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Book Review: Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

September 30, 2019

Blue Like Jazz is described as “nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality”, which enables us as Christians to read this book and examine author Donald Miller’s perceptions of what he thinks the Christian lifestyle looks like. Miller writes his book in a conversational tone, making it feel more like a chat over coffee rather than a preacher from the pulpit. I strongly believe that Miller has a lot of lessons, a couple that I will mention below, that I believe the Church needs to hear about. This book allows us to take a stand on what we believe about Christian culture and helps us critically think through what Christian spirituality really looks like in today’s society.

This book changed my outlook on reading and Christian spirituality. By reading this book, I not only found a new love for reading, but I also discovered a lot about myself and what I believe. This book is about Don’s journey to Christian faith after growing up in a broken home believing that God only had a social or political agenda in mind. There are a few major things I learned from reading this book.

“Americanization” of the Gospel

Miller talks about what the Gospel looks like in today’s culture and how we have changed the perception of it. He states that he felt as if his pastor was a part of a business deal when he shared the Gospel with him, “They felt like they had to sell God, as if He were soap or a vacuum cleaner, and it’s like they really weren’t listening to me; they didn’t care, they just wanted me to buy their product” (p. 46). It is our job to not make the Gospel feel like a business transaction, but rather an emotional and life-changing decision. We should not solely try to get people to agree with us, but instead encourage them to meet God. We should be completely out of the way when we are sharing the Gospel. Miller states, “I loved the fact that it wasn’t my responsibility to change somebody, that it was God’s, that my part was just to communicate love and approval” (p. 221). We often make the Gospel about us, but Miller states, “I realized in an instant that I desired false gods because Jesus wouldn’t jump through my hoops, and I realized that my faith was about image and ego, not about practicing spirituality” (94). We want Christianity to appear attractive to non-believers and believers, but that is not the goal of the Gospel. He then goes to say, “If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing” (111). The goal of the Gospel is to bring forth new life and glorify God in the process. Miller talks about how Christian belief is not fashionable because there is a real God, devil, heaven, and hell. Sometimes we do not need to understand all aspects of Christianity and God because Miller states that often through the process of that, we cheapen it. We need to take God at His word and follow Him. We love to “Americanize” the Gospel so that we can make it relevant to our culture, but I believe that we need to keep the Gospel the way it was intended to be.

Cultivating Heaven on Earth

Often, I find myself wanting as much of Heaven on Earth that is possible. I would like to believe that this is a popular concept in today’s world, especially since there are songs written about it, like “Heaven is a Place on Earth” by Belinda Carlisle. However, achieving this kind of status is impossible without Jesus. Jesus causes heart transformation and that heart transformation causes the world to become a better place, or as some would say, like Heaven on Earth.

Miller talks about some simple practices we can do that I believe can turn Earth into a little piece of Heaven. First, as Christians we should know how to love people the best we can because we have the perfect example of love, Jesus. Second, so many people want to do great things for our world, but often we start in the wrong place. Miller introduces the idea that if we want to change the world, we need to have an x-ray of our lives first because we cannot change the world if we don’t change ourselves first. He states, “I think Jesus feels strongly about communicating the idea of our brokenness, and I think it is worth reflection. Nothing is going to change in the Congo until you and I figure out what is wrong with the person in the mirror” (p. 23). Third, loving what God loves helps cultivate this environment; “Jesus gives us the ability to love the things we should love, the things of Heaven. Tony says that when people who follow Jesus love the right things, they help create God’s kingdom on Earth, and that is something beautiful” (p. 77). Miller also goes on to say that we should pray that God will reveal to us people who need to be loved because God would want us to care for His people. Fourth, having endless passion about the right things causes people to want to follow you; “If you are passionate about something people will follow you because they think you know something they don’t, some clue to the meaning of the universe” (p. 109). Passion is what discerns a great leader from an okay leader. We need great Christian leaders in our world to set the standard and lead us into things that give glory to God. Fifth, the power of a solid community changes everything. According to Miller, “Loneliness is something that happens to us, but I think it is something we can move ourselves out of. I think a person who is lonely should dig into a community, give himself to a community, humble himself before his friends, initiate community, teach people to care for each other, love each other. Jesus does not want us floating through space or sitting in front of our televisions. Jesus wants us interacting, eating together, laughing together, praying together. Loneliness is something that came with the fall. If loving other people is a bit of heaven then certainly isolation is a bit of hell, and to that degree, here on earth, we decide in which state we would like to live” (p. 173). Community is not only something that Miller raves about, it is something that is biblical. God tells us to be in community and not to be alone because he knows what the human heart needs, love and acceptance. Sixth, we need to learn how to love ourselves so we can accept love and give love. He gives us a good thought by explaining how the Bible tells us to love your neighbor as yourself, but are you loving yourself as good as your neighbor? Would you say the same things to your neighbor as you say to yourself? Miller states, “If it is wrong for me to receive love, then it is also wrong for me to give it because by giving it I am causing somebody else to receive it, which I had presupposed was the wrong thing to do” (p. 231). Miller gives us a lot to think about when he gives us these practical ways to do life because I believe a lot of these ideas are counter-cultural.

Overall, I believe this book is essential to read no matter what age you are, but especially in your 20s. This book helps refocus on the things that matter and gives you an eternal perspective rather than an earthly perspective. Donald Miller does a fantastic job presenting these ideas in such a fun and relatable way.

Sources:

Miller, Donald. (2003). Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. 


Written by: Kaitlyn Skarstein

Kaitlyn loves being able to write for the SA blog because she thinks it is important to share her voice. She loves being able to express her own opinions on important subjects that are relevant for students, faculty, and many others.