This Beautiful Mess

Pastor Rick Mckinley sent me his book so that I could review it here on revolutionfl.com. Hands down, Rick is one of my favorite preachers. He is the pastor of Imago Dei in Portland. I like listening to Rick because he takes me outside of my comfort zone with his social/green outlook on christian living.

I was not disappointed with this book. I tore through it in about 3 days. Much like his preaching, there were parts that hit directly home with me and there were also parts that took a step outside of my comfort zone. I'll admit that sometimes he loses me with his language and perspective, but that is a good thing. Like I said, it stretches me.

I went crazy with my highlighter and pen on this book and I will definitely be rereading it at some point.

Here are some excerpts that jumped off of the page at me:

• "You can study God expertly in his parts and miss Him entirely in his being."

• "When you observe what passes for American Christianity - in politics, on T.V., in churches, - don't you sometimes find yourself saying, 'I don't want to join that team'?"

• "Relevance happens when we choose to be real people caring for other real people. Authentic relationships make us relevant. You don't have to work at being relevant because love given without any agenda is always relevant."

• "The American Church doesn't produce martyrs, we produce celebrities."
  

Also, towards the end of the book, he discusses the viewpoints that he has gathered from having christian friends around the world. These people often look on us "rich American Christians" with pity and concern, and prayer. Compared to much of the world, we are like spoiled millionaires. Don't believe me, check the Global Rich List. Now, given what the Bible has to say about being rich and being a Christ-follower, what does that have to say about our plight? Spiritually speaking, who is better off? Someone in a third world country with almost no material possessions relying completely upon God's providence or someone living in America worried about which (insert material possession here) to purchase next. How ironic that it is them praying for us, worrying about us, feeling sorry for us.

I'm now determined to read his first book, Jesus in the Margins. Thanks for the book, Rick. It's a keeper. Now if I could just get all of the authors on my wish list to send me their books pro-bono.