When In Doubt, Read A Good Book

One of my favorite gifts in college was a little book titled the Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse. My roommate Dane (who has contributed to the blog before) gave it to me for Christmas one year knowing I have a special place in my heart for all things ridiculous. There are few things more ridiculously amusing and uncomfortably serious than the study of the end times, and the author, Jason Boyett, does a wonderful job balancing the seriousness of Armageddon with a certain humor. Boyett is also the author of many other "Pocket Guide" books as well as two other books in my collection, "Things You Should Know By Now" and "Cheap Ways To...", both of which seem fairly self-explanatory. On top of writing three book which I own, Boyett also regularly writes for relevantmagazine.com, which I happen to subscribe to.

All that is to say, it should come as no surprise that I also stalk him on Twitter (he's @jasonboyett if you'd like to stalk him as well). In the process of pretending like I have a celebrity friend ("Hey, I'm Twitter friends with a guy who writes awesome fringe-Christian novels about stuff I like! Have I ever met him? Well.... no.... Talked to him? Uh... not really.... I sent him an email once!) I noticed that he was soliciting reviews for his new book "O Me of Little Faith". Given that I own several and have read most of his books, it seemed like a great idea to offer my services. (Disclaimer: he sent a copy as a part of the review process. You know, so I could actually read it before it's out). After sending that email I mentioned above, about a week later I received a copy of the book in the mail, and now here we are four days after that ready to review it.

As the subtitle of the book, "True Confessions of a Spiritual Weakling", suggests, this book is actually a confession. I once saw "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" with my wife, but unlike Lindsay Lohan, Boyett seems to really know the meaning of "confession". In other words, the book is exactly what the title would lead you to believe. Boyett has written one long, engaging confession about his little faith, about being a spiritual weakling, starting from his youth in the Southern Baptist church to his current drive down a road he can barely see. The opening lines of the book are probably the most hopeless, just to help the reader understand that Boyett does, in fact, doubt his faith. From there, the rest of the book builds a case for why he doubts and what he does because of his doubt.

This book is certainly one of the most unusual I've ever read. It's a book about a spiritual failing for which the author has no solution. It's a book where a man of faith says "I'm not sure how faithful I really am, if at all." And it's a book I finished reading having my faith both affirmed and encouraged. That's because I, too, am a doubter, and this book was written for doubters. (although, it may also be written as an account to help others understand doubters) My favorite part of the book is Boyett's honesty. It means a lot for a person of faith to say they're not sure they believe in God, and ultimately, as a Christian believing in the gospels, that's a huge problem. That's where Boyett's work shines though. It's honest. And at the end of it all, he doesn't try to hide his doubts. He embraces them, and that takes a lot of integrity to own up to.

As with his other works, Boyett is funny. And he knows how to use that humor to get you to think a little more. You don't feel like he's trying to win you over with apologetics or to try and help you remain faithful with some sugar coated Jesus pills. Mainly because he's not. You can trust him because he's not giving you reasons to believe, he's giving you reasons he struggles to. For a fellow doubter, it means a lot to hear honesty. It means a lot to hear somebody confess that they struggle with the same thing you do. It means even more to hear that he, like me, has chosen faith in the face of doubt. Intellectually and spiritually honest faith. And that's the crux of the book (although I'll let you purchase it to really understand what I mean by that), it's Boyett's journey to a faith that can only exist because of his doubts.

There is no real conclusion, there can't be one. This book is a small glimpse into his ongoing reality, a confession of his 'little faith', and that's a confession that will change and evolve over a lifetime. There is hope, however, and Boyett's honesty about his doubts and his pursuit of a hidden God are a great encouragement to a fellow doubter, even though they don't offer solutions or answers to life's greatest mysteries. It's endearing, it's funny, and it's encouraging. Ultimately, as a compliment to Boyett, a man of little faith who can admit his doubts and still seek God is stronger and wiser than the one who is afraid that his pillar-like faith may crumble from reading a book with a kid wearing band-aids on his nipples gracing the cover.

I enjoyed the book. Thanks for sharing your journey, and sharing in doubt Jason, it means a lot to a fellow doubter in Christ.