Messy Spirituality

I give thanks to God for this book. Mike Yaconelli has written a wonderful exploration into the practicalities of grace. It is an easy read, filled with vivid stories and written for the laity. There are so many books on spiritual formation including a plethora written in the last couple of decades. Sadly, the most popular ones pay lip service to God's grace while subtly seducing the reader into a righteousness based upon works. Our calling in life, these books suggest, is to make God happy. Yaconelli reminds us that God's happiness is thankfully not dependent on my pathetic works. Is this book dangerous? Absolutely. The book is dangerous only in that it witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ. That good news turns the world upset down offering God's undeserved love. The weirdoes, the losers, and the undesirables have a place in the kingdom of God. The self-righteous should beware. As a pastor, I would recommend this book to all of my parishioners. As we struggle with the faith, Yaconelli words will provide comfort and challenge. To those interested in spirituality, it is the proper beginning point on your journey.

Anyone who has been a believer for more than a few years has felt pressure to conform to false ideals of spirituality from time to time. This book speaks to those of us who've tried and failed to be what we thought was spiritual only to discover that our dysfunctions were simply agreeing with others people's dysfunctions. I borrowed "Messy Spirituality" from a coworker a month ago after hearing "interesting" things about Yac. As I read the first chapter I smiled, laughed and shed some tears. I had to chuckle as one reviewer opined that this book could be "dangerous" in the wrong hands. Wasn't that the charge made against the apostle Paul? "He's telling them to go sin because God's grace makes everything okay!" Paul spent a lot of energy trying to debunk that mischaracterization with little success. It's a tough pill to swallow. I am free in Christ, even to be bad. But if I am compelled by love, why would I do wrong? That's the million-dollar question, and explains why an authentic walk with God is a truly messy affair. We wander, get lost, then find that he's right there in the middle of the remotest trail getting in our way again. Amazing grace. Read "dangerous" Messy Spirituality for yourself. :) Hopefully you'll feel more liberated to be yourself on your journey instead of trying to follow someone else's ideal.

Sometimes it is difficult to write an appropriate review for a book, such is the case here. It would be impossible in a brief review to convey the depth of understanding and clear vision of God and spirituality that this book conveys. If you are a Christian and in your Mary Poppins world think yourself to be practically perfect in every way, then this is not the book for you. For everyone else, including those who need to deal with perfect Christians, this is one of the best books that I have ever read on the subject of Christianity and spirituality. The focus of the text is to challenge one of the most insidious practices of the church, the expectation of perfection among its members, rituals and procedures. Through personal examples Michael Yaconelli illustrates the true grace of God and how it should show through in all the ways we interact with others. If you have been taught to berate yourself because you are less than a perfect Christian, this book is a breath of fresh air that truly frees you from those chains of what you "should" be. I have read many books on Christianity, theology, Bible Studies, etc. and many of them have been excellent, but if there were one book that I would recommend above all others this is the one that should be in every Christian's hands.

If you're a perfect, upstanding, respectable, fully mature Christian, you may not identify with very much in this book. If you're like the other 99.9% of us, this book is a capital-G Godsend. It may be a revelation to some that a person can sincerely love Jesus and be a seeker of God yet continue to display weaknesses, areas of non-discipline, and, let's just say it, sins that would seem incongruous with "true" Christianity. There are many out there that feel like second-class Christians because they feel they don't pray enough, or may occasionally use salty language, or smoke cigarettes, or...fill in the blanks. This is a book not only for those people, but for those who are tempted to sit in judgment over those people. Mike Yaconelli is former editor of "The Door", probably the only Christian humor magazine around, and is presently a lay pastor of a small church. He sees below the surface mess of people's lives and invites the reader out of a world of self-condemnation and into a land of freedom. Some may be concerned that this book gives people a license to sin. Well, most people sin quite well without a license! When we are honest before God and give up pretending that our lives are neat and tidy, that's when God can take the messes of our lives and redeem them into something beautiful. This is a little book, but it packs a big punch. Highly recommended.

In one of the chapters of the book, Yaconelli says, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."I have always felt like I was odd, a poor fit for the church. I've had unconventional views of Jesus, discipleship and ways to approach life that have made some people uncomfortable and left me wondering whether I was a nut, apostate or both.Central to my philosophy of discipleship is the idea that Jesus died not to make us clean or obedient, but to form us to be passionate about knowing him in the midst of our profound uncleanness and disobedience. To have made it to age 35 with 15 years as an intentional disciple without getting smoked by God because of my sin leads me to believe that God's interest is in something more than my mere behavior.Yet, I have felt alone in this view. Mostly because it cuts against the vast grain that is so deeply entwined in church culture. You can't earn your salvation, but buddy, once you get it, you better work your bootocks off! But I have come to the point where I realize I can keep scrubbing but the dirt and mess is always there. And frankly, sometimes, I just get weary from the scrubbing.Yaconelli has written a book that celebrates the messy Christian. He authenticates the lonely disciple who refuses to believe that following Christ is about being well-behaved, "balanced," clean, and uniformly consistent with the church's list of What-To-Do/What-Not-To-Do.This book has caused me to weep with soulful tears because of its recognition of who I am: a man with a deep love for God and a deep love for himself and a deep love for sin. Yaconelli doesn't try to resolve the tension. He just lets you step into the wonder of loving a God who gladly accepts -- and maybe even CALLS us into -- messy, eliptical pursuits of him. To have someone recognize me in such a deep way is enough, but to have someone say that this type of Christianity is actually pleasing to God is liberating. I kid you not.Run three ways to get this book: hard, fast & immediately.