an atheist's view of church services

Last week my father alerted me to an intriguing book co-written by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper called Jim & Casper Go To Church: Frank conversation about faith, churches, and well-meaning Christians. Jim Henderson (a Christian who has been involved in church planting, evangelism, and leadership development for more than a quarter of a century) recruited Matt Casper (a self-described atheist) to join him on a tour of twelve of churches across America, including: Saddleback (Rick Warren), Willow Creek (Bill Hybels), Lakewood (Joel Osteen), and The Potter's House (T. D. Jakes). 

In each church they visited, Jim and Casper would find seats, open their laptops, and begin recording their reflections about everything from the way they were greeted, the quality and style of the music, the method of collecting the offering, the sermon, and the general ambience in the worship space. Time and time again, Casper would ask Jim, "Is this what Jesus told you guys to do?"

Henderson believes that Christians need to shift from defending the faith to defending the space: "Too often, conversations we have about our beliefs are too much like debates, and we spend our time looking for chinks in the conversational armor, spaces where we can insert an argument or launch a rejoinder. The practice of defending the space means creating and obviously, defending such spaces. The practice of defending the space kicks in when we resist the urge to correct or attack and instead just listen (and maybe even take notes)."

Read this book!