Category Archives: Interviews & Case Studies

How a night club promoter switched to water – with Scott Harrison

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One of the most inspiring testimonies to me is from Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water. I could talk it up – how it’s influenced me, how it has so many different levels of meaning – but I won’t.

Just watch it. Set aside 45 minutes, and watch it.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Use this as a model: for how to share your testimony, for how to live it in the first place.

(2) Today is the last day to contribute to Matt’s goal of raising $1,000,000. Spread the word, not with a mass email blast or anything but with personal requests. And lead by example. Give, even if it’s $5.

Raising money, watering Africa, becoming last – with Matt Windley

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I’ve followed Becoming Last, a blog about putting God and others first, for over a year now. So when Matt told me he was organizing a fundraiser for charity: water and asked me to get involved, I knew I needed to.

See, I’ve loved charity: water since I first heard their story. But, you know, I got lazy and never really did anything to support them. Matt reminded me.

So anyway, I have some other projects planned in the future. For now, I wanted to support Matt with his ambitious goal of raising one-million dollars for clean water in Africa. And along with supporting him, I wanted to get his insight on managing a project like this. What works? What doesn’t?

I asked if he’d let me interview him, and he graciously agreed. So with that, I’ll let him explain what his project is all about.

(Photo: charity: water)

Marshall: So why charity: water? Of all the organizations asking for money, what particularly inspired you about them and their project?

Matt: First, I knew I wanted to do a clean water project. The most vulnerable among us are children, and they suffer the most. Of the 42,000 people who die each week from unclean water and unhygienic conditions, 90% are children. That statistic staggers me. As a parent, I can not imagine watching my child suffer from something as simple as not having clean water.

From there, I chose charity: water because of their innovation, their transparency, and their passion. Visit their website, and you quickly feel their passion for what they do. To top it all off, 100% of the donations given go directly toward clean water projects. They have private donors that fund other costs, so they truly use every last penny that people donate on projects. In that respect, they are truly unique in the non-profit world.

[For a more indepth answer, read Matt's post here.]

Marshall: You’ve shared about it on your blog, but what was the motivation for setting your goal at $1,000,000?

Matt: Hope. All along, I have known that $1,000,000 would take a movement to catch fire or a miracle to occur. I set the goal high because I did not want to get to $2,000 and be satisfied. I think we too easily become complacent with a little charity.

The fact is the Christian church has millions compiled in bank accounts around the world. The money is out there. The question is, “What will we use it on?” $1,000,000 was set as my way of recognizing we have the resources. I pray we hit that number. Maybe it’s unrealistic, but I felt like I wanted to put it out there because I know how much good that would do for those children who are suffering as we speak.

Marshall: So what was your planning process? What did you do ahead of time to prepare for the challenge?

Matt: I’ll be honest. It started practically spur of the moment. I’ve thought about doing something like this for awhile, but had never acted.

One day I just decided I was tired of waiting and thinking and never acting. I sent a few emails to some from blogging friends of mine, talked to my church, and got the ball rolling. I knew this would be a learning experience, but I was prepared to fail and make mistakes because I knew I’d learn and grow from them.

Honestly, my preparation for this was nothing to learn from. If anything I’d say, if you feel God calling you to do something, do it.

Marshall: You’re right on with that. I wish I followed that advice better. It’s awesome that you were able to jump into it like this. Now, what’s worked? For anyone else who wants to set up a my charity: water account, what has been the best way for you to spread the word and raise funds?

Matt: Three approaches have worked the best for me.

First, asking people to be involved in a smaller step (sharing on FB, blogging about it) gave people a chance to buy into the project. Those people were much more willing to give after they got involved in a smaller way.

Second, I am not the type to ask for money, but I quickly found out that good old fashioned asking was extremely effective. I just told people what I was doing and asked if they would share and/or give. Many times they did both.

Third, sharing your heart goes a long way. When people can tell you truly care about what you are doing, they are more receptive to giving.

Marshall: What would you do differently if you were going to do this again?

Matt: This was an intentionally spur of the moment fundraising adventure. That led to many moments of “if only I had thought of that earlier!” For example, local news would love a local story of people trying to raise money for charity. I missed out on getting some publicity there.

More planning would have helped. I think if I had a couple of months to rally some more people around helping, we could have launched larger and made more of an initial surge.

Marshall: Yeah, that’s a tough call. On one hand, you don’t want to delay because, like you said, it’s easy to lose the moment. On the other, some strategy, especially to get others involved, can go a long way.

What about charity: water itself? How could they make the my charity: water process easier for people giving or raising money?

Matt: I have two ideas I wish they could incorporate on their giving site.

First, if they could make it possible to grab a live update of the donation total and put it on a blog or Facebook page, that would be amazing.

Second, I wish there were more ways for donors to interact with the giving page itself. You can put comments when you give, but they are all the way down at the bottom. I would love to see a forum update gadget where people could share why they gave, encourage others to give, or just express excitement for what we’re doing.

