Blue Like Jazz

I began reading Blue Like Jazz over a year ago on a slow day at work. One of my coworkers had it on his shelf, I had heard crumbs of goodness about it, so thought I would give it a try. It was enrapturing. Unfortunately, my coworker friend soon left, and so too did the book. Fast forward to another slow day and another coworker's shelf of books. I saw the blue spine, picked up the book, and have been (re)reading it for the past month or so.

This is a soul book. Don Miller speaks so honestly about faith, Christianity, acceptance, singleness, and life. Honestly, I am finding this review difficult to write because the book is so personal. While this book is about Don's journey, I found myself relating and reflecting on my life repeatedly throughout the book. Don grew up in a fundamentalist church and, as he got into his 20s, began wondering what does it mean to be a Christian, love Christ and people, have Christ and people love you, and believe in God. At times, his honesty about Christians and Christianity was tough to swallow. Not because it was always controversial, but because it was truth, and the truth was not great. Christians, we, say we love everyone, and yet we judge the poor, different, and outcasts among us. We believe in a "health and wealth" gospel that teaches us that if you are not successful in the American sense, something is wrong in your life. And that is not true.

There are an abundance of quotable sections from the book, but here is one that reflects Don's forthrightness and transparent take on part of the Christian culture. (Taken from pg. 218)

"The problem with Christian culture is we think of love as a commodity. We use it like money...If somebody is doing something for us, offering us something, be it gifts, time, popularity, or what have you, we feel they have value, we feel they are worth something to us, and, perhaps, we feel they are priceless. I could see it so clearly, and I could feel it in the pages of my life. This was the thing that had smelled so rotten all these years. I used love like money. They church used love like money. With love, we withheld affirmation from the people who did not agree with us, but we lavishly financed the ones who did."

If you consider yourself a Christian, spiritual, searching, or are just looking for a thought-provoking read, get this book and a pen or highlighter. It is rich with truth, life, love, and even some humor.