One thing that has been bothering me lately is all the criticisms of Donald Miller I come across online. For those who don't know, Donald Miller is an author who wrote non-theologically deep books on Christianity and how it relates to his life, books like "Blue like Jazz" and "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years." It's not that they are criticizing him that bothers me. It's the way that people do it that can get under my skin.
There really seems to be a hatred among many Christians against Donald Miller. It is not just a "I disagree on this issue because of what this scripture says." Many times, there is a hatred that burns through their writings. I'm all for being firm with people when they claim to be Christians but are out of line with what scripture teaches but there is a way to do it and a way not to. If you are going to correct your kids, do you do it out of hatred? Do you do it in a hateful way? Nope, hopefully, you do it in a loving way. Isn't that how God deals with us? I'm sure thankful God has dealt with my shortcomings in a loving way.
Unfortunately, that's not the way Donald Miller or those who like to read DM have been treated. No, they have been attacked and bullied by brothers and sisters in Christ, by preachers and pastors. It's embarrassing and disappointing. It's like I'm watching a bunch of middle schoolers gossip and bully...or maybe even like watching pharisees. Instead of lovingly coming with scripture, they use the scripture to bash Miller and those who like to read him over the head. Yeah, that always makes people listen. He is at times treated as if he is not even human. We need to remember that whenever we correct someone, that they are human. They are not some tin can that you can just kick down the road.
Often times, they also attack him without actually quoting him. They tend to use quotes from other people about him to do the attacking. A lot of he said/she said has been used to attack Miller. Rarely do you even find someone use actual quotes by Donald. "Well, I talked to this person and they said this about Miller and his book. They said that about his book." But what do you say after reading it? Oh, you didn't read the whole thing? Well, maybe you should read the whole thing before judging the whole thing. Judging a book by only a few pages is not much better than judging a book by its cover.
I often times hear arguments from people condemning Miller for things he never said or wrote. But somewhere, they heard someone else say they heard it from someone. They take it and run with it. Let the attacks begin. That kind of stuff doesn't fly very well in a court of law. Why do we allow it elsewhere? If I'm on trial, I wouldn't be very happy to be convicted on the testimony of a 4th-hand "witness" who heard about it 4 generations down the line but didn't actually witness it.
This is not just about Donald Miller. This kind of thing happens a lot in Christianity. Just google your favorite Christian big name author or favorite big time nationally known church and you will come up with sites calling them antichrists and heretics. We beat our brothers and sisters in Christ down and push them away instead of trying to encourage and build people up. When you beat someone down, you don't just beat that one person down...but you beat down those who associate with them. On the other end of the spectrum, when you build someone up, you build up those who associate with them. Instead of beating people down, you could be encouraging them and building them up even during times of needed correction.
If I'm a boxer, getting beat down doesn't make we want to stay in the ring. That changes though if I've got a coach in my corner suggesting corrections or ways I could improve. My resolve also changes if I've got fans cheering me on in the stands. I don't need the people who should be in my corner to beat on me as well. When that happens, many just walk out of the ring and never come back, spiritually speaking.
I get that it's a bit different with DM being an author that can lead people astray. But every author has the power to lead his or her readers astray. That's why we should always pray for discernment and test what we read and hear with the Word. Whether it's Miller or Tozer, it should light a fire under our butt to get into the Word and find out if it's true. We can't take the authors word for it. We can't take the reviewers word for what the book says. If you want to know what the book says, actually read the whole thing. If you want to know how that stacks up against scripture, dig into the Bible. Actually read it. Then, whatever you find, learn to convey it, not out of hatred, but out of love. The world is watching how we treat our brothers and sisters. Let's not scare them away. We are to represent and reflect Christ to this world, not embarrass Him with prideful infighting and hatred.
No comments:
Post a Comment