Archives For Donald Miller

Blue Like Jazz Film Gives Hope for the New Christian Minority

Chris —  March 23, 2012

I blame Donald Miller for the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done in a car. During my first semester I made a weekly two hour drive from my undergrad in Searcy, Arkansas to a small seminary in Memphis.  A friend of mine had given me a copy a then unknown paperback memoir named Blue Like Jazz.  I only had a few chapters left and I couldn’t put it down. I held the book on my steering wheel, and did my best to split my attention between the page and the road as I read the last few pages.

Reading Blue Like Jazz for the first time was like getting a big hug and being told “no, you aren’t crazy.”  There were other people in the world struggling with genuine desire to follow Christ in spite of the hypocrisy of their church traditions.  The book helped me to verbalize my desire to help lead urban, post-Christendom churches.  It’s probably a part of why I chose to move to Austin.

I was lucky enough to see a premier of the movie version of Blue Like Jazz during last week’s SXSW. Despite the fact that the movie suffers from the lack of budget and writing expertise that any indie films does, it captures the honesty and hopefulness that made the book a quick classic.

The film features strong performances from familiar faces, and powerfully captures the intellectualism, natural beauty and post-Christendom baggage of cities like Portland.  The fact that plot and characters could be stronger does not take away from a few powerful scenes.  The scene where the main character Don explains to his love interest Penney that her honest passion for justice “makes everyone around her feel like shit,” portrays the awkwardness many feel when they engage with Christians.  Another scene has Don cuddling, cajoling and comforting his broken hearted lesbian best friend.  And of course, there is a confession booth scene, which, despite some unavoidable cheesiness, captures the apologetically apologetic heart of the book.

Blue Like Jazz isn’t destined to win any Oscars.  It’s mainly a nod to the fans an experiment for the writers.  That being said, it should also be  required viewing for American Christians learning to live in a world where they are a minority.

In Church, Life , , , ,
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Three Things Twenty-Somethings Need From Church

Chris —  July 5, 2011

I was recently taking part in a discussion at David Fitch’s blog, and was posed the following question: Why is that twenty-something seminary types (such as myself) have trouble stomaching being on staff at a traditional church? Here’s my brief answer that I may expand on later:

Are you familiar with the concept of “brain drain?” It’s when a small town’s best and brightest go off to college, never to return. They are overqualified for their small town’s job market, and accustomed to a broader world. In a very real way, they “can’t go home again.”

That’s my experience with church. Growing up I was taught a very specific set of legalistic doctrines. Now, I have a few college degrees, a taste for beer, an understanding of evolution and more than few homosexual friends. My generation needs a church that wrestles with my reality.

Briefly here’s 3 things I need from a church:

1. Why not How. Donald Miller once said something along the lines of “we were asking questions like ‘why am I here?’ and getting answers like ‘here’s how to have a great marriage.’”

2. Action Oriented. Most of my generation would agree with Gandhi’s infamous statement “I like your Jesus, not your Christians.” I would like to be a part of community that is more concerned with doing what Jesus said than some of the unsavory things the church has been known for lately.

3. Deep Community. Keller said something along the lines of “chastity is impossible outside of community.” There is no reason nor foundation to live like Christ if you do life alone. Cool music and a good small group isn’t enough. We need sacrificial, intensely interconnected relationships.

Do you agree?  What would you add to the list?

In Church , , , , ,
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Donald Miller Was Right

Chris —  September 15, 2010

Recently, I had to retire my car.  It had nothing to do with Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, but due to my financial situation, and a general desire to stay out of debt I decided to put off the purchase of a car and learn about how to do life on a bike.

Here are a few lessons I’ve learned:

  • Life on a bike has a lot of little expenses.  Besides the bike, a commuter needs racks and panniers, lights and reflective.  Although I’m not incurring any car expenses, this has so far offset any savings.
  • Life on a bike requires preparation.  You don’t just leave.  You get dressed, get packed, double check you have everything you, put on your helmet, then leave.
  • Leave time to cool down.  Especially if you’re a sweaty beast like me.
  • Riding a bike reminds you how everything is connected.  Miller talks about how his cross country bike trip made the world seem smaller.  Driving a car somehow warps space and time in a way that makes everything seem so separated.  When you have to use your own physical strength to get somewhere, you see how one thing leads to another.
  • You have to say no to some things.  If I can’t bike there in under an hour, I probably won’t go.  It’s hard, but probably good.
  • Enjoy the ride.  Take in the scenery, the smells and the sunshine.  Things we forget when rolling down the highway in our sealed, air-conditioned bubbles.
In Life , , ,
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You Don’t Have to Be the Center of the Universe to Have a Great Story

Chris —  December 7, 2009

When I had the pleasure of sitting in a small group discussion at Halcyon on Fourth Street led Donald Miller, I refrained from saying the two things I’ve always thought about saying to him: 1) Something mushy like, “Thank you for writing the book that captured a generation and changed my life,” or 2)”You jerk!  Blue Like Jazz was the book I always wanted to write!”  But seriously, I ‘m just really thankful for Don’s words, honesty, and now his story.

In A Million Miles in a Thousand Years Don branches out from reflective essays, to telling the story of him learning to tell stories.  A life worth living is much like a story, where a character wants something, and has to overcome some difficulty to obtain it. He tells about people who he’s met that live great stories, and his own attempts-including a hike through the Andes, launching a non-profit, and a failed engagement- at writing a story of his own life.

In a dark but hopeful scene after Don’s breakup, where he looks out over a campfire, and realizes that although he’s trying to write a great story out of his life, it’s just the story of a tree in the story of a forest.  You don’t have to be the center of the universe to have a great story. A tree never ceasing trying to  be the best tree it possibly can, but it is only one small part of the forest.

It reminds me a bit of the great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11.  The heroes of the faith, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, leaders like Moses, prostitutes like Rahab, and the prophets will be there.  The author of Hebrews then talks about Jewish martyrs who stood up to pagan empires who are also a part of the cloud.  Who from the Christian story will be there?  Heroes like Polycarp and Wycliffe?  Peacemakers like St. Francis?  Revolutionaries like Dr. King? There will be an untold number of others who you wouldn’t expect.  Each a tree, combining to make up the story of the forest of God and his people.

A Million Miles has inspired me to edit my life, stop trying to make it all about me, and join the others in the forest.

In Culture, God , , , , ,
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