Wise Words from Pastor Jonathan: A Review of ‘Prototype’

I like Jonathan Martin for a lot of reasons: he’s funny; he’s an excellent writer; he celebrates and affirms the equality of women and speaks highly of his wife; he’s humble; he’s whimsical; he’s quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. 

But one of my favorite qualities about Jonathan is his wisdom. 

We got a little taste of this wisdom when we interviewed Jonathan for “Ask a Pentecostal…,” one of my favorite installments in our interview series thus far. And if you follow Jonathan’s blog or listen to his sermons online you will know exactly what I’m talking about. 

I think of Jonathan as one of my pastors.  I have many pastors in my life—from my local pastors here in Dayton, to my “remote” pastors like Nadia Bolz Weber, Brian McLaren, Eugene Peterson, and Greg Boyd who have influenced me through their writing, speaking, and correspondence. They are Lutherans, Catholics, Methodists, Mennonites, Presbyterians, Quakers, and Pentecostals, and I have benefitted from their insights and shepherding in ways too numerous to name. 

Well today I am pleased to report that Pastor Jonathan’s wisdom is on fine display in his debut book, Prototype: What Happens When You Discover You’re More Like Jesus Than You Think? In it, Jonathan explores what it means to be God’s beloved and to completely trust, as Jesus did, that God loves us. 

I confess that, even as a fan of Jonathan’s, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It is rare to encounter a pastor who is as good at writing as he/she is at preaching, but Jonathan is laugh-out-loud funny, thoughtful, well-read (expect quotes from Flannery O’Conner, Henri Nouwen, and Frederick Buechner), appropriately self deprecating (“I know it’s a huge cliché for a thirtysomething pastor to be a massive U2 fan. But I don’t care”), prophetic, and at times startlingly poetic.

A third-generation Pentecostal preacher and the founder of Renovatus: A Church for People Under Renovation in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jonathan has taken the Pentecostal heritage with which he was raised and made it his own in some surprising and inspiring ways.  In Prototype, he writes about his childhood, about the South, about identity, calling, and community, about pulling together a ragamuffin group of liars, misfits, and dreamers to form Renovatus, about introducing weekly communion to his community. While the overarching theme of the book is indeed the love of God and the security and freedom we find in it, each chapter really stands on its own with insightful and challenging reflections on ideas like “obscurity,” “resurrection,” and  “wounds.”  (The chapter on obscurity is worth the price of the book. Really. I’ve read it three times over.) 

But as good as the writing is, and as compelling as the stories are, you don’t walk away from Prototype thinking about Jonathan Martin. You walk away from Prototype thinking about your own relationship with God and with the Church. You walk away thinking about the people of Renovatus—Blake, Teddy, and Sally. You walk away thinking about Jesus. 

And in a Christian culture bulging at the seams with celebrity pastors who seem as impressed with their own words as the words of Jesus, I can think of no higher compliment.

I underlined paragraph after paragraph in Prototype, and at times found myself wondering how someone from such a different background and with such different life experiences could know exactly what I’m going through, exactly what I hope for, exactly what I worry about, exactly what I fear, exactly what I love. Jonathan is Pentecostal, so there are indeed references to the devil and demons and healing and whatnot, (topics that sometimes make me squirm, I confess), but Jonathan puts a different spin on each. For example, he likens the cacophony of voices competing for our attention in our hyper-connected world to the demon Legion from the New Testament.  And the comparison works. 

I’ve already quoted from Prototype in a lecture at an event, and I suspect you will see more quotes appearing here on the blog and in future books. So the best I know to do is to share some of my favorite quotes here, in hopes they will encourage you to pick up the book for yourself: 

From “Obscurity”: 

“In our culture of constant access and nonstop media, nothing feels more like a curse from God than time in the wilderness. To be obscure, to be off the beaten path, to be in the wilderness feels like abandonment. It seems more like exile than a vacation. To be so far off of everyone’s radar that the world might forget about us for a while? That’s almost akin to death…[But] far from being punishment, judgment, or a curse, the wilderness is a gift. It’s where we can experience the primal delight of being fully known and delighted in by God.” (p. 50) 

***

“Obscurity is where God sends all His favorite sons and daughters. Our society tells us that if and when we get ‘there’—the job or position or degree we’ve always wanted, the notoriety we’ve always dreamed of—that’s when all the important stuff will start happening. Not so. All the good stuff happens in obscurity.” (p. 65) 

***

“If you haven’t been riled up about injustice lately, consider this: Around the world right now, every three seconds, an impoverished child is exposed to Nickleback.” (p. 46)

