Reading Jazz

Don Miller's Blue Like Jazz is not a comfortable book. People sense this within moments of picking it up. Both in my English class (where this book was assigned) and in the larger culture (gleaned from reviews on Amazon and the like), Miller's work has provoked not only some positive feedback but a fairly significant negative backlash. Unlike many books, the complaints do not stem from "this is boring" or "this is poorly written" or "this is trite", but rather "this is wrong". Miller really pushes the boundaries of conservative theology and ideology.

I don't mean to pick on anyone in my English class; I totally respect everyone's opinions. I'm just quoting here in order to have some material to dialogue with.

One student wrote: "Popular Christianity is not Christianity at all. I finished reading Don Miller's book, Blue Like Jazz, yesterday, and I notice his desire for Christianity to be cool...It is destructive when a Christian's walk is based on feeling."

Another student wrote: "I think Donald Miller is unfortunately one of those people who has succumbed to a feel-good religiosity, which is truly a shame because I think he would make such an amazing Christian. Hopefully he gets there someday."

I think these are all valid statements. A lot of Christians are wary of Miller's perspective. And sometimes his talk of "love", of "mysticism", of democrats and hippies, is disconcerting. As I said before, Miller is not one of those people you can skim over and say "well, that's nice". He is either terribly confused in his religious ideas, or he is amazingly clear in his insights. I am not a spiritual expert. I only wish to make a few points here:

1. How are we approaching Miller’s book? As I have said many times, I mainly dislike books on Christian living. I often wonder why people approach these books as if they are infallible manuals of how to live a better life. The person writing the book is not any more qualified to write on a subject then I am, save for the fact that he or she has done more research or had more experience than me. These people are not “higher Christians”, they are people just like everyone else. So it sometimes worries me that an author—sinful and human—is spiritually shepherding thousands of readers who take his or her word as true and trustworthy. All this to say, I think there is a tendency to approach Miller’s book rather like this: “Oh, here is a ‘Christian Living’ book. It must either be perfect and scripturally sound so that I can base my life on it, or it is totally wrong and I must throw out the whole mess.” Isn’t it completely plausible to imagine that a book written by a fallible human could contain both some wise, God-given insights and some misconceptions or confusions? Just because some of Miller’s ideas are more unusual, it does not mean that his book contains any fewer theological missteps than any other book out there. In fact, according to some, a lot of the most traditional Christian living books contain major misrepresentations of the true meaning of faith, etc. All that to say, if we approach Miller’s book expecting a doctrinally perfect guide to life second only to Scripture, then yes, we shall be gravely disappointed. If we approach the book not expecting to sift and weigh each individual idea on its own merit, we shall be gravely confused. And so on.

2. What is the purpose of Miller’s book? Blue Like Jazz seems rather more like a memoir than a book on how to live the Christian life. Writing a memoir, Miller is allowed to put anything he wants in there. It is, after all, about what he thinks, not about how you ought to think. I imagine that if any of us started writing down every thought, every quirk, every personal belief, we would sound as strange, as controversial, as deep, as immature, and—yes—even as wrong, as Miller.

3. How much of Miller’s work is as “out there” as it sounds? When we get offended or startled by a passage in Blue Like Jazz, we must, must examine whether that passage is contradicting Scripture, or simply our own traditional views of Scripture. For example, some people have freaked out about Miller living with and enjoying the company of hippies. At this point, we have to remember who Jesus hung out with. If we recoil at how Miller seeks to make Christianity relevant, we must reexamine how Jesus shared the gospel through parables designed for their relevancy with his audience.

A lot of people complain that Miller is throwing out organized doctrine, God’s justice, and the law, replacing them with a fluffy, mystical, “feel-good” God of love. I think we must be very careful in interpreting Miller’s words. Maybe he swings too far in one direction...Maybe others swing too far the opposite way. It is certainly going too far to judge whether or not Miller is a “true” Christian.

I guess it all comes down to: learn what you can from Miller, and leave the parts you can’t accept. It’s ok.