I really enjoyed about the first 70% of this book. It is humorous and fairly well-written, although it does have some editing errors. The author talks about Christians who quit going to church because they have been treated harshly by other Christians and because they don't see the church as being relevant to their lives. He says that most people who quit attending church for those reasons say they would go back if the church was active in community service, not pushy about attendance, and if the people would be nice.
At various parts in the book, the author rants about how church members mistreat the clergy and expect too much from them for too little and are too judgmental about their pastors' personal lives and that all the pressure leads pastors to quit. I see that as evidence that the clergy-laity system itself is built upon a flawed premise. To be fair, the author does say that all Christians should do the things that they expect their clergy to do, but he does not go so far as to advocate abandoning the clergy-laity system.
Mr. Cheshire (when I see his name I imagine him grinning like the cat in "Alice In Wonderland") also comes across as a bit arrogant as he tells how he has forgiven and befriended Ted Haggard and how he runs several businesses through his church so that he does not have to cater to rich church members who give big contributions, but rather can run his church however he pleases.
I found the book to be thought-provoking and entertaining and I do recommend it.
No comments:
Post a Comment