From “Wounds”: 

“We have always been inclined to worship people or things we perceive as being great. So we exaggerate our own greatness, inflate our successes, downplay our weaknesses, and hide our scars. Thus human history is largely the story of people who say, ‘My god can beat up your god, my king can beat up your king, my army is more awesome than your army,’ and then attempt to prove the point to each other. All in the name of greatness….So what do we make of a God who is worshipped not for His might but for His weakness, even for His wounds? Not a human wearing the medals of military conquest to convince us He is a god, but a God who wears His suffering on His sleeve to convince us He is human? Instead of ‘my god can beat up your god, my king can beat up your king,’ Jesus’ path to kingship comes wrapped in a very odd strategy indeed: He is the King of kings largely because He lets himself get beat up. He is victorious not despite his scars but because of them…By allowing His own life to be taken, Jesus exposed the pitiful ‘power’ of the bullies and disarmed it.” (p. 92-93, 95)

***

“Because John’s apocalypse uses war imagery, people often mistakenly assume that somehow the victory of God was incomplete on the cross, that the real victory comes when Jesus arrives with a sword and finally fights fire with fire, finally overcomes force with even greater force. But a careful reading shows that this is far from the case. For example, when Jesus comes riding in on a white horse with a sword, wearing a robe dipped in blood, it is not the blood of his opponents—it’s His own. There is no battle scene, because Jesus has already defeated the powers (and all the bullies) through His sacrifice on the cross.” (p. 97) 

***

When responding to the pain of others: “Sometimes, the sacred thing, the wise thing, the compassionate thing, the best thing, the anointed thing is simply to shut up. I learned a long time ago that there are some things in life so dark that if an answer is asked for, the only reply we are able to give is our tears or our presence. Sometimes the best response is in the courage and wisdom to say, ‘I don’t know,’ but then don’t walk away. Some questions are not opportunities; they’re temptations—to play God, to play the expert, to play doctor, to build a platform or reputation. If there is anything that would scare me, it would be to utter words in a scenario where God Himself would not speak.” (p. 103) 

I’ve been quietly mulling over these words since I first read them in Prototype, and am so very grateful for the wisdom of Pastor Jonathan. I hope you will learn as much from him as I have. 

Get your own copy of Prototype here. Find Jonathan's blog here. 

Also, be sure to check out our interview with Jonathan for "Ask a Pentecostal…" 

Giveaway Winners + a picture of cheeseballs

I enjoyed reading all your comments about food yesterday! I found my head nodding and stomach growling as you shared your thoughts on hospitality, just eating, ice cream, and cheese snacks. (You people are obsessed with Cheeseballs and Cheetos... and I totally get it; I included a photo because I love you.) Through random.org, I selected three winners to receive copies of Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist and Eat With Joy by Rachel Marie Stone. I thought it would be fun to share their responses to the three questions: 1) favorite guilty pleasure, 2) go-to weeknight meal, 3) biggest hang-up or struggle when it comes to food/hospitality: 

Comment #25 - Brooke F. 

1) cheeseballs. the round cheeto-esque kind
2) tacos
3) finding the time

Comment #56 - Heather Yokley-Kern 

1. chocolate cake with chocolate icing
2. macaroni & cheese and hot dogs
3. I love sweets and when having people over I tend to go overboard with having too many choices and too much of everything!

Comment # 188 – Karen 

1. Andes Mints in Chocolate Molted Lava Cakes...to die for!
2. Chicken Enchilada Casserole...super easy and most folks love it
3. Setting a pretty table......

I’ve contacted the winners via email, so if you see your name here, check your inbox. 

If you didn’t win, I recommend picking up a copy of one or both of these excellent books: 

Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist

Eat With Joy by Rachel Marie Stone

Let’s talk about FOOD! (includes a giveaway)

I love to eat. 

I’m the kind of person who will make a scene at a restaurant, raving loudly about the to-die-for truffle sauce until everyone in the room has agreed to order the same meal  for themselves. I associate seasons with food (winter = pot roast, spring = strawberry salad, summer = burgers on the grill, fall = pumpkin EVERYTHING), and mark special occasions with food (birthday = ice cream, book deal = champagne, Christmas Eve = homemade white lasagna). Those who have read A Year of Biblical Womanhood know that I recently connected with my inner chef, so when I have time, I enjoy the challenge of working my way through a long list of complicated ingredients and directions to produce a from-scratch soup, roast, pie, or casserole. 

matzah toffee (with a side of head covering) 

But like most Americans, my relationship with food has a dark side. I tend to “graze” on snacks in the kitchen when I get stressed out or depressed. I often eat absently, in front of the TV or laptop. I count calories and then feel guilty when I’ve consumed too much.  (I’m looking at you, Einstein Bros Bagels in Concourse E of the Charlotte Airport.) I don’t have people over for dinner often enough, and when I do, I get so stressed out about making everything perfect that it’s unlikely I’ll do it again anytime soon. 

