Loose framing

Books for walking on treadmills or beaches | Marvin Olasky

The builder of my house once told me it was loosely framed, which I don't think was a good thing. My guess is that the person who designed the house and lived in it for several years changed her mind a few times as the house was under construction, leaving it with some curious angles. It's a wonderful, odd house, but it could have been a disaster, and some books—including Dave Burchett's When Bad Christians Happen to Good People (WaterBrook, 2002)—are like that.

Mr. Burchett's book has problems but also clever observations about how some churches fixate on unimportant matters. He even offers an antidote, the WJSHTOT—"Would Jesus Spend His Time on This?"—question, as he gently pokes fun at contemporary trends by offering this theme song: "Don't know much about theology, Don't know much Christology/... But I do know that God loves you,/And I'm trying hard to be good too./ What a wonderful faith this would be."

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July 07, 2002, Vol. 17, No. 26

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