Book Review: Jim and Casper Go to Church

As soon as I read the premise for this book I knew I had to read it.  The idea of the book is simple.  A former pastor and an atheist visit several American churches and report on their experiences.  The result is some candid and revealing insights.

Jim Henderson is a former pastor of a large church and is now leading a ministry called “Off the Map“.  Off the Map is a ministry designed to help Christians do evangelism using conversation and relationship.  Jim stumbled onto the idea for the book when he began paying people to come to his church and do a formal review of their experience.  He found that non-christians often had some very insightful feedback.

Matt Casper is an atheist who has some experience in the christiand world.  In fact, he was once employed by a huge christiand company that creates outreach materials for churches.  Get this, because this is funny…  Matt, an atheist, was writing copy for this outreach company that was to be used by churches to compel unsaved people to repent and be saved.  Or at least come to church.  He eventually left because he “didn’t fit in”.  No kidding!

What I Liked

I liked the honesty of the book.  It never crossed over into disrespect or vitriol.  It was never too sarcastic but carried a helpful tone throughout.  The relationship between Jim and Casper is a good model for everyone to follow when it comes to how we should relate to those that do not believe like we do.  Jim is open about his faith without being a jerk.  Casper is not defensive nor is he combative.  It’s clear that they are real friends and can have open and honest discussions about their beliefs about God and the world.  It’s all very Christ-like.

What I Didn’t Like

There were some criticisms from Casper that came from a misunderstanding of what the Church is and why it is here that Jim never clarified.  Casper sees the church as an organization who’s primary purpose is social justice, and community acvtivism.  As far as I can tell, he thinks Jesus’ message was only to feed the poor and make the world a better place.  Of course, this is a big part of the gospel.  But at the heart of Jesus’ message was that we are made to worship.  We are here on earth to worship God and gather more worshippers.  That aspect of Christian life was missed by Casper and Jim never really explained it.  Consequently, some of the criticisms (certainly not all) exist because of unbelief, not necessarly because the christians are wrong.

What I Learned

1. Greeters are important, but most people look at them the same way we view WalMart greeters.
2. Having someone take a genuine and un-forced interest in you is incredibly powerful.  It may be the most important thing a church can do to make guests feel welcomed.
3. Announcements are important.  They give guests a good sense of what the church is like between Sundays.
4. The worship music shouldn’t suck, but being too polished may be as bad.  If the music comes off as being a production and not authentic then it’s counterproductive.  Unchurched people see right through smoke machines, camera cranes, and laser light shows.  All that stuff is for christians.
5. Story telling in preaching is powerful
6. All preachers get misty-eyed and emotional during altar calls.
7. Unchurched people are disgusted by the prosperity gospel as much as we are.
8. Being involved in the community through practical service is of HUGE importance to our culture.  It’s also what Jesus would be doing.
9. People who don’t listen well are annoying

All in all the book was helpful and insightful.  It’s not just a “pastor book” and really opens up a discussion about why we do the things we do. There will always be things that Christians do and believe that make no sense to someone who does not know Jesus.  We believe some controversial things.  However, we also do some crazy things that are totally uneccesary and baffle most people that live outside of our christian sub-culture.