Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller

This was my first experience with Donald Miller. I know, it baffles the mind does it not? That I made it completely through college where Blue Like Jazz was passed around from student to student like a Hookah at a house party.

At any rate, the book itself was an easy-to-read attempt to break, not only the presentation of the Gospel into easy to understand terms, but also the way we (by we I mean the Church as a whole) perceive the Scriptures. (Have I bored you yet? I promise, the book itself is not as boring as I am making it out to be) While, for the most part, I can get behind what Miller is stating throughout the book, I do think taking the theological aspect out of our perception of Scripture is a dangerous road to walk down. In his defense, he does mention the necessity of theological study in his afterword, but nevertheless, he does seem to easily toss theology aside for a simplistic understanding of the Scriptures. Is this a bad thing? Not at all... for awhile. At some point, we can not ignore the deeper meanings and truths behind the Scriptures if we truly wish to move beyond the milk and toward the meat. Moses may not have known the deeper implications of the words the Spirit was directing him to write, but that does not mean they weren't there. (I only bring this up because Miller seems to dismiss certain truths that are being presented in the first 3 chapters of Genesis as us projecting these truths on the Scriptures and not seeing the relational aspect behind them).

Another thing that bothered me, (and I promise I'm not ranting against Miller, just pointing out parts that I think warrant further discussion) is the idea that we have broken down not only the Gospel, but spiritual life in general, into such formulaic rituals that we have long lost the meaning behind what the Scriptures are teaching. I will say that I agree that there are some that may become more dependent on their formulas or on their rituals and lose complete focus on Christ, but I do believe that these rituals can, for others, bring many into closer worship and communion with Christ. Not just through the taking of the Eucharist (or Lord's Supper), or baptism, but also through praying daily (whether that be praying the Hours or just pausing throughout the day to pray). Much like in marriage where we have certain "rituals" that we perform to bring our relationship closer (not just sex, but praying together, eating together, etc...) I feel that some things that believers do (mainly those I listed in the previous sentence) can and do bring us into deeper worship and relationship with the Lord. Or, at the very least, help us to focus our attention again on Christ.

All of that said, I have no problems recommending this book to someone, or for that matter even recommending it as a study for a group, but I do think some healthy discussion would benefit those that read it and I think it would benefit them well.