Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, before he died at the Flossenburg
Concentration camp on April 9, 1945, summarized in his
book, the Cost of Discipleship, the Christian
life like this:
"When Christ
calls a man,
He bids him to come and die."
Is that
true? Does Christ really demand total abandonment
of self to follow Him? Is that what was portrayed
in the gospels? Because it certainly isn't what is
esteemed in current Christian circles today, is it?
And why not?
“I’m completely in favor of the separation of Church and
State.
My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on
their own,
so that both of them together is certain death.”
George Carlin (1937-2008)
I am keenly aware of the fact that you may be wondering
about a guy who would write a book entitled, Love Jesus, Hate
Church. You probably have some questions, maybe many
questions, about the origins of a book that makes people as
uncomfortable as Love Jesus, Hate Church has proven to do.
You may be asking yourself, "How can you be a Christian
and use the words Love and Hate and Jesus and Church all in
the same sentence? It just seems so wrong."
And, you're right. It does seem wrong.
True. But wrong.
Yep, I would probably be wondering the same thing if
the tables were turned and I found myself in your shoes.
So, let me see if I can shed some light on who I am and
why I do what I do by telling you a bit about myself and how I
came to write Love Jesus, Hate Church. Let me share with you,
oh, how shall I put it— the joy of believing the lie. I
believe this will give you a better grasp of who I am and why
I wrote
Love Jesus, Hate Church.
