eBook Too Christian, Too Pagan: How to Love the World Without Falling For It ePub

I have to say Too Christian, Too Pagan is the best book I've read in quite a long time. It's one of those altogether rare books that manages to resolve seemingly schizophrenic theological concepts (e.g., "go into all the world" and "come out from among them") while simultaneously putting the reader on the hook for how that theology translates into daily living. Sort of Frances Schaeffer-eque. Too Christian, Too Pagan leaves the reader accountable for more than they were when they started. That's why I'm giving it five stars. Words like "challenging" and "compelling" and phrases like "difficult issues" and "penetrating insight" are all aptly applied to the book.

Staub's main point in Too Christian, Too Pagan is this: Christians should follow Christ's example in dealing with the world around us. And, according to Staub, if you're following Christ's example, your words and actions are going to be too religious for some irreligious people and too irreligious for some religious people. In short, expect to be criticized and treated the same way Christ was by those two groups if you're following in His footsteps. As a side note, I found it instructive - and mildly entertaining - that some other reviews critical of Too Christian, Too Pagan are shots lobbed from our own modern day Pharisees in the Church who pursue love of the law rather than the law of love. But I digress.

Currently reading this book. Feels like a simple read so far but sometimes you need a foundation before you can expand.

Dick Staub encourages Christians to enter the world of non-beleivers, lovingly and winsomely. He says that as we do this we will have to have a genuine love for those we meet, while at the same time holding firm to our commitments to Christ. In doing so, he says that we will often seem too Christian to those outside of Christ. Because of our commitment to Christ, we will rub many outside of Christ the wrong way. On the other hand, to many Christians we will seem too pagan. Many Christians see the non-Christian world as something to be avoided. We cluster and cloister in our closed Christian communities and never venture out for fear of contaminating ourselves. If a Christians genuinely loves the people outside of the world, he will seem too pagan to many Christians. They will think he must be compromising his faith.
The first nine chapters of the book deal with resolving the tensions involved in this too Christian/too pagan motif. The rest of the book deals with practical advice for entering the world for Christ.
From chapter 10 on the chapters are short pieces of advice. For instance, he spends two chapters on exhorting us to experience and live the gospel as the foundation for entering the world of the non-Christian. He then encourages us to learn how to see, think and feel Christianly. And he follows this up with exhortations to see the movies, read the books and listen to the music the world is listening to.
All of this is done from the perspective of being able to relate to the world. What is absent here is critical engagement with the world. For instance, his encouragement is to use movies as a kind of window into the worldview of non-Christians. He doesn't encourage us to critically interact with the worldviews of the movies themselves. This is not to say that he offers a blanket commendation of non-Christian worldviews. On the contrary, part of the reason we read the books, see the movies etc., is to discern the errors and give a proper Christian response. So, what he is basically doing is saying that we engage these things first to understand and build bridges, not to go on the defensive or the attack.
This book is written in a popular style. I would not call it meaty in the sense that he doesn't delve deeply into philosophical or theological issues. But, maybe that can be considered a strength - this book doesn't encourage one to sit comfortably in an ivory tower, but to get out into the highways and byways of life.

"Taking Jesus into our world requires fully engaging both our faith and the world, yet few of us have learned to live a fully integrated life of faith in the world. Paradoxically, in my experience those who wholeheartedly embark on this path will end up seeming both too Christian for their pagan friends and too pagan for their Christian friends."
This quote is from chapter one of Dick Staub's wonderful book: "Too Christian, Too Pagan." The rest of the book explains this argument and gives "how to" suggestions for living this exciting and fulfilling kind of life.
Previous to December, I had never heard of this book or its author...Then a friend of mine received a copy of the book for Christmas. I didn't really think to much of it at the time (the friend has yet to read the book as far as I know) But then, through a series of events, This book kept entering my daily life through offhand comments, emails etc. I am glad it did!
"Too Christian, Too Pagan" has spoken to me right where I live. The chapter entitled "Think" is the first time I have ever read a contemporary Christian author address directly the lack of thinking that goes on in too many churches (Bob Briner and Mark Noll came close, but their topics demanded they spend more time on other things). I can testify to the truth of Mr. Staub's comment when he says:
"I am warning you, in what is generally an anti-intellectual culture and Christian subculture, your commitment to thinking will make you countercultural."
I have felt this in my journey. So few really ever do think...many in fact, live in self-imposed prisons of the mind as a result. We must remember that Jesus told us to love the Lord with our minds to set us free...not to give us one more assignment in an already busy life...
As Mr. Staub continues to unpack his argument he gives wonderful "how to" advice. In other words, he does not make a case for doing things like thinking and then leave the reader stranded to figure out how to do so...he gives suggestions on what steps to take. In his chapter "Read the Books" he suggests reading not only the latest "Christian" bestsellers, but suggests we should read the fiction popular in the culture in order to understand the culture that so many of the people God wants to reach live in. In a wonderful passage about the power of fiction to shape lives and culture, Mr. Staub writes:
"In my experience good fiction often functions like the canary in the coal mine. It sees life as it is, gasps out observations to those who will hear, and gives us a chance to puzzle through our questions, layering and thickening them with the life experience of another. Without saying so directly, through the characters and the situations they face, fiction can urge us to take action or face certain doom."
Mr. Staub suggests engaging culture by living the gospel: seeing, feeling, thinking, telling stories (like Jesus did), and being humble (among other things).
In the closing chapters of the book, Mr. Staub addresses the areas in which the church is currently failing. I appreciate the mix of love, optimism and faith Mr. Staub shows in addressing these subjects. Even with all our human frailties and weaknesses there is hope for the future if we keep our eyes on Jesus! Some of my favorite passages from this section are:
"Many Christians have allowed political combat to replace making disciples and have allowed ideological confrontation to replace being a blessing or loving our neighbors..."
"The problem is not confined to political life. There is a growing and manifest distastefulness in the attitude of some Christians toward people disagreeing with them politically or ideologically. They possess an us-versus-them approach compounded by an unwillingness to listen and discourse about areas of disagreement. Today's argumentative society is more concerned with winning than in seeking truth and is therefore more comfortable demonizing opponents than respecting them. This phenomenon is not exclusive to Christians but concerns me most among Christians, because such attitudes are inconsistent with following Jesus and inhibit our effectiveness when communicating Jesus' love to the world..."
"The glibness with which some Christians enlist God's authority in their quest to trump the ideological landscape is a reflection of the shallowness of their recognition of God's otherness and the limits this places on their comprehension of God and His revealed Word."
"Too Christian, Too Pagan" is a great book (in fact--its early, but I'm gonna be hard pressed to read a better book this year). It covers a wide range of topics with consistently penetrating insight. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Be God's.