Between the Lines...
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What's in this for you?
Hopefully, a better, richer life. Hopefully, a better relationship with Jesus, who maybe seems like more problem than solution. Hopefully, a better relationship with other people who want to be like him, in spite of the awful misrepresentations we all meet and hear about.
Why am I doing this?
I'm frustrated. There, I said it. I see so many gifted and beautiful people wanting to passionately serve Jesus and serve people, but caught in webs of habit and tradition. They're frustrated, too. And I think God might also be pretty frustrated. When I share this kind of thing, people keep telling me, you should write a book. (They haven't mentioned if they'll buy it, which is something different...but more on that later.)
After years of teaching, walking, falling, screwing up, knowing the answers, losing the answers, moving my household 700 miles, and aging quite a few years, I've finally done it. Only you, gentle reader, can tell me if it's helpful to you.
Introduction to the Book
I believe that many of us have become Company Men, who abdicate our hearts and dreams to mere habituation and expectation. Regretfully, most companies, churches and families of origin lie in the ranks of Companies. Is life anywhere to be found between the ranks and files all around us, or must we settle for a coordinate on the grid?
In 2009, pollster George Barna asked people how they would categorize themselves: Casual Christians, Captive Christians, Mormons, Jews, Pantheists, Muslims and Skeptics. Two-thirds of Americans replied casual: faith in moderation and generally living a Christian life. 16% replied captive: focused on Biblical, absolute moral and spiritual truth.[1] If you are a “Casual Christian,” then there’s a good chance I’m writing to you.
Many “captives” might dismiss the “casuals” as, well, casual: ho-hum, whatever, God-in-moderation. But there’s a question here: Is a Christian “casual” because he is busy or not-radical or what? Or could she be in a place that doesn’t allow creativity and originality to shine?
If all the people who said, “I’m a Christian” suddenly started to live out their God-given dreams in the freedom Jesus promised, I think it could be a scandal in every church in the country, a really good one. And if good news like that spread like a scandal, well, that would be...amazing. Wonderful. A miracle, really.
I hope this little book gives you momentary pause from the hurry-scurry of life. Perhaps you will enjoy the stories. They may give you ideas and inspiration to live a fuller life. I hope that it will refresh and brighten your eyes for God and the people around you, and that you can and will fully embrace and live the only life you’ve been given—yours
May God give you the dreams of his heart, and may all your dreams come true.
John Carter
Clearwater, Florida
December 2010
[1] Casual Christians and the Future of America, The Barna Group, May 22, 2009, http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/13-culture/268-casual-christians-and-the-future-of-america