Marshall: Okay, let’s switch gears a little: Your blog, “Becoming Last” – I’m a big fan of that title. Is there a story behind it? Why did you choose it?

Matt: For me, it’s the essence of a Christian’s life. For the first twenty some years of my life, I was a Christian, but rarely did the idea of laying down my life ever cross my mind. I began looking at most of the people around me, and it seemed like Christianity had become, “Be a nice person, don’t swear, do the church thing, and you’re good.”

I set out to read through the New Testament, and I could never escape this idea of Becoming Last.

Christianity boils down to putting God first and others second. Jesus said that. Becoming Last is about taking that call seriously.

First Corinthians 9:19 speaks volumes to me. Paul says, “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.” We are completely free, but because of Christ’s sacrifice we lay down our lives so that more people may know God and He would be glorified.

Marshall: That verse is a favorite of mine too, definitely part of the foundation for bondChristian. I think it’s fascinating to see how this verse plays out in different people’s live. Like for you, how would you say the charity: water challenge fits in with what you’re doing in general on Becoming Last?

Matt: It’s an opportunity for us to widen our view of ‘neighbor’. We are no longer ignorant of what happens around the world. For the church to sit idle, while 42,000 people die a week from something so preventable, is crazy.

It’s not as if we don’t know how to get them water, and it’s not as if we don’t have the money. We simply just haven’t done it.

I believe in missions, taking the name of Jesus to the nations, but why on earth would people listen to our message if we are indifferent to such suffering? This challenge is just a small way to make people aware that we have a responsibility to love the nations, that neighbor love doesn’t stop at our borders.

Becoming Last means to all, not to those whom we find convenient.

Marshall: I get pumped reading stuff like that. So how can we help on this project specifically?

Matt: Several ways. First, pray. I know people always say that, but it’s true.

I highly recommend the biography of George Muller. The man cared for thousands of orphans throughout his life. He never asked for a dime. When their was a need, he prayed and God provided. That is remarkable. I believe God hears the prayers of his people and I hope you’ll pray for our challenge and for those around the world without clean water.

Second, donate. Even if someone gave a $1 or $5, it helps. I’m asking for everyone to at least give something. I believe in the power of small donations. When people give and they share, those donations multiply exponentially together. So start small and if you can give more, that’s great too.

Finally, please share with your friends. Post it on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever. Highlight our opportunity to show the world that the church cares about the hurting and that even small donations matter.

Marshall: Awesome. Thanks so much for sharing with us.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Like Matt said, spread the word. If you have a blog, write about this. If you have a Facebook account, ask your friends to help you. Point them here.

(2) Buy drinks. Twenty dollars gives someone clean water, which is pretty much life-changing.

(3) Lastly, check out what Matt is doing over at Becoming Last. He has some fantastic insights and suggestions. Thank him for sharing.

Sharing the meaning of life – with Mikey Robinson

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I’m a philosopher by nature and education. Like pretty much every ancient Greek I know, I love the idea of getting together in a public setting, maybe around a meal, to talk about life, beliefs, and all the questions in between them.

On the other hand, I’m a Christian by birth and persuasion. Like the first century disciples, I enjoy studying Jesus’s examples and seeing how I can apply them to everyday life.

So what if you combined the deepness – for lack of a better word – of philosophy meetings with the foundation of the Bible, God’s Word? I’m all over that.

Enter the Alpha Course.

The Alpha Course is for people who might not necessarily go to church but are still interested in trying to answer deep questions. The course gives an overview, in 10 sessions, of what the Bible is all about while trying to answer some of those deep questions, or at least point in the right direction.

I say all this because… well, first off, because I’m a fan of these kinds of courses. But secondly, because I connected with Mikey Robinson who blogs and helps run the Think Alpha website. He actually reached out to me first but then agreed to do an interview here to explain more about what he does and – more importantly – to help us share the meaning of life with others.

Here’s the interview…

*****

Marshall: So, Mikey, how did you get involved with the Alpha Course? What attracted you to it?

Mikey: I was aware of it for a number of years before I got involved in helping with Alpha. I arrived in London a couple of years ago, and one of the first things I felt I should do is an Alpha course. I volunteered to help cook or be in a group, but ended up leading one. It was definitely a steep learning curve, but one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Marshall: I bet. What are some of the most common questions people ask in the course?

Mikey: Each week raises a whole lot of new questions. Personally, I’ve found that depending on a person’s prior knowledge the questions can be quite wide ranging. Some of the most common are who exactly is Jesus and if He is God as He claims, why God lets bad things happen, and who is the Holy Spirit.

Marshall: I think that’s one of the toughest parts of sharing with others, figuring out what they believe already so I can respond appropriately. Do you have any tips for quickly getting to understand where others are at? Like how can we find out what assumptions they’re bringing to the conversation?