So when I learned that two of my favorite writers—Shauna Niequist and Rachel Marie Stone— were releasing books on the topic of food, I had to get my hands on some copies. And let me tell you, these books didn’t disappoint. I gobbled up every word! (Yikes. Sorry ‘bout that; I couldn’t resist.) 

First, some thoughts on Shauna’s book, Bread & Wine…

Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist 

Shauna, author of Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet, is an amazing writer—so talented you hardly notice the precision and craftsmanship that goes into every sentence, every paragraph, every chapter. Her past memoirs have touched on love, loss, balance, beauty, mindfulness, and faith, and in Bread & Wine, Shauna pulls these themes together once again, but in a series of reflections about her true passion:  life around the table. 

“My prayer is that you’ll read these pages first curled up on your couch or in bed or in the bathtub,” she writes, “ and then after that you’ll bring it to the kitchen with you, turning corners of pages, breaking the spine, spilling red wine on it and splashing vinegar across the pages, that it will become battered and stained as you cook and chop and play, music loud and kitchen messy. And more than anything, I hope that when you put this book down, you’ll gather the people you love around your table to eat and drink, to tell stories, to be heard and fed and nourished on every level.” 

I expected this book to be wise, funny, and vulnerable…because Shauna always is. But I was surprised by how practical I found it, how many sentences I underlined and notes I made. Not only does the book include easy, practical recipes at the end of each chapter, it also includes a really helpful appendix with entertaining tips, sample menus, and a pantry list.  It’s the perfect book to inspire you to open up your table more often and help you become a better host. 

In several chapters, I felt certain Shauna was reading my mind, speaking directly to my deepest insecurities related to food, body image, hospitality, even motherhood. (I cried on an airplane while reading “On Tea and Pajamas,” it so perfectly captured my life at the moment.) Another fantastic chapter is entitled “Open the Door,” and it begins with what Shauna acknowledges is a generalization, but which certainly rings true in my own life: “It seems to me that women typically experience shame about two things: their bodies and their homes.” 

She describes how embarrassed she felt when a friend stopped by unexpectedly, in the middle of a writing session, when Shauna’s house was a mess and she was dressed her typical writing attire—no makeup, hair in a ratty bun, crooked glasses,  half-zip, and sweatpants. 

“I felt within myself the desire to shoo her out, to hide, to keep her from the disorder that is my real, actual life some days,” Shauna writes.

Shame like this can keep us from inviting our loved ones to the table, she says. “This is why the door stays closed for so many of us, literally and figuratively. One friend promises she’ll start having people over when they finally have money to remodel. Another says she’d be too nervous that people wouldn’t eat the food she made, so she never makes the invitation. But it isn’t about perfection, and it isn’t about performance. You’ll miss the richest moments in life—the sacred moments when we feel God’s grace and presence through the actual faces and hands of the people we love—if you’re too scared or too ashamed to open the door. I know it’s scary, but throw open the door anyway, even though someone might see you in the terrible ugly half-zip.” (p. 109) 

Some other great lines: 

From “Jazz and Curry”—

“In cooking as in life, there are some non-negotiables, but not nearly as many as you think.” 

From “On Bread and Wine”—

 “….Part of becoming yourself, in a deeply spiritual way, is finding the words to tell the truth about what it is you really love. In the words of  my favorite poet, Mary Oliver, it’s about ‘letting the soft animal of your body love what it loves.’” 

From “Hungry”—

“I used to think that the goal was to get over things—to deal with them once and for all, to snap an issue closed like slamming a locker door, washing my hands of it forever and always. What I know now after all these years is that there are some things you don’t get over, some things you just make friends with at a certain point, because they’ve been following you around like a stray dog for years.” 

From “Morning, Noon, and Night”— 

“…Love isn’t something you prove or earn, but something you receive or allow, like balm, like a benediction, even when you’re at your very worst.” 

From “Hungry”—

“Part of being a Christian means practicing grace in all sorts of big and small and daily ways, and my body gives me the opportunity to demonstrate grace, to make peace with imperfection every time I see myself in the mirror. On my best days, I practice grace and patience with myself, knowing that I can’t extend grace and patience if I haven’t tasted it.” 

