truth?
August 6, 2008 - What Have You Read Lately?
July 30, 2008 - Permission Granted
July 23, 2008 - What Church Leaders Could Learn from a Restaurant Chain
July 16, 2008 - To Be Set Free
July 9, 2008 - Could Someone Please Explain the Rules?
July 2, 2008 - All in the Family
June 25, 2008 - Gone the Way of the Street-corner Preacher
June 18, 2008 - Married Without Promise
June 11, 2008 - How Did We Get Here?
June 4, 2008 - Just One Small Group
May 28, 2008 - A Brilliant Structure
May 21, 2008 - For the Common Good
May 14, 2008 - Revivals I Remember
May 7, 2008 - Just One Church
April 30, 2008 - Go Urban, Young Man!
April 23, 2008 - Excellence–Does It Really Matter?
April 16, 2008 - Can’t We All Just Get Along?
April 9, 2008 - One Conversation at a Time
March 26, 2008 - Stability Through Paralysis
March 19, 2008 - More Than a Dream
March 12, 2008 - What Is So Frightening?
March 5, 2008 - Holding Down the Fort
February 27, 2008 - On the Other Hand
February 20, 2008 - What Accounts for Our Growth?
February 13, 2008 - Go Play in the Basement!
February 6, 2008 - The Last Mentor
January 30, 2008 - 40 Is the New 20!
January 23, 2008 - In Whom Do You Trust?
January 16, 2008 - In Praise of Facilities Managers
January 9, 2008 - Volunteer Leaders and the Future
January 2, 2008 - The Power of a Single Gesture
December 26, 2007 - For the Sheer Joy
December 19, 2007 - This Too Shall Pass
December 12, 2007 - Who Is In Charge Here?
December 5, 2007 - Volunteer Leaders and the Future
November 28, 2007 - A Growing House Church Movement?
November 21, 2007 - One Demanding Religion
November 14, 2007 - Is Keeping It Simple Always a Good Idea?
November 7, 2007 - The Dawkins Delusion
October 31, 2007 - A Venerable Institution
October 24, 2007 - Christian Churches in the Forefront
October 17, 2007 - 58 Minutes Or Less
October 10, 2007 - Things That Matter
October 3, 2007 - Ordinary Heroes
September 26, 2007 - Bread for the Fish
September 19, 2007 - And That’s How We Grow
September 12, 2007 - In the Middle of the Road
September 5, 2007 - EIO–Evangelical Information Overload
August 29, 2007 - On the Blackboard—a Thousand Times
August 22, 2007 - To Bring Joy
August 15, 2007 - Great Literature
August 8, 2007 - Plain Old Sin
August 1, 2007 - With Wisdom, Peace
July 25, 2007 - It’s All in the ‘Stars’
July 18, 2007 - A Tale of Two Conferences
July 11, 2007 - Workable Solutions
July 3, 2007 - 141 and Counting
June 27, 2007 - I Never Notice the Face
June 20, 2007 - Beyond Reason and Logic
June 13, 2007 - Fit for Ministry
June 6, 2007 - And Now, a Word About Ministry Evaluations
May 30, 2007 - What About Theological Formation?
May 23, 2007 - What Did You Read and How Did You Read It?
May 16, 2007 - Of Bloopers, Blunders, and Such
May 9, 2007 - Plainspoken and True
May 2, 2007 - My Question Remains
April 25, 2007 - Relevant or Hospitable?
April 18, 2007 - What About Accountability?
April 11, 2007 - The Great Human Drama of It All
April 4, 2007 - Dogwood Trees and Butterflies
March 28, 2007 - Lifting a Heavy Weight
March 21, 2007 - Undone By Our Disciples
March 14, 2007 - An Attachment Disorder
March 7, 2007 - Two Trillion Dollars
February 28, 2007 - Failure of Nerve?
February 21, 2007 - All On the Table
February 14, 2007 - Never Got Off the Ground
February 7, 2007 - But What Can I Do?
January 31, 2007 - And Your Muse?