Mikey: That’s a tricky one. I don’t personally have any miracle short cuts, but what I found works best is listening, and building friendships, and making sure that you always do this FIRST before you even think about saying what you think, and this is what you can expect on an Alpha course – friends and people who listen. At some point in the process hopefully you get better at noticing the subtleties of how they react (body language, tone, etc). I know I so often fail to listen, and this is something I consciously work on.

Marshall: I’m with you there. Not everyone’s going to join a course, though, or initiate these big questions to give us a chance to listen. So how can Christians help others discover the meaning of life, on a practical level?

Mikey: A great question, and one which is best answered by others wiser than myself. I find that the best way to help others discover the meaning of life is often the simplest, that is to live it. I’ve found that when your life is filled of meaning, others will notice.

Marshall: What does a life filled of meaning look like, compared to one without meaning? For instance, what are maybe a few ways you try to live that out personally?

Mikey: I don’t know if this is the question that needs to be asked here. Everyone finds meaning in their lives, as I mentioned in this article about the Meaning of Life.

I’ve found that in my life if I focus on living my life filled with joy, it will make people curious, and is extremely satisfying and fulfilling. I’ve found (by trial and error) that joy is a distinctly different concept to happiness. Happiness is doing what you want. Joy is doing what God wants, and His way is better because he wants what is best for me.

For me, this is a process, a balancing act, and a life work. Psalm 16:11 says that “in His presence is fullness of joy” so first up, I want to learn how to remain in His presence, and then it’s finding what you’ve been made to do, doing it with all your heart, and loving the people around you with that same devotion.

Marshall: Wow, thanks for sharing that. Let’s shift focus. Can you share a specific example of something amazing that’s happened through Think Alpha, the blog?

Mikey: Personally, I find it amazing every time someone hits our Facebook page and website, and finds a course near them. I mean, it’s no small feat going to all that effort to find out more about God. You’ve got to really want it.

Marshall: Yeah, definitely. I’m constantly amazed too with not only how far but how deeply the Internet can reach. About that, what do you think is coming in the future with the way Christians interact with the Internet?

Mikey: I think particularly with Web 2.0, it gives us a great opportunity. We get a chance to get a lot more personal with people in our audience, and if we create content right, access to their friends as well. I suspect that there is a lot in store in this regard.

Marshall: What are some ways to create content right? What are your suggestions?

Mikey: Again, I think it’s primarily about listening. Most bloggers write about what they’re interested in. Which can be fun, but less relevant, and hence less read and shared. If you learn how to write great headlines and great articles about things that people are interested in, they’ll read it.

I try and write stuff people want to share, which means asking the question, “How is this going to make their lives better.”

Marshall: As regular readers might have noticed, I’m a big fan of all things online. But what about those who aren’t on Facebook every day or don’t have their own blog and so on? How can they get involved?

Mikey: This is pretty common among Christians, as we’re often tech laggards (late adopters of new technology). With web 2.0, we see a gaping opportunity to harness connections between people that we would otherwise never reach. So I’d say “get on board”!

I think this means that we all have a responsibility to learn how to use it better. A good place to start is learning how to share things on Facebook, email, and Twitter.

Marshall: All right, to wrap this up, what would you say Think Alpha’s main mission is, and how can bondChristians help, online and offline?

Mikey: ThinkAlpha itself really isn’t a brand as it’s purpose is to target keywords in Google that are related to people searching for answers and to create content that people will want to share with their friends asking these questions.

As far as bondChristians helping, at the moment, any feedback as to what they would find useful would be great, particularly things they would share and use online. If you have any ideas for E-books, PDF downloads, videos etc, it would be awesome if you could drop us a line.

Marshall: Will do. Thanks so much for your time and insight, Mikey. I really appreciate it and think readers will too.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Check out Think Alpha where Mikey blogs. When you find something you like, share it with your friends. It’s good practice.

(2) As Mikey said, let him know if you have any ideas or suggestions on things that would be useful or spreadable or just plain awesome.

(3) How can you share, by example, the meaning of life? What are some things you can do that are different from what you might otherwise do if you had a different purpose or a different meaning to life? Start a list of ways and then check one off today.

Thankful for hands, eyebrows, things you’ve never lost

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I’m going to make a big assumption here: you have both your hands. And I’m going to make an even bigger assumption here: you’re not as thankful as you should be.

(Photo: Michael Hayman)

A couple months ago, a man received two hand transplants. Evidently, he’d been burned, but the doctors were able to successfully attach two new hands, only the third time in history. I heard about all this because I live in Louisville where the surgery took place.

What struck me, though, was how grateful this guy is. I’m not sure if he’s a Christian, but he sure seemed like it on TV. Perhaps everyone does after experiencing something like that.

This man was perfectly healthy before his accident, at least as far as hands go. But then he was burned. Then the transplants. Then the physical therapy. And now he’s slowly getting back to normal, though his hands will never be normal again.

So why’s he thankful?

I think this man is thankful because he lost so much and then was given so much. Getting new hands must have taken him from one of the lowest points in his life to one of the highest.