I highly recommend this book. It’s entertaining, inspiring, challenging, and (at least in my experience), a sort of antidote to cynicism that will help connect you with what’s most real and most important. 

Eat With Joy: Redeeming God’s Good Gift of Food by Rachel Marie Stone 

 While Bread & Wine is a memoir that focuses on life around the table, Eat With Joy delves more deeply and directly into issues related to the theology of eating, touching on everything from food anxiety and eating disorders, to poverty, to obesity, to just and sustainable eating, to hospitality, to mindfulness, to communion. 

Rachel Marie Stone (who you may know as a popular writer over at Her.Meneutics) has written a thoughtful, impeccably-researched, and practical book that cites a movie in one paragraph, a Bible story in the next, a poem in the following, and a scientific study in the next. This lady must read….A LOT! My writing journal is now packed with new quotes and insights I plan to use later. (For example, in Chapter 3 Rachel notes that “our English word companion comes from the Latin for ‘with’ (com) and ‘bread’ (panis)—a companion is one with whom you eat your bread.”) 

To give you a sense of this small book’s breadth: Chapter One—“Joyful Eating”—introduces the topic of food and explores how food is meant to be enjoyed as a living metaphor for God’s sustaining love for his people. Chapter Two—“Generous Eating”—looks at the importance of not only serving but also eating with the “least of these.” (I love that Rachel highlights the importance of not only “feeding” people, but also dining with them, in community together.) Chapter Three—“Communal Eating”—further explores the importance of community in eating, with insights into the significance of shared meals in Scripture. Chapter Four—“Restorative Eating”— looks at the healing effects of communal eating, particularly as it pertains to addressing eating disorders. (Fascinating chapter!)  Chapter Five—“Sustainable Eating”—addresses head-on the many injustices in food production in the U.S. and around the world. Chapter Six—“Creative Eating”—looks at cooking and eating as a form of culture-making with potential for worship. And Chapter Seven—“Redemptive Eating”—beautifully ties together all these themes and provides practical suggestions for ways to practice joyful eating in the real world. 

Eat With Joy also includes recipes at the end of each chapter (we’re going to be eating well at the Evans home!) as well as beautiful mealtime prayers, collected from around the world and from various traditions, which alone are worth the price of the book. One of my favorites: 

Behind the loaf is the snowy flour; 
Behind the flour is the mill; 
Behind the mill is the sun and shower, 
And the wheat and the Father’s will. 
Amen. 

This was one of those rare books that is both carefully and passionately written. It’s hard to believe this is Rachel’s first book; I suspect it will not be her last! 

These books serve as perfect companions to one another, and I’m so glad I read them together. I feel like ditching the internet for a few days so I can chop up some onions, bake some bread, try a new recipe, and invite some friends over. 

(One quick note: If you are struggling financially, you may find elements in each book, particularly Bread & Wine, frustrating.  I too have been in the place where I was shopping at Wal Mart because it’s all I could afford, working ramen noodles into the weekly menu more often than I preferred. Stories and anecdotes about travelling the world and enjoying European cuisine, buying organic, joining a CSA, or picking out fine wine for guests may make you feel like true hospitality and joyful and just eating are little more than dreams other people get to fulfill. Thankfully, both authors go out of their way to offer practical suggestions that apply to all of us, no matter our socioeconomic situation. So, if that’s where you’re at, try not to let the stories detract from the message.) 

We have three copies of each book to giveaway! So I’ll pick three winners to receive BOTH Bread & Wine and Eat With Joy. (Note: If you win, the books will arrive in your mailbox separately, as they come from two different publishers.) 

To enter, leave a comment with: 

1) Your favorite guilty pleasure food (mine = coffee-flavored ice cream!
2) Your go-to weeknight meal (mine = enchiladas or tacos) 
3) Your biggest hang-up or struggle when it comes to food or hospitality (mine = PERFECTIONISM!) 

Through random.org, I will choose three winners and contact them. (Be sure you’re signed into DISQUS with an email address.) Contest runs through Friday, April 19 at 3 p.m. EST, at which point I will notify everyone of the winners. 

In the meantime, I hope you find the time this week to gather around your table and eat with joy! 

***

Buy "Bread & Wine"

Buy "Eat With Joy"

Carry On, Warrior

First, I want to tell you about a book. It’s written by my friend Glennon Melton, who blogs at the wildly-popular Momastery, and it’s called Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed.

