ANYWAYS....
I recently did a book review over John D. Caputo's What Would Jesus Deconstruct? book that follows Charles Sheldon's exploding statement: What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD)
Caputo explores the foundational beliefs of Christians and breaks them down through the lens of Jacques Derrida.
I know that makes me sound brilliant....but I'd have to go wickipedia Derrida to know who he was....I know he's been mentioned in class so I'm sure he's very important...HA!
This book had points that I both agreed with and then points that I 100% did not find supported by God's Word. This book tackles 8 different issues that Christians hold to firmly in their faith and then breaks them down according to the idea of "is this really what Jesus would do?"
I could launch into a full fledged review of each point, but I just wrote a 6 page research paper over this and I'm sure none of you really want me to repost it here. However, as a preface in case you actually do go read this book, let me remind you that there are things that are not necessarily Biblical. Example: his deconstruction of Abortion left me frustrated and disagreeing vehemently. That being said, it's worth a read for a few of the other points.
This particular deconstruction on hospitality particularly struck me....Caputo points out that many times Christians can be very "inhospitable in their hospitality"....do what?
He breaks it down this way: we invite people into our homes with the expectation that they will return the favor to us...or we only invite people that fit a certain mold. Of course we will invite the person who is well dressed, well-mannered, clean, or spiritually compatible into our walls--feeding them and showing them the love of Jesus. But what about those that are less than desirable? The smelly? The wrinkled, mismatched, unruly, searching, or just plain "strange"--are THEY welcome into our hospitality too? Most of the time, not really. We claim Christ and claim to want to bring others to Him, but our exclusion based on the character seems to say that we think are able to determine who is "worthy" to come to Him.
This for me was very convicting.....also giving me something to think about and challenge me to be more open armed to those I don't normally associate as friends and people of "my type of hospitality"...it gave me something to think about for when Kyle and I are ministering and bringing people into our home. God, make us a hospitable vessel for You.
Who would have thought that I could have learned it...from a TEXTBOOK?!
One day at a time,
Sarah
Sarah
2 comments:
Actually I would like to see your 6 page paper.
well if you are really that interested I can get you a copy. I can't promise it's that amazing, I was half asleep when I wrote it, but I don't care if you want to read it.
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