Stuff Christians Like, by Jonathan AcuffA long time ago, I became a fan of the blog Stuff White People Like. So when I found out that there was a blog called Stuff Christians Like (which Acuff, its author, admits is a shameless ripoff of SWPL), I was pretty excited. And, just as I own Christian Lander's book SWPL, as soon as SCL hit the shelves I was on board.
So what kinds of things do Christians like? Well, as you can tell from the book cover, one thing is The Side Hug. A few of my favorites include the following:
- Falling in Love on a Mission Trip
- Using "Let Me Pray About It" as a Euphemism for "No"
- The Metrosexual Worship Leader
- Losing the Will to Clap During Songs
- Subtly Finding Out if You Drink Beer Too
- Judging People Who Use the Table of Contents in the Bible
And so on, and so forth. Acuff's observations come out of his experience in a large evangelical church--he mentions being in worship with a few thousand people--so there are a few things I can laugh at as somewhat of an outsider, but for the most part, I'm laughing at myself.
I found that Acuff's writing is not only funny but also insightful. His language is engaging, incisive and witty, and he doesn't always feel the need to make a profound theological point in an entry--though often the points make themselves. Acuff's writing style is what I would like to be able to do, though he's fortunate enough to be a professional writer and advertiser and other things that are great training for this kind of writing.
I've found myself convicted by a lot of what he says. He talks about how we tell people we'll pray for them, then don't--he makes it sound funny, but the other day I received an email from my dad telling me that a friend of his has a terrible cancer all throughout his abdomen and is undergoing experimental chemotherapy, but he also can't eat because the growth is blocking his digestive system. I found myself writing back, "I'll be praying for him," and then I asked myself...Will you really? So, thanks to SCL, I started a list on a notepad on my desk. I'm going to do my best to write down names anytime I agree to pray for someone. Because I want to--but Christians are people too, often failures at being people.
The last section of the book is called "Saturday Night Cryfest." Having been on countless retreats and mission trips, I was laughing as soon as I read the title. But I was not prepared for the essays in this chapter. They were legitimately profound and moving. Some of them were humorous, but these were more pointed, more reflective. Facebook Friend-Suggesting Jesus. Confessing "Safe Sins." Pretending We Believe All Sins Are Equal. Guilt Trips. This is where Acuff really got to me, and my view of the book as funny but true was elevated beyond that. I read most of this book on a mission trip, and two of our daily devotionals were actually written by him, which just made me smile.
I would definitely recommend this book. It's an easy read, each entry is max 1.5 pages or so, it's hilarious, and it'll make you think. Besides, I think we Christians need to get better at laughing at ourselves. We can be pretty ridiculous.
Favorite Quotations
"I've never gotten a speeding ticket, but if I ever do, I want to be honest with you. I'm going to name-drop God. Not just a little bit. I'm going to name-drop God so hard and so often in that conversation with the cop that God in heaven is going to stop playing Battleship with Peter and say, 'Hold up, did someone just give me a shout-out? Is is the Grammys already?'" -- Name-Dropping God to Get Out of a Speeding Ticket
"Saying 'I don't feel led' is the greatest way to get out of a Christian chore, like having a daily quiet time. Which, by the way, shouldn't feel like a chore. It should feel like an uncontainable desire to spend time with the Lord. [...] So to assuage that guilt of not having a consistent quiet time, you'll say, 'I don't want to just go through the motions with my quiet time. [...] Until I'm sincere, I'll respect [God] enough to avoid him.'" -- Having a Spiritual Excuse Not to Have a Spiritual Discipline
"If your girlfriend goes on a mission trip without you and immediately tells you 'we need to talk' upon getting back, don't say I didn't warn you." -- Falling in Love on a Mission Trip
"I am slightly terrified that you will think I am a snake-handling Christian." -- Trying to Say Something Christiany Without Looking Like a Snake Handler
"Time after time, the answer to the question 'Who is carrying that with you?' comes back as 'no one.' But it's not one of those questions you can ask and then disappear as soon as you've friend suggested Jesus. You have to be willing to carry the 'all that' with the person you're talking with. You can't fade into the weeds of life like dissolving into the sea of profiles on Facebook. That's why witnessing is hard. That's why it's easier to friend suggest Jesus to strangers than it is to introduce your friend Jesus to someone." -- Facebook Friend-Suggesting Jesus
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