But consider you and I (I’m still assuming you have both of your hands). Objectively, you and I have more than this man has now. Our hands probably work better than his new ones ever will. But – I’ll just speak for myself here – I’m nowhere near as thankful for my hands as this transplant patient is.

As far as health goes, I’m better off than he is. As far as gratitude goes, I have a long way to go.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, but I keep coming back to this guy’s story. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, but why does He have to take away first for us to notice Him giving anything? If He just gives, most of us never notice.

  • I’m not thankful for my hands, not daily.
  • I’m not thankful for the ability to walk, not when I’m freezing outside.
  • I’m not thankful for simple things like clean water to drink and air to breathe.

Thankful for eyebrows

My dad and I talked about this one day on the way to a Bible study years ago. The sun blared at both of us as it set on the horizon. Thankfully, we both had eyebrows and eyelashes and eyelids. We both could squint to protect ourselves from blindness. We were even able to admire the beauty of it all as we talked and prayed before the study.

If you had asked me last week, I might have said I’d never forget that time with my dad and how since then I’ve been thankful for eyebrows.

But really, I forget, like everyone else… and I’m not that thankful, not daily anyway. I still need the reminders. I think most of us still do, even when we’ve experienced tragedies in our lives that we assume we’ll never forget.

I don’t think God burned that guy’s hands just so He could remind me to be thankful. Maybe He did it to remind the guy, but even that sounds callous. Regardless, God definitely took advantage of the situation to remind me. Because I have both my hands, but I’m not as thankful as I should be.

Is it too much of an assumption to say the same is true for you?

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Count your blessings, on paper. What are some things you’ve never lost but that you should be thankful for? Think of things you might consider essentials, things you’d have trouble doing without but that no doubt some people do do without.

(2) Share these things with someone else. Tell people why you’re thankful, not just the things you’re thankful for but also why you’re thankful for them. Seriously, no one cares if I’m thankful for my hands until I tell them the story of the guy who lost his.

The waitress story: My favorite analogy… ever

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(Photo: Jenny Downing)

My parents are out on an anniversary date.

They’d chosen what they thought was a fairly nice restaurant, at least by middle-class, Louisville, Kentucky standards. My dad probably wanted a blackened steak, my mom her classic salmon, and they’d enjoy the evening chatting together.

So they’re seated at a booth in the corner, and the waitress asks if she could bring them a Merlot. Everything’s clicking so far.

A couple minutes later, as my parents sit there talking, the waitress returns. She asks for their dinner order this time. My parents give it, and then…

And then things start to change. Instead of telling the chef what my parents want, the waitress hangs around. She asks how long my parents have been married, then about their kids, then even starts rambling on about her own kids.

Okay, this is getting insane. My dad’s a pastor, so he and my mom are pretty much required by the Law of Moses to enjoy people. Still, it’s their anniversary. My parents want to be alone, at least for one evening out of the year.

But the waitress keeps chatting, at one point even pulling up a chair from another table. She’s trying to help… but not.

Moral of the story

How often do you and I do what this waitress did? Instead of simply setting up the banquet and letting God take care of the romance, we try to sit in, helping God along. Hello, Church of the Third Wheel.

It comes down to this: our job is to serve. Our job is to prepare the way for the Lord, and let Him take it from there. He must increase, but you and I must decrease.

Overall, my parents still enjoyed a wonderful evening together – they’re cool like that. But other than giving my parents a great story to tell afterward, the waitress didn’t add to their experience.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Where’s the focus? Sometimes, it’s hard to see how we’re getting in the way, because we feel like we’re helping. But by taking a moment to consider where we’re pointing, you and I can choose to serve instead of suck the attention.

(2) Check your own life and your own ministries, the ways you serve God. Is the focus on you and your ministry or on God? Taking that even further, is the focus on God’s principles or on His personality? Because our job is to reveal God and His personality, who He is. That’s what people fall in love with, not the extras we bring to the table.

How a slimy, bald man encouraged me

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(Photo: kretyen)

The service was over. I remember I played drums in the worship band that day. I don’t remember the sermon.

Everyone’s filing out the doors at the back of the sanctuary. Everyone’s cheerful. “I think we’re having lunch downstairs,” I hear someone say.

“Hey, Marshall, can I talk to you for a moment.” I turn to see an older friend of mine waiting beside the doorway. By older I just mean I was probably 16 and he was probably in his early 50′s.

“Sure,” I say, but I’m actually a little nervous. I grew up in the church, so I know these sit-down conversations can mean anything. I wasn’t sure I trusted this man.

He seemed nice enough but moody at times. He’d come to the church with his wife for about a year but then stopped. About a year and half later, he returned, but his wife had divorced him. Even before the divorce, though, he’d had issues. With depression. With society. Still, the divorce wasn’t doing him any favors.

He was a heavyset, balding man and embodied all the stereotypes that go along with that look.

