Garrison, Becky. Jesus Died for This: A Satirist’s Search for the Risen Christ. Zondervan, 2010. ISBN: 9780310292890.
Meet the Author
Becky Garrison is a contributing editor for Sojourners and has also written for Killing the Buddha, Religion Dispatches, The Revealer, Geez Magazine, The High Calling and the now defunct Wittenburg Door. Additionally, she has written several books in recent years including: Starting From Zero with $0: Building Mission Shaped Ministries on a Shoestring (2010), Jesus Died for This: A Satirist’s Search for the Risen Christ (2010), The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail: The Misguided Quest to Destroy Your Faith (2008), and Rising from the Ashes: Rethinking Church (2007). To connect with her, visit her website, read her recent articles at Sojourners, follow her on Twitter, friend her on Facebook, or watch her Youtube channel.
Book Basics
Becky Garrison shares the story of her search for authentic Christianity over the last few years in twenty brief chapters. While each chapter could stand alone, together they begin to tell the story of a faith that is alive and well even, and at times especially, in places far from the United States. Equally important, they tell the story of the last few years of Becky’s own journey of faith. Her personal story of seeking is like a needed breath of fresh air in an otherwise stuffy room of religious literature because she writes with a welcomed transparency about her current questions and honest admissions about how her past colors her present perceptions.
So What?
Christianity is a relational religion. As disciples of Christ, we need to be connected to other followers and to faithful communities. Garrison provides her readers the unique opportunity to hear her story and the story of many missional communities.
Of her own experience she writes:
I sought ordination in some subconscious quest to fulfill my father’s dream. But I soon realized I was way too much of a smarty-pants to ever get collared in. My talents clearly lay as a lone wolf holding up a mirror to the institutional church, not a shepherd pastoring her flock or a visionary leading a forward-thinking nonprofit (p.132).
Of the search for Christian community she writes:
Rather than ascertaining if a church is emergent/progressive/orthodox/mainline – or whatever the label du jour might be – perhaps the question we should ask is this: Is Christ present? (p.218)
Those who read Jesus Died for This? will find their faith strengthened. To connect my readers with some of these ideas, I offer a few questions for reflection:
- How familiar are you with your own journey of faith? Have you taken the time to write about or share with a few friends the last few spiritual mile markers you passed?
- In what context have you heard others speak of their own experiences of questioning, doubting, and struggling as a part of their faith? How has knowing of those experiences helped you as you work through your own list of concerns? (For more on the importance of local congregations being a safe place for people to ask and explore questions, read my recent piece on the rise of religious non-affiliation).
- What words do you normally use to describe your local congregation? Do these answer more about the groups it may fit into (i.e. emergent, progressive, orthodox, mainline, etc.) or show how Christ is present?