BLUE LIKE JAZZ
by: Donald Miller
I tend to underestimate or altogether dismiss an author's writing skill just because I found his/her book at a Christian shop. I don't read many Christian books for this reason. When I do, I stick to the "resources" or books written with the intention to teach something specific. I don't touch anything "creative" except for C.S. Lewis' work. Well, this has changed. I've come across DONALD MILLER, and I love his work.
My most recent faith struggle is not one of intellect. I don't really do that anymore. Sooner or later you just figure out there are some guys who don't believe in God and they can prove He doesn't exist, and some other guys who do believe in God and they can prove He does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it's about who is smarter, and honestly I don't care. I don't believe I will ever walk away from God for intellectual reasons. Who knows anything anyway? If I walk away from Him, and please pray that I never do, I will walk away for social reasons, identity reasons, deep emotional reasons, the same reasons that any of us do anything.
Blue Like Jazz is an account of Don's personal journey with God. So honest in its simplicity yet complex in the conflict that Christian spirituality evokes within the self. It emphasizes the battle between flesh and spirit that men have struggled with since creation. The problem: SELF-ADDICTION. The victims: YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE. The verdict: YOU NEED HELP, and help comes first from acknowledging that you need it then finding a solution which Don offers as Jesus Christ. Yet he doesn't do this in an intimidating but accommodating and unconventional manner.
I know now, from experience, that the path of joy winds through this dark valley. I think every well-adjusted human being has dealt squarely with his or her own depravity. I realize this sounds very Christian, very fundamentalist and browbeating, but I want to tell you this part of what the Christians are saying is true. I think Jesus feels strongly about communicating the idea of our brokenness, and I think it is worth reflection. Nothing is going to change in the Congo until you and I figure out what is wrong with the person in the mirror.
After reading, I felt so refreshed. Christianity can be about a lot of things: church, ritual, religiosity, preaching, a holy image, seeking blessings, shunning evil.......... And with all the noise, it's too easy to miss out on what pleases God most, the fundamental message of Christ--LOVE. All men, whether Christian or not, have indeed fallen short of God's glory and need redemption. Christ tells us not to judge others for good reason, because we cannot pull the plank out of our own eye and cannot pull out someone else's. The faults that we have with others and the judgment that we attach to their names are really our own. We don't suffer from lust for human affection but we suffer from lack of God. Why can't God's love be enough? It never seems to be enough when it should. Even the "strongest" Christians (if you can find a standard on which to determine strong or weak) need to constantly keep themselves in check. Think about it, though. If God's love IS enough--that is, if you find your worth in God and God alone--then loving everyone else will become natural.
We dream of Christ's love for His bride reading like Romeo and Juliet; two equals enflamed in liberal love. I think it is more like Lucentio's pursuit of Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew. That is, the groom endearing the belligerent bride with kindness, patience, and love. Our "behaviour" will not be changed long with self-disciple, but fall in love and a human will accomplish what he never thought possible. The laziest of men will swim the English channel to win his woman. I think what Rick said is wroth repeating that by accepting God's love for us, we fall in love with Him, and only then do we have the fuel we need to obey. In exchange for our humility and willingness to accept the charity of God, we are given a kingdom, And a beggar's kingdom is better than a proud man's delusion.
It sounds as though Christians are working towards a goal that they cannot attain. That's true. We really can't attain this goal by ourselves, and dependence on our own strength doesn't justify anything except that we are proud when we should in fact be humble because God honors the humble. So why all the agony in trying to be altruistic? Exactly. Following Christ's example of love shouldn't be agonizing. It should be enjoyable for otherwise, it defeats the purpose of unconditional love. But how, how, how, HOW DO I BECOME LIKE CHRIST? I'm only human. Totally an understandable but not necessarily a legitimate excuse. You can't keep running from the call to improvement and hiding behind "human nature" just because of your laziness to make the effort to change. Jesus' birth, death and resurrection were meant for your freedom and upon accepting this, you are meant to have victory over your flesh. You are given the power to make decisions and with every decision you make there will be consequences, good or bad. Your journey towards redemption begins when you decide to ask for help. Ask Jesus to reveal more of himself to you, to ease the strain of unbelief. Then ask him to help you overcome that unbelief and to be able to receive his love. Unless you receive his love, you cannot love him. And if you cannot love him, then you cannot obey his commands. And the vicious cycle repeats itself. Remember that you are not seeking men, but God. God knows everything about you, beauty and ugliness. He, unlike men, is not deceived by externals. So be honest with him. Whether you live or die, you live or die to the Lord.
All great characters in stories are the ones who give their lives to something bigger than themselves. And in all of the stories I don't find anyone more noble than Jesus. He gave His life for me, in obedience to His Father. I truly love Him for it. I feel that, and so does Laura and Penny and Rick and Tony the Beat Poet. I think the differences in my life came when I realized, after reading those Gospels, that Jesus didn't just love me out of principle; He didn't just love me because it was the right thing to do. Rather, there was something inside me that caused Him to love me. i think I realized that if I walked up to His campfire, He would ask me to sit down, and He would ask me my story. He would take the time to listen to my ramblings or my anger until I could calm down, and then He would look me directly in the eye, and He would speak to me; He would tell me the truth, and I would sense in his voice and in the lines on His face that he liked me. He would rebuke me, too, and he would tell me that I have prejudices against very religious people and that I need to deal with that' He would tell me that there are poor people in the world and I need to feed them and that somehow this will make me more happy. I think He would tell me what my gifts are and why I have them, and He would give me ideas on how to use them. I think He would explain to me why my father left, and He would point out very clearly all the ways God has taken care of me through the years, all the stuff God protected me from.