“Marshall, I’ve been watching you,” he said. We both sat down in some chairs by the door as the last person left the sanctuary. He didn’t continue.

“Really?” I tried to sound interested. I didn’t know what else to do.

“Yes, I’ve watched you with your family,” he said. “I like that you respect your parents and care for your brothers. And the other kids here look up to you, you know.”

I’m not sure I did know, but I shock my head anyway. “Well, thank you.”

“I want you to know that I think your example makes a big difference for people. And, well, I admire that.”

We sat there together for a few moments and then probably grabbed lunch with everyone else afterward. But that’s about all I recall from the conversation.

Here’s what I’m getting at with this. I didn’t really respect this man. I called him my friend, but I didn’t want to be like him. He was kind of boring and frankly kind of slimy.

But here I am, years later, telling this story… simply because he took me aside and gave me a few words of encouragement. I didn’t care about his opinion, but his encouragement mattered to me.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Who do you know who sets a good example for others? Maybe it’s someone who gets a lot of attention already, or maybe it’s someone who generally goes unnoticed. Single that person out in your mind and single out why you admire that person’s example.

(2) Plan ahead. Will you see this person at work, at church, at a party this weekend? Plan to take that person aside and share, in just a few sentences, something you really admire about him or her. You can make a big difference with eye contact and a couple sentences.

What’s the hardest part of missionary life? Being forgotten?

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(Photo: martingreffe)

The other day, I read through some answers, given by missionaries, to the question, “What’s the hardest thing about life as a missionary?” I’ve said before that I’d rather be hated than forgotten, so this response immediately grabbed me:

A. Being forgotten.

When I left for the field, I predicted we would be forgotten within six months. I was wrong. It was two months. Except for an occasional email directed to the entire Church, we received an email here and there. Birthdays and anniversaries were forgotten.

Even though we sent updates via email every month, very few people responded to them.

My emotions were already cracking at this point, but he continued…

That was my thing, but perhaps God knew that I was a people person and required a feeling of loyalty and support. Perhaps by not getting it, He taught me to depend only on Him. It worked! We have a great ministry. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it!

Wow, what an amazing testimony. I love learning about dependence on God. I don’t always like the day to day struggle of being dependent, but when God helps me step back for the bigger perspective, I know He loves working this way.

As I thought more about this simple answer and how similar it sounded to some of my own experience, my eyes landed on the small, gray type below the post:

Answer from Jack, who has served in the Philippines for 37 years.

And that’s when I lost it.

Or found it.

The hardest part about being a missionary isn’t being forgotten – it’s learning to depend on God.

Even for 37 years.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Don’t forget the people who are serving. Appreciate them. Maybe send them an email or even a hand-written letter… regularly, not just once.

(2) How do you learn dependence when no one else remembers you? Is it just sink or swim, give or give up? Or can we engage God in a way that helps us stay focused on Him despite a lack of support from others?

Answering specific questions: A case study of Practical Shepherding

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I love finding underdog blogs. You know, those blogs that aren’t insanely popular but have something wonderful to offer.

Practical Shepherding has something wonderful to offer.

Pastor Brian Croft shares counsel for other pastors or upcoming pastors on the day-to-day life skills of ministry work. In particular, I’ve noticed many of his posts so far have focused on how to serve during hospital visits and how to share the gospel at funerals.

The first thing that struck me when I found the site last week was the post titles, specifically their consistent style. Each title is a question, and most are questions the blog’s readers might already be asking.

In each of these posts, Pastor Brian tries to answer these questions with practical advice he’s learned through the Bible, other teachers, and personal experience.

Now don’t get me wrong – I love listening and asking questions. I know I should do more of both. A recent post at Practical Shepherding even highlights this need to listen and understand instead of always trying to give advice:

That said, we still need people who give straight up suggestions for surviving “in the trenches.” And doing that specifically requires three things:

1. Learning who God is and cultivating our relationship with Him.

2. Listening to and studying others to learn what they want.

3. Living it out so we can share from experience, not just theory.

In a general sense, that’s what I’m learning from Practical Shepherding: I’m learning to answer specific questions for others, meeting their needs instead of following my own desires for what I want to offer them.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Pastor or not, you and I can both learn more about ministering to others from this blog.

(2) How are you specifically answering what people want to know? This isn’t about becoming a know-it-all. This is about becoming a practical resource for people who need help, not an Encyclopedia of dusty knowledge that’s never applied.

davidaknapp

55 Favorite Christian Blogs: http://bit.ly/cr6TEi #god #blogging #christianity

What I’m learning from questions, Monkey Town, and questions about Monkey Town

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Evolving in Monkey Town is about a southern, church girl, Rachel Held Evans, who grows up in fundamentalist Christian culture, enters a doubting phase in college and then… well, moves into a still-unsure-but-very-different perspective. Whew.

Sadly, the general story is pretty unoriginal. And I don’t say “sadly” because I want something new – I say it because I wish this general story weren’t so common all over the place. I wish we didn’t have to struggle through all this.