January 24, 2007 - All Swallowed Up, Row After Row
January 17, 2007 - Frost in a Mud Puddle
January 10, 2007 - Right Discussion--Wrong Location
January 3, 2007 - A Place on the Dial
December 27, 2006 - Message on a Wall
December 20, 2006 - A Thousand Times More Frightening
December 13, 2006 - Good for the Soul
December 6, 2006 - This Movement Keeps on Growing
November 29, 2006 - Time for a Time Out
November 22, 2006 - All About the Story
November 15, 2006 - Keeping the Family Together
November 8, 2006 - Pleasing to the Eye
November 1, 2006 - Maybe You Can
October 25, 2006 - Official State Dirt
October 18, 2006 - A Reunion to Remember
October 11, 2006 - The Shadow Side of Leadership
October 4, 2006 - And Could Bless
September 27, 2006 - And It Was Good
September 20, 2006 - Where Delight Resides
September 13, 2006 - God Has Always Had a People
September 6, 2006 - Gay and Innocent and Heartless
August 30, 2006 - What Is Saving Your Life Right Now?
August 23, 2006 - My Verdict Is In
August 16, 2006 - What You Believe Does Matter
August 9, 2006 - We're in Good Hands
August 2, 2006 - Male/Female--What Was God Thinking?
July 26, 2006 - But the Beholder, Wanting
July 19, 2006 - The One Who Says 'No'
July 12, 2006 - Too Old for the Job?
July 5, 2006 - Sermons I Have Heard
June 28, 2006 - Not Our Boat
June 21, 2006 - Not a Player
June 14, 2006 - A Lesson Learned Riding the Rails
June 7, 2006 - Handling and Spinning and Thundering, Oh My!
May 31, 2006 - Lookin' for Answers
May 24, 2006 - At Peace in His Own Skin
May 17, 2006 - For All That Shall Be, Yes!
May 10, 2006 - What Will They Be Thinking Then?
May 3, 2006 - So Much for What's Fair
April 26, 2006 - Big, Bigger, Biggest
April 19, 2006 - Of That, There Will Be No End
April 12, 2006 - I Love This Day!
April 5, 2006 - You've Got Work to Do
March 29, 2006 - 140 Years and Then?
March 22, 2006 - 'I'm Outta Here!'
March 15, 2006 - A Single Act of Kindness
March 8, 2006 - All the News That's Fit to Print
March 1, 2006 - 'Life Is Difficult'
February 22, 2006 - A Confident Light
February 15, 2006 - One Generous Church
February 8, 2006 - Uncomfortable With Question Marks
February 1, 2006 - Think Globally; Act Locally
January 25, 2006 - Neglectful Parenting
January 18, 2006 - Good News on the Silver Screen
January 11, 2006 - Uniquely and Wonderfully Made
January 4, 2006 - Fully Engaged
December 28, 2005 - And So It Goes!
December 21, 2005 - A Father's Risk and a Mother's Love
December 14, 2005 - What Gifts Do You Give?
December 7, 2005 - The Face I Deserve
November 30, 2005 - Oh, Those Judgmental Christians!
November 23, 2005 - A Growing House Church Movement?
November 16, 2005 - One Demanding Religion
November 9, 2005 - Set Free
November 2, 2005 - It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
October 26, 2005 - At What Price?
October 19, 2005 - Lightening the Burden
October 12, 2005 - An Evening Not So Long Ago
October 5, 2005 - A Great Art to Saunter
September 28, 2005 - Reflections in the Afternoon
September 21, 2005 - Heroes in Small Towns
September 14, 2005 - One Man's Home . . .
September 7, 2005 - A Most Enduring Memory
August 31, 2005 - God Lives There
August 24, 2005 - The Elephant in the Room
August 17, 2005 - All in a Face
August 10, 2005 - Christian Diets
August 3, 2005 - Sundays in the Hill Country
July 27, 2005 - People of Our Word?
July 20, 2005 - Won the War, but Lost Our Souls?
July 13, 2005 - A Taste of What's to Come
July 6, 2005 - Tablecloth Strippers
June 29, 2005 - Real Church!
June 22, 2005 - Not 'Nuts' at the Same Time
June 15, 2005 - Grateful for Community
June 9, 2005 - I Couldn't Bear to Begin It
June 5, 2005 - Lost Is a Place Too
May 29, 2005 - Alas, It Was Just Too Boring
May 22, 2005 - Heroic and Faithful
May 15, 2005 - Who's On Your List?
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