Jon Acuff "Stuff Christian's Like"

At Bent Tree Church in Dallas, where Catalyst Dallas was held, Jon Acuff captivated the audience with his humor and mockery of mainline Christian culture.  Jon is a blogger whose blog and book have gone viral as a result of his creative thought process.

Here is a link to the book we will be referencing:

http://www.amazon.com/Stuff-Christians-Like-Jonathan-Acuff/dp/0310319943/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341839659&sr=8-1&keywords=stuff+chrisitans+like

I was very engaged in Jon's talk for two reasons.  First, I love humor, and love to study dynamic communication.  Second, he mocked Christian culture...and I can't stand cheesy Christian culture.  Much of what he talked about was simply an application of his book, but here are some highlights.

He mentioned the "Jesus Juke" which is simply the Christian version of 'debbie downer'.  If your not familiar with Rachel Dratch's character on SNL,  here is a terrible quality intro clip to the skit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9zJHvCsmOI

But the "Jesus Juker" is someone who comes in with an awkward spiritual comment that they clearly haven't thought through.  For example:

(Mike) I can't wait for Saturday!  We are going to get to the stadium like six hours before the game.  I'm bringing my grill to cook up some burgers, we can play washers, and then as soon as the gates open, we can head on in. It is gonna be awesome!

(Todd) Yeah... But I was just thinking... What if we spent those six hours that we were going to tailgate and watch the game by going down to the homeless shelter and serving food?  When is the last time we got this excited about spending six hours in prayer? 

The problem is it communicates nothing but shame.  Its a pathetic power play attempt for people who just want to make others feel worse so they feel better.

Jon also gave some great spiritual wisdom:

***To wreck your ministry, attach your identity to your accomplishments.***

I would add that this is a the fastest way to wreck your own spiritual health.  I've been there.

Further, going to the 'pulpit' or 'stage' to engage your identity is an incredibly dangerous place for a pastor to be, and for the church to be.

*Fame is the worst drug in Christianity.*  - Christians desire to be the next big thing, but the reality is Jesus hasn't called us to be the next big thing, but to obedience.  Its really quite simple.

Overall, Jon is an outside the box thinker that I really enjoyed hearing.  His book has been added to my 2012 reading list, which is getting quite long, but I hope to finish it!