Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz Revisited

In 2006 I read Blue Like Jazz by +Donald Miller. At the time I wrote down what I considered to be some of his main points and then responded to them. (Miller's words are bolded and italicized below).

“If I cannot accept God’s love, I cannot love Him in return, and I cannot obey Him. Self-discipline will never make us feel righteous or clean; accepting God’s love will. The ability to accept God’s unconditional grace and ferocious love is all the fuel we need to obey Him in return.”

For most of my Christian walk, I have been struggling with inconsistency. I know that sin is wrong. I know that God doesn’t like it. I know most of the consequences. I know that my sin effects others, that others are counting on me not to sin. None of this knowledge keeps me from sinning. Lately I have suspected that what I need is a revelation of God’s love. To be so in love with Him that I supernaturally want to obey Him.

I am very aware that self-discipline isn’t sufficiently enough to remain consistent.

“Here is the trick, and here is my point. Satan, who I believe exists as much as I believe Jesus exists, wants us to believe meaningless things for meaningless reasons. Even our beliefs have become trend statements. We don’t even believe things because we believe them anymore. We only believe things because they are cool things to believe.”

Wow! I wish I could say this weren’t so, but I have to admit that it is. Never mind pointing the finger – how often do I shut up and say nothing when faced with obvious moral discrepancy because what I’m thinking isn’t popular?  (I'm not just talking about being politically correct here, I'm also thinking about what's discussed inside Christian circles). No wonder it’s such a confusing world out there. Sometimes it seems like no one is motivated very much at all to tell the truth purely from God's point of view.

“Too much of our time is spent trying to chart God on a grid, and too little is spent allowing our hearts to feel awe. By reducing Christian spirituality to formula, we deprive our hearts of wonder.”

When was the last time I allowed myself to simply be awestruck by the Living God? When was the last time that I put myself in a position to be overwhelmed in the presence of the Creator of the Universe? How often do I stop and consider who I am talking to before I begin to pray?

“It is always the simple things that change our lives. And these things never happen when you are looking for them to happen. Life will reveal answers at the pace life wishes to do so. You feel like running, but life is on a stroll. This is how God does things.”

Oh, how I wish it were not so! How I wish I could control the speed at which I receive revelation from God! How I wish I could fast forward, through the tough stuff, the soul searching, and end up with the pot of wisdom at the end of the rainbow.

“Nobody will listen to you unless they sense that you like them.”

I’ve spent the vast majority of my adult like trying to figure this one out. Trying to scoot around this basic human truth. But the fact is, it’s the truth! What I know doesn’t impress people, or cause them to be receptive to my influence. It’s how much I love them that counts. How deep the relationship goes depends upon this. Judgment chokes out intimacy. It’s like throwing battery acid on a friendship.

“And so I have come to understand that strength, inner strength, comes from receiving love as much as it comes from giving it… And this is the prayer that I pray for all my friends because it is the key to happiness. God’s love will never change us if we don’t accept it.”

This is the central point of Christian living. It’s scary to have to admit it, but it’s absolutely true. God’s love for us propelled Him to send His Son. Jesus’ love for the Father compelled Him to obedience. Jesus’ love for us caused Him to leave us with the Holy Spirit. But none of this really matters if we can’t receive the love that the Father has for us in the first place!

Father, I don’t ever want to be done discussing this with You. This is huge. This is crucial. It’s the guiding force behind my walk with You. Our own relationship depends upon me considering these things and doing something about it.