My most recent faith struggle is not one of intellect. I don't really do that anymore. Sooner or later you just figure out there are some guys who don't believe in God and they can prove He doesn't exist, and some other guys who do believe in God and they can prove He does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it's about who is smarter, and honestly I don't care. I don't believe I will ever walk away from God for intellectual reasons. Who knows anything anyway? If I walk away from Him, and please pray that I never do, I will walk away for social reasons, identity reasons, deep emotional reasons, the same reasons that any of us do anything.
Blue Like Jazz is an account of Don's personal journey with God. So honest in its simplicity yet complex in the conflict that Christian spirituality evokes within the self. It emphasizes the battle between flesh and spirit that men have struggled with since creation. The problem: SELF-ADDICTION. The victims: YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE. The verdict: YOU NEED HELP, and help comes first from acknowledging that you need it then finding a solution which Don offers as Jesus Christ. Yet he doesn't do this in an intimidating but accommodating and unconventional manner.
I know now, from experience, that the path of joy winds through this dark valley. I think every well-adjusted human being has dealt squarely with his or her own depravity. I realize this sounds very Christian, very fundamentalist and browbeating, but I want to tell you this part of what the Christians are saying is true. I think Jesus feels strongly about communicating the idea of our brokenness, and I think it is worth reflection. Nothing is going to change in the Congo until you and I figure out what is wrong with the person in the mirror.
After reading, I felt so refreshed. Christianity can be about a lot of things: church, ritual, religiosity, preaching, a holy image, seeking blessings, shunning evil.......... And with all the noise, it's too easy to miss out on what pleases God most, the fundamental message of Christ--LOVE. All men, whether Christian or not, have indeed fallen short of God's glory and need redemption. Christ tells us not to judge others for good reason, because we cannot pull the plank out of our own eye and cannot pull out someone else's. The faults that we have with others and the judgment that we attach to their names are really our own. We don't suffer from lust for human affection but we suffer from lack of God. Why can't God's love be enough? It never seems to be enough when it should. Even the "strongest" Christians (if you can find a standard on which to determine strong or weak) need to constantly keep themselves in check. Think about it, though. If God's love IS enough--that is, if you find your worth in God and God alone--then loving everyone else will become natural.
We dream of Christ's love for His bride reading like Romeo and Juliet; two equals enflamed in liberal love. I think it is more like Lucentio's pursuit of Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew. That is, the groom endearing the belligerent bride with kindness, patience, and love. Our "behaviour" will not be changed long with self-disciple, but fall in love and a human will accomplish what he never thought possible. The laziest of men will swim the English channel to win his woman. I think what Rick said is wroth repeating that by accepting God's love for us, we fall in love with Him, and only then do we have the fuel we need to obey. In exchange for our humility and willingness to accept the charity of God, we are given a kingdom, And a beggar's kingdom is better than a proud man's delusion.
It sounds as though Christians are working towards a goal that they cannot attain. That's true. We really can't attain this goal by ourselves, and dependence on our own strength doesn't justify anything except that we are proud when we should in fact be humble because God honors the humble. So why all the agony in trying to be altruistic? Exactly. Following Christ's example of love shouldn't be agonizing. It should be enjoyable for otherwise, it defeats the purpose of unconditional love. But how, how, how, HOW DO I BECOME LIKE CHRIST? I'm only human. Totally an understandable but not necessarily a legitimate excuse. You can't keep running from the call to improvement and hiding behind "human nature" just because of your laziness to make the effort to change. Jesus' birth, death and resurrection were meant for your freedom and upon accepting this, you are meant to have victory over your flesh. You are given the power to make decisions and with every decision you make there will be consequences, good or bad. Your journey towards redemption begins when you decide to ask for help. Ask Jesus to reveal more of himself to you, to ease the strain of unbelief. Then ask him to help you overcome that unbelief and to be able to receive his love. Unless you receive his love, you cannot love him. And if you cannot love him, then you cannot obey his commands. And the vicious cycle repeats itself. Remember that you are not seeking men, but God. God knows everything about you, beauty and ugliness. He, unlike men, is not deceived by externals. So be honest with him. Whether you live or die, you live or die to the Lord.
All great characters in stories are the ones who give their lives to something bigger than themselves. And in all of the stories I don't find anyone more noble than Jesus. He gave His life for me, in obedience to His Father. I truly love Him for it. I feel that, and so does Laura and Penny and Rick and Tony the Beat Poet. I think the differences in my life came when I realized, after reading those Gospels, that Jesus didn't just love me out of principle; He didn't just love me because it was the right thing to do. Rather, there was something inside me that caused Him to love me. i think I realized that if I walked up to His campfire, He would ask me to sit down, and He would ask me my story. He would take the time to listen to my ramblings or my anger until I could calm down, and then He would look me directly in the eye, and He would speak to me; He would tell me the truth, and I would sense in his voice and in the lines on His face that he liked me. He would rebuke me, too, and he would tell me that I have prejudices against very religious people and that I need to deal with that' He would tell me that there are poor people in the world and I need to feed them and that somehow this will make me more happy. I think He would tell me what my gifts are and why I have them, and He would give me ideas on how to use them. I think He would explain to me why my father left, and He would point out very clearly all the ways God has taken care of me through the years, all the stuff God protected me from.
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