The Unlikely Challenging Book.

These past couple days I was absorbed in this book called The Unlikely Disciple.  A non-christian student goes to Liberty University for a semester and writes about his experience there.

Surprisingly, he learns to blend in.  He plays on a softball team, attends Bible studies and prayer times, makes good friends, sings in the church choir, goes on a mission trip during spring break, and even gets Jerry Falwell's last newspaper interview before Falwell's death. 

As a girl who grew up as a Christian, it's interesting to see an outsider's perspective.  Kevin Roose's observations challenged me deeply.  What does my life look like to others?  Am I living out my faith in a way that is evident and clear for others to see?  Am I too pushy about my faith or too lax in living out what I believe?  How can I stop seperating the sacred and secular in my life?  Most importantly of all, why am I living the way I am?

[Spoiler Alert]
What astounded me most was that Kevin never received Christ, despite being surrounded by Christians.  His response was positive, but He never chose to accept Christ:

"That said, this semester has definitely changed the way I think about God.  I've always gone through brief phases of belief, but now, I find myself believing in some sort of divine presence more often than not- maybe 70 or 75 percent of the time instead of 30 or 35 percent.  Part of this is wishful thinking, I'm sure.  I hope there's a God so that all the praying and Bible reading and spiritual struggling my Liberty friends do isn't pointed toward an empty sky.  I hope Jesus was truly resurrected from the dead because I have a couple hundred friends who have oriented their lives around the story..." (283)

How can Kevin truly hope for this?  Doesn't he know that hoping for all his Liberty friends to be right about God would make him wrong?  He went to Liberty- experienced the worship, the Bible, the prayer- yet missed the point.  He didn't come to know Jesus.  I pray that it will be a lot less about us Christians and a lot more about Christ.  I hope that it will be a lot less about politics and rules and a lot more about our Savior.  Then maybe others will see.  Maybe Kevin would see.