One day I will share this blog with people.  Some of the people will be those that I am writing about.  Well today I am thinking about our young adult group.  Truth be told, it’s a pretty good group.  I really enjoy being with them and think it’s one of the better aspects of our church. 

Generally we meet the first three Sunday nights of the month and our strategy has been where book groups meet small groups.  So we use books to spring board conversation.  We’ve used Don Miller’s, Blue Like Jazz, Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis and now we are reading the Suburban Christian.  This last book has been the toughest for some because there’s a bit of sociology in it and the first two chapters are not as sexy as say Blue … or Velvet …  Maybe I am missing the boat here, but I don’t think so.  It’s a good book.  And it shouldn’t be compared to aforementioned books because they are each written for different reasons. 

I find myself a little frustrated with this.  I keep trying to read it with new eyes, trying to forget that I have already determined that I have found value in it and I know I can be stubborn but I don’t think this book deserves the criticism that some in our group are giving it. 

If we were reading Dallas Willard’s great book, The Divine Conspiracy, and everyone was complaining about how hard it was, then I’d probably say, “Ok, maybe we reached too far this time …”.  I’ve had well-intentioned, intelligent people not appreciate Willard’s greatness.  That’s ok, they don’t need to go to heaven.  Sorry, I meant to say, maybe they’re not ready to read it.

But Suburban Christian contains so many conversations that we should be talking about.  Where we live, where we work and shop, how we spend our money, how we identify ourselves, social justice aspects, and the list goes on.   Just rambling about this online gets me going on it. 

Well, I guess I am trying to figure if/when to pull the plug.  Maybe we’re throwing pearls to the swine.  Maybe we should read something easier, like anything not about God – maybe the something from Tim LaHaye or Larry Jenkins.