Or maybe I don’t.

I’ve followed Rachel’s blog ever since Renee Johnson interviewed her a few months ago (thanks, Renee). I noticed fairly quickly that Rachel and I disagree on just about every controversial Christian issue out there and reading Evolving in Monkey Town confirmed most of that.

But I didn’t read her blog and book because she agrees with me. I read because she asks good questions, challenges me, and is personally a good example of many Christians right now.

Monkey Town just deepened my appreciation for her in all three of those areas.

Overview

Evolving In Monkey Town: How A Girl Who Knew All The Answers Learned To Ask The Questions didn’t begin the way I assumed it would. I assumed Rachel would start off bringing us into her deep, dark, oppressive, fundamentalist beginnings. No, no – not Rachel.

Rachel starts off with a preface telling us she’s prejudiced and then jumps right into her first chapter, “Why I Am An Evolutionist,” which of course also isn’t what it seems.

It’s actually about evolving faith, not evolving physical organisms. The interesting part about the “evolving faith” business is that it’s all based on a shifting perspective of God. It’s not like God’s actually shifting, just how we’re seeing Him.

Okay, enough with the shiftiness.

After that unexpected (for me) intro, Rachel headed the way I assumed she would. Monkey Town is written in three sections: Habitat, Challenge, and Change. Pretty basic as far as the structure goes, almost exactly what I expected. Not a bad thing.

Habitat

This was the “Here’s where I was” section. She talked about how she won contests for having the best Christian attitude… multiple years in a row. I was never known for my Christian attitude for sure, but many of the other examples mirrored my own experiences.

One passage talked about how a great fish swallowed Jonah, not necessarily a whale, and how Adam and Eve ate some fruit, but it probably wasn’t an apple.

I literally had those exact two examples already in the outline for my own memoir/autobiography. Not that I wasn’t already convinced, but at that point I was totally like, “Okay, Rachel and I have a bit in common… at least in our origins.”

One notable exception: I didn’t know as much about the Scopes Trial as Rachel does.

Challenge

One quote from the book sums this section up perfectly without me even needing to say much more (and it’s not even in the Challenge section):

“I’d gotten so good at critiquing all the fallacies of opposing worldviews, at searching for truth through objective analysis, that it was only a matter of time before I turned the same skeptical eye upon my own faith.” -Rachel Held Evans

Through the Challenge section, Rachel questions many of the big assumptions Christians have, assumptions about…

  • Hell
  • Who can get to heaven
  • How the universe was created
  • How to interpret the Bible
  • Sexual orientation
  • Biblical worldviews
  • Absolute truth
  • God’s justice
  • God’s existence

One example that hit me the hardest was her discussion about people in other countries and how, simply because of when and where they were born, they don’t seem to have much chance of knowing Jesus. Anne Frank’s a good example.

Rachel pointed out that “in Sunday School, they always make hell out to be a place for people like Hitler, not a place for his victims.” She said when she was young, she “prayed diligently for Anne Frank, praying that God would let her out of the lake of fire.”

Makes you think, right?

Change

At last, Rachel gives us all the answers.

Just kidding – no, she doesn’t. She doesn’t even try.

Instead she shares where she’s at now, still evolving, and leaves us to consider the path she’s taken.

I did appreciate that Rachel finally defined healthy doubt and unhealthy doubt in the last chapter:

  • Healthy doubt: questioning one’s beliefs
  • Unhealthy doubt: questioning God

That helped me tremendously. Am I questioning God, or am I questioning what I think I know about God? And taking that further, what are other people doing, particularly the people I’m trying to help?

Because I can encourage the first kind of doubt but should discourage the second, both for myself and for others.

So that’s the overview. Now I’d like to share some of the thoughts I jotted down as I read (yeah, this is a beast of a post). In honor of Rachel and her love for questions, let me frame them as questions…

What is “belief”?

The way we define “belief” is lame. Usually we assume it’s about knowing something is truth or accurate. For example, saying, “I believe God exists,” just means, “I think it’s true that God exists.”

But belief is much more than that. Belief isn’t intellectual by nature. Part of it is, but part of it is emotional. Rachel does a good job with this.

Isn’t belief comprehensive? Like those cumulative exams in college, doesn’t it requires more than rote memorization. Doesn’t it require the motivation to stay up all night to prepare and the persistence to show up during the three-month process leading up to it?

Isn’t belief about life in general, not just intellect?

What do we assume about others?

Through some parts of Monkey Town, I sensed that if someone gave a quick, one-line answer, Rachel assumed they must not have struggled through the problem on their own. In person, I know Rachel’s much more understanding than that, but I still got that vibe from her book.

So, dear Monkey Town readers, please don’t shift to the other extreme of ridiculousness by assuming that everyone with answers hasn’t struggled through their beliefs. That’s as bad as the fundamentalist notion that those without answers haven’t thought through their beliefs.

