Jim & Casper Go To Church

No, not a new cartoon for all you folks about my age. It's a book by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper. Jim is a Christian and Casper is an atheist. They spent time together visiting churches and writing about their experience. Oh and sorry about the label Jim. I think after reading the book you would not label yourself like this. I get the idea you would prefer Jesus follower.

Me too. Although mostly my life looks like a Rick follower. Cause it's not what we say - it's what we do.

This book was refreshing and scary. Refreshing because of the honesty these two guys trusted each other with as they wrote and discussed. Scary because an atheist kinda rocked my perception of what Jesus came to do. Thanks Casper, I needed that.

I think I knew that Jesus did not intend to start a religion, but a movement. But I've never heard that articulated before as well as in this book. Here are a few nuggets:

"Casper could not imagine Jesus telling his followers that the most important thing they should be doing is holding church services."


Casper on the wealth he saw at one church and Jesus' words about it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven:

"How many of the neatly coiffed, SUV-driving attendees of ( get the book and find out which church goes here ) can say that they have given until their lifestyles were interrupted? If people who keep their wealth think they're going to heaven, I'd suggest they find a teeny, tiny camel to help make their case."

Jim suggests that church goers visit a different church once a month..........to feel what it's like to be an outsider.

Casper asks the question: "Is this what Jesus told you guys to do?"

So I have been encouraged to be more real and to stop selling Jesus. I want to talk about him as if I had just spoken with him on the phone. And I like how the church I go to is becoming missional. We started taking our entire Christmas offering and sending it outside our walls. Two years ago we replaced a boiler in an orphange in the Ukraine. Last year we gave enough to Compassion International to start three child survival programs.

And this fall we are closing the doors one weekend to serve in the community. That's right - no church service AT ALL. I wonder if that will get the local faith community in an uproar. I can only hope it does. And I hope it sparks honesty and real dialogue. The kind of authentic friendship shared by the authors. One a non-christian, the other a non-aetheist.