jim and casper (1 of 3)

I read almost all of Jim & Casper Go To Church yesterday, in two sittings - and only because I took a lunch break.

From the back cover:

In 2006, Jim Henderson, veteran Christian and director of Off The Map, hired Casper (atheist) to join him in visiting twelve of America's best- and least-known churches ... Week after week, this spiritual odd couple attended services at churches all over the country and documented their experiences at and reactions to each one. Along the way, they found the real value of their journey in the open and authentic friendship that developed as they talked, questioned, joked, and - most importantly - listened.

I give it two thumbs up. Definitely a good read.

My sole hesitation is in how easy it may be for some of us to read it, however, and assume that Casper speaks for the American atheist population in general. While his outsider POV is certainly valuable and often insightful, he is one dude with biases and background that we know not of.

That said, he makes some very interesting comments about the buildings they visit - of course. What really stood out was that he was constantly put off by the hidden price tag behind huge, fancy facilities.

Jim and Casper went to a lot of mega-churches (Saddleback, Lakewood, The Potter's House, Dream Center, etc.), and Jim asked a lot of questions. Casper was asked to rate various parts of the service, like the people, the music, and the sermon. He was never asked to comment on the facility, but in almost every church he offered some sort of opinion on the building anyway. The general opinion, like I said, was that most of them probably cost a lot.

I, of course, got a little defensive at first. "The church has to have a place to meet, man. A nice place that is welcoming and part of the community ..." Casper would have gotten a third place lecture from me yesterday.

Then, as I reviewed some of his comments, I noticed that he was generally impressed with the grand buildings until it seemed to contradict the pastor's message or the church's mission.

In one mega-church, the pastor preached a sermon called "Don't Give Up." Casper saw the contradiction in delivering an encouraging, "hang in there" message in a huge, suburban church. It actually made such a (negative) impression that he brought it up at other churches weeks later.