What Does Church Look Like to an "Outsider"? - a book review of "Jim & Casper Go To Church"

I discovered Jim Henderson in 1998 while discovering this thing called the world wide web.  Navigating the awesomeness of the Yahoo search engine, I discovered Jim's website- one of the few that contained fresh information about evangelism.  I didn't really get it, though.  He was just a bit too far out for me.  What I did understand was the model of church-based evangelism I was reading about in my favorite books written by Rick Warren and Bill Hybels.  Jim was feeling something - probably because of his very close connection with avowed atheists.  Long before missional communities and emergent churches became the fad, Jim was sensing the limits of institutional-based evangelism.  His contribution to the field of evangelism has been to encourage us to truly listen to those who openly disagree with us.

I just finished reading Jim & Casper Go to Church.  In the book, Jim aims to help pastors and church leaders understand how our methods, our words, our programs, our advertising, and especially our weekend worship services are experienced and interpreted by "outsiders."  He uses the term "outsiders" without derision, but simply as a fitting description of someone who does not attend church, has little experience with church or church culture, and who probably does not believe in Jesus.  To attain his goal, Jim connected with Matt Casper, a marketing copywriter and freelance author.  Casper is also an atheist.  When Jim pitched the idea to Casper to visit twelve churches in two months, discussing and writing about their experiences in each place, Casper jumped on it.  The book is an easy read.  Well, that is, if you are a church leader who is okay with tough questions.  Because Casper asks a lot them.  But Jim asked him to do just that.

Throughout the book we read about many of America's most famous evangelical churches.  From Willow Creek and Saddleback, through Mars Hill (Seattle) and a house church, to Lakewood and the Potter's House. To keep it real, they even visited a small Presbyterian church in Chicago and a few other unknown churches.

I enjoyed reading Casper's interpretations of what he experienced.  He really struggled with the glitz and glamour of the mega-churches.  While Jim would push him to consider that some of the "amenities" are necessary (you need acres of parking to handle thousands of people!!!!), Casper's constant questioning really makes us think:  is this really what Jesus wants you all doing?

Near the end, Casper offers some observations that are difficult to deal with:  He noted that in almost all of the churches, the form (format) was the same- gather, sing a few songs, pray, preach a sermon, take an offering, and go home. However, he noted that the function (expression of the church's mission) was all over the board; some churches talked about caring for the poor in their community while others talked about giving in order to get God's blessings, while others talked about reaching the world for Jesus and yet others discussed creating beautiful art.  While church leaders would see that as an expression of diversity within the body of Christ, illustrating how it takes all of us to do all that Christ commanded, Casper saw it as very confusing- as if we are offering mixed messages and we can't get along. That is a difficult one for me.  How do we address that?

As I read the book, I couldn't help but to think that Casper is more an artist than an engineer.  (see my previous blog post)  As such, he enjoyed worship services that were smaller and more intimate, that encouraged more dialog than just listening to a sermon, and displayed activity in the community.

Jim Henderson also offered a few closing observations- or should I say, a few difficult questions to ponder.  Do we give too much attention to our weekend worship services?  We know that it takes much more than just attending a service to fully participate in a local church and in faith in Jesus.  But if the weekend service is what outsiders will see first, are we giving the wrong impression that it is all about music and a preacher?  Finally, he suggests that we really think about how we describe our faith.  Sometimes our confidence comes across as arrogance with no room for questions.  We would be better to say, "I believe..." rather than "I know...."  And I believe that is a good word.
  
By the way, one of the things I appreciate about the book is that Jim Henderson did not try to bash megachurches, nor the church growth movement, nor any particular church tradition.  While he admitted his own biases (positive and negative), he sees the value in each church and even at times defends practices that he doesn't seem to agree with.  I appreciate his objectivity.