Also, never judge a statement someone makes if you haven’t read their autobiography. Twice. I thought I understood where Rachel was coming from on her blog… until I read the book.

More importantly, if I can’t even understand Rachel, why do I think I can understand God?

Can faith survive anything… really?

“If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that faith can survive anything, so long as it’s able to evolve.” -Rachel Held Evans

The contention many Christians might have with this is that if nothing can kill faith, it seems to fall into the same category as Freudian psychology. It seems awful close to saying, “No matter what, we’ll always make something up so we can keep our faith.” That seems just as stubborn as the fundamentalist who won’t allow a specific belief to die.

It’s as though we’re emotionally and socially and culturally attached to faith, but that faith isn’t attached to anything.

Is that what Rachel’s saying? I don’t know, but it could sure seem that way from her book. Perhaps I’m taking it out of context, though.

Logic aside, I have trouble seeing how that quote fits in with what the Bible says. I almost feel bad playing this card, but if I’m choosing between Rachel and the Bible, which should I put my faith in?

Anyway, I would have liked her to flesh that out some more. Perhaps that’s what book #2 is all about.

Overall thoughts

As I read, a strange feeling crept over me, something like, “This is bigger than you thought.” Evolving In Monkey Town goes after those huge questions, not the questions of how I should live as a result of my beliefs but the questions of how I should live until I find out what my beliefs even are.

It’s a youthful story… in the sense that we all want youth, in the sense that anything is possible. I like that.

I also like how she puts emotion back into doctrine. I like that Rachel rips theology out of the textbook and tattoos it on people’s faces. It’s like she’s saying, “There, how’s that feel… when it’s actually attached to a human being, someone you know even?”

I relate to her origins, and I agree that’s not the place to stay. But then we part ways. I like the process she takes in finding answers, but I get different answers.

Once we get through the doctrinal details, though, Rachel returns to what the heart of the book is about: the process of finding answers, better known as questioning. Her conclusion then is about the process of questioning… and I like that conclusion.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) You can buy Rachel’s book here, or check out even more reviews and such on her blog.

(2) What do you think? Rachel’s not the only one with this story (just the one with the book). How can we as Christians help others on this journey? How can we navigate this process ourselves while still managing to serve the Lord?

Evolving and doubting and monkeys, oh my! – with Rachel Held Evans

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Rachel Held Evans won awards for being a good Christian and knowing the right answers. Seriously.

But like many Christians who grow up in the church, she didn’t struggle through many of the questions on her own. She just knew the answers.

So when she grew up and those questions stopped looking so general and started looking more personal, like why God allowed that woman to get shot in a soccer field for no apparent reason, Rachel began reevaluating her beliefs.

She now calls it “evolving.”

I think I was drawn to her blog originally because she struggled through some of the same questions I’ve struggled through… and continue to. And I think that’s why many people enjoy reading her.

So of course Rachel had to write a book about it, and that book is releasing this week. It’s called Evolving In Monkey Town: How A Girl With All The Answers Started To Ask The Questions.

Before I read the book, Rachel agreed to share a bit about it along with some of her thoughts in general. Here’s what I asked… and what she said.

*****

Marshall: I’m asking these questions before reading your book, so I don’t know what questions you discuss in it. Instead, I’ll shoot it back to you. Can you give me two interesting questions you weren’t able to tackle in your book (I’m not looking for answers here – just the questions)?

Rachel: A lot of people are surprised to find that I don’t get into the nitty-gritty details of evolutionary theory in Evolving in Monkey Town. The question I ask is, “Will the Christian faith fall apart if evolution is shown to be true?”  not, “Is evolution true?”  I would have liked to write more about the latter—but I’m not a biblical scholar or biologist.

Another question that I’ve been thinking a lot about recently is, “What is the purpose of the Church, and how do we reflect that in our local faith communities?” Back when I wrote the book, my husband and I were really struggling to find a church. Now we’re part of a core group launching a new missional faith community right here in Dayton [Tennessee]… so church has suddenly become a lot more important to me.

Marshall: To follow up with that, why do you think questions are more important than answers, especially with Bible verses that specifically tell us to be ready with an answer?

Rachel: As Christians, I think we can easily slip into the mentality that we’ve got everything figured out and that the questions people ask about faith have easy, clear-cut answers.

Many of these answers we learned from our parents, pastors, and Sunday school teachers growing up, so we sort of arrived at the conclusions before ever actually struggling through the problems. This was my approach until recently, when I started having second-thoughts about some of my own rehearsed answers to issues related to religious pluralism, heaven & hell, salvation, politics, blessings, origins, and Scripture.

What I’m learning through this process is that Christians through the centuries have wrestled with a lot of these same questions, and we do an injustice to their struggles and their faithfulness when we act like they have simple, no-brainer answers.

It’s important to keep in mind that when Peter instructed members of the persecuted church to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have,” he was not talking about defending a set of propositions, but about defending hope.  (See 1 Peter 3:13-17.)