I had the privilege of getting an early copy, so this is what you will see on the back of the book:

“Funny, honest, and brave, Glennon Melton joins the ranks of Anne Lamott, Sara Miles,and Barbara Brown Taylor by giving her readers a precious gift: permission--permission to doubt, permission to believe, permission to struggle, permission to laugh, permission to tell the truth, and permission to do it all imperfectly. Carry On, Warrior takes its place among the best of spiritual memoirs as the kind of book readers will want to return to again and again. It reads like a conversation with a close friend, but impacts the heart like an encounter with the divine.” - Rachel Held Evans, author of "A Year of Biblical Womanhood" and "Evolving in Monkey Town.'

In other words, I liked it. A lot.

(And it's  not just because Glennon and I share an affinity for monkeys!)

So I recommend you check it out.

Second, I want to tell you about a guest post I wrote over at Momastery. It’s about what I like to think is something of the Hebrew equivalent to “Carry on Warrior”: Eshet chayil, Woman of Valor. Here’s how it starts:

Dear Monkees,

I don’t know about you, but I can’t make heads or tails out of my faith until someone puts it into poetry.

All the theology, doctrine, creeds, and confessions in the world can never explain it like Emily does. It’s “the thing with feathers / that perches in the soul / and sings the tune without the words, / and never stops at all.”

Yep. That sounds about right.

And so I shouldn’t have been surprised that when I was struggling the most to feel like a worthy woman, when I was tired and frustrated and crying out for faith, this recovering fundamentalist bumped into the Hebrew equivalent of “Carry On, Warrior,” in a 3,000-year-old poem I used to secretly hate…

If you want to read the rest, hop on over to Momastery. (There, you can also enter to win a free copy of A Year of Biblical Womanhood.) 

...But not before checking out Carry On, Warrior. 

A review of "Torn" by Justin Lee

First, I read it and loved it. 

Then, I loaned it to Dan, and he read it and loved it. 

Then, I loaned it to my parents, and they read it and loved it. 

And the book hadn’t even been released yet! 

This is the power of Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate by Justin Lee, which officially releases today. (Justin participated in one of our most popular "Ask A…" interviews, "Ask a Gay Christian.") It’s the only book about homosexuality and the Church that I feel comfortable recommending to everyone—from my gay friends to my parents.  The minute I finished, I turned to Dan, tears streaming down my face, and said, “This one is a game-changer.” 

I had the privilege of receiving an advance review copy of Torn, in which Justin shares his story.   Nicknamed "God Boy" by his peers, Justin knew that he was called to a life in the evangelical Christian ministry. But he harbored a secret: He also knew that he was gay. With humor, vulnerability, and an accessibility that both disarms and delights, Lee recalls the events—his coming out to his parents, his experiences with the "ex-gay" movement, and his in-depth study of the Bible—that led him, eventually, to self-acceptance. 

Here’s what I wrote for the back cover: 

“This is the most important book I've read in years, and it will be the first I recommend to anyone interested in bridging the divide between the LGBT community and the church. Justin has given us a precious gift with this story. May we receive it with the same courage and faith with which it was delivered." 

I cannot recommend this book enough.  What makes it so effective is how relatable Justin’s story is.  His high school experience could have been mine—loving and involved parents, public school, a life that revolved around a conservative evangelical youth group, a true passion for Jesus and the Bible. 

The only difference is that Justin was gay. 

He didn’t choose to be gay. 

He didn’t want to be gay. 

His parents didn’t make him gay. (The number of Christian counselors who tried to convince Justin that his same-sex attraction was his parents’ "fault" is one of the most sickening, heartbreaking parts of this story.) 

He was (and is) just gay. 

And no amount of praying,  counseling, and self-hatred could change that. 

So Justin sets out to make sense of it….and he does so with more grace and forgiveness than seems reasonable.  He does so with the humility and love of Christ. Though he would have every right to lambast the failures of evangelicalism, Justin’s love for Christ and His Church seeps through every page of this book. It humbled me, and it will humble you. 

I think we can all sense a shift in momentum regarding the future of the LGBT community, and for Christians who feel torn about this, Torn is the best place to start. As I’ve said before, the best way to move beyond a culture war mentality is to listen to one another’s stories, and Justin’s is just the kind of story we need to hear right now. You may not agree with all of his conclusions, but you will be challenged and changed by his story. 

As soon as I’m out from under all this book release/travel craziness, we will continue this conversation. In the meantime, I encourage you to read Torn, and we’ll use it as a starting point for future discussions. 

You buy it here, or wherever books are sold.