So I often find myself bogged down with Christian books. They seem to be more like religious self-help books, and I've recently been in a season where I've just not felt the desire to read them. Not that they are bad, and I know many good people who get really encouraged by them. I've just been in a season of not feeling drawn to them. I've read other quality material instead ;) (hah!! Harry Potter doesn't count as quality). Then I picked up The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus. I picked it up mostly because a co-worker threw it at me and told me that it was me. I was intrigued by what that meant, so I cracked it open. It's basically a book about taking the religiosity out of Christianity, and return to the rawness as it was originally intended. The book starts by talking about John the Baptist and his living in caves, wearing burlap, and eating locusts and honey. Not the religious refinement the western Christian has grown accustomed to seeing. One of the quotes that has recently stood out to me is: "Our civilized faith demands caviar and escargot; our barbaric faith accepts that we might have to eat fish eggs and snails." I just like the raw and real that the book captures and encourages. It's time for Christians to give up looking pretty all the time. It's time for us to lock arms with each other and commit to be the church through the good, bad and ugly. It's time for us to love God and love his people in a real way that will take perseverance and guts. Are we ready to dive in?
Just some food for thought. :)