Our best answers in defense of Christianity have always been useless clanging symbols unless our lives inspire the world to ask. It is our persistent and stubborn hopefulness that draws people to the Gospel, not our logical arguments. (After all, hope is not always logical!)

Marshall: Okay, just being frank here, no one really cares about your story. They really care about themselves and want to know why your book is going to be amazing for THEM. That’s the challenge with any book based on personal experience. So why should someone read Evolving in Monkey Town? Why do you hope they would?

Rachel: This is a good question—and one to which I have often returned throughout the writing/publishing process.

Whether an author writes fiction or nonfiction, the goal should always be to connect the readers with something they recognize as truth. So my hope is that elements of my story will be intuitively familiar to the people who read it.

I especially hope that young adults who have struggled with doubts about their faith or disillusionment with the church will resonate with and find hope in “Evolving in Monkey Town.”  It’s important that we share our stories with one another because stories give us the opportunity to tackle difficult issues and ideas in a way that is personal and familiar.

Marshall: If you had to choose, what’s your favorite page in the book? Why?

Rachel: Definitely the last page—227—because I think it is the most hopeful. I also like the dedication page because my parents cried when they read it. (Don’t worry. It was happy crying.)

Marshall: Very cool. I love a good ending… and even happy crying. :)

Let’s see… in your book trailer, you said you used to hold your beliefs with a death grip, but lately you’ve tried to loosen up. So now what will you fight for doctrinally? What, if anything, is so crucial to Christianity that it can’t bend or be replaced?

Rachel: When Jesus was asked a similar question, he responded by saying, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37,40)—so I believe love is the most fundamental element of the Christian faith. (1 John 4 and 1 Corinthians 13 support this.)

I also believe that the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed are helpful ways of identifying the basics of Christian orthodoxy. These are principles I intend to stick with.  I try to remain open and teachable about everything else.

Marshall: I could continue on with that conversation for a while, especially in defining what that love is and how it plays out in practice. And you’re right – I think the rest of the arguments in Christianity, if we’re charitable, come from people having differing views on how that love looks in real life.

For now, here’s a what if: What if someone agrees that we need to hold our beliefs with a more open hand but doesn’t agree with many of the other beliefs of those who promote that “open-handedness.” (For example, I want to continue to question and grow, but for now I still believe God created everything in roughly 144 hours.)

Can you recommend perhaps a couple people who hold their beliefs looser but are still more “conservative” (not necessarily politically) in those beliefs?

Rachel: This is a really great question. There are people of all kinds of political and theological persuasions who are loving, humble, and open-minded. Humility is not so much about the beliefs that we hold, but how we hold them; it’s all about attitude.

Like you, most of my friends and family believe that God created the universe in roughly 144 hours. Some of them are gracious and gentle about this belief, while others insist that anyone who disagrees with them cannot be a “real Christian.” A good indicator of fundamentalism is the insistence that those who disagree with you cannot possibly love or follow Christ sincerely.

A good example of someone from the blogging world who is perhaps more theologically conservative than myself and yet open and generous about his views is Matt Appling of The Church of No People. I really enjoy his blog because he always asks good questions.

Marshall: I’ll second that recommendation. He even did a month-long series on doubt a few months back. And here’s Matt’s version of the Rachel Held Evans Show.

Anyway, part of that issue with doubt and authenticity comes down to how we think we can best serve others. I mean, when it comes down to it, those who doubt are going to doubt. The real question is how open we should be about it with others. Why do you (try to) go the open route?

Rachel: Because it’s important for those who doubt to know that they are not alone.

Marshall: That’s an excellent point. Most people who hide their doubt don’t understanding what I’ve called The Opening Principle, which says people open to open people.

Can you share a specific story about how your openness about uncertainties has ministered to someone else?

Rachel: I hear from a lot of people who feel as though my blog is the only safe place for them to honestly share their thoughts about doubt and faith.  I’ve also had the opportunity to reconnect with friends from childhood, high school, and college who have gone through similar experiences with doubt and are looking for companionship on the journey.

Marshall: That’s both sad and encouraging. I’ve felt like I’ve been in that same space too (offline anyway), sharing with those who have questions but realize that Christians have some of the same questions. I think that’s why I was drawn to you when I first found you.

Okay, last question: if you had to put a title on book #2 right now, what would it be… including a subtitle for more description?

Rachel: I’m actually in talks with publishers about book #2 and those talks are top secret… so… bummer. (Hopefully I’ll be making an announcement about this on the blog soon!)

Marshall: :) Fair enough. I had to try.

Thanks so much for spending the time here. I really appreciate it and hope others do too… and get to hear your story.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Check out Rachel’s blog and her book. [Update: …or check out my review of Evolving In Monkey Town.

(2) Reevaluate your beliefs. Ask yourself why again. (If you’re not too keen on this idea, just ask why that is.)

(3) Share what you find with others, even it means sharing that you don’t know. (The comments here might be a nice place to start too.) :)