After reading this book I can understand why many in Christendom could call Carl Medearis a heretic. His message goes against centuries of religious tradition. There are probably many well meaning Christians who will speak ill against him because they are so caught up in the religion of Christianity that they have missed the point; the point being Jesus. I have to admit that my own upbringing in a conservative evangelical church still has me questioning the thoughts I have when reading this book. The one question that I keep asking myself is, “Is it really that simple?” The answer, I believe, is a resounding YES!
For years I have been pulling away from the church as an institution. Without even knowing it at the time, it was Promise Keepers that planted the seeds of dissent within me at the 1996 stadium event in the Los Angeles Coliseum. Randy Phillips, then president of Promise Keepers had all 60,000+ men stand throughout the Coliseum. He had us all, on the count of three, yell out what city we were from. The Coliseum filled with a cacophony of noise. Next he had us yell out what church we were from with the same resulting noise. Then he had us yell out who our Lord and Savior is, and in a roar of unity the voices erupted “Jesus Christ.” He then proceeded to tell us that it didn’t matter what church or denomination we came from, whether Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, or wherever, we all had one thing in common; Jesus Christ, and 95% percent of what we all believed was the same and the other 5% would neither gain you salvation nor cost you salvation.
In that moment I realized that denominations didn’t matter. Theologies written by man didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered in that moment was Jesus Christ. But herein lies the rub; at the time I couldn’t tell you whether or not I was really a Christian. There are many reasons for that, some of which I have written about elsewhere. But this is a book review and not my story. Suffice it to say, even though I was struggling in my own faith and would continue in that struggle for another 4-5 years, I knew from that moment that the “church” had it wrong on a lot of points. It just took me a long time to get from there to where I am today. Along the way I have had a lot of setbacks. I have battled an illness that put me in the hospital and made many of my closest friends very uneasy and unsure of how to talk to me or deal with me any more.
But in the darkest of times there was always Jesus. He spoke to me through the unconditional love of my wife and a few of my closest friends. He spoke to me in the gracious way my children have loved me. He speaks to me daily through the wisdom of the His words and through the examples of His presence in the lives of those around me, many of whom would not dare to call themselves Christians.
I have, in “Speaking of Jesus,” found a new strength for sharing that which I am passionate about with those I encounter on a daily basis. There are so many things in this book that made me shout in agreement. I laughed at many of the stories and found myself wishing I could be there to see some of the interactions described throughout the book.
In Carl Medearis I have found a kindred spirit who wants nothing more than to live a simple life, speaking of Jesus. The difference is he has already learned to do so and I am just beginning to learn the way.
Peace,
Kevin
