Jim, Casper, & the rest of us go to Church

So I recently picked up this book, Jim & Casper go to Church; by Jim Henderson & Matt Casper.  Jim, a Christian Pastor, hires Casper, an articulate athiest, to attend the Sunday Morning service at several Christian churches and evaluate them.  A very interesesting and compelling premise.  In the book, Jim asks for Casper’s honest impressions on the churches that they visit. 

Casper makes some astute observations.  He usually is looking for  evidence of service to the community.  Not a bad thing to look for, as James told us that the real function of religion is to care for widows and orphans.  Casper is also very sensitive to authenticity, and notices several times that he is greeted at the door by someone who has volunteered to do that job, but not greeted by anyone else once he enters.  The manner in which the plate is passed is a big deal for him also, as one particular church that all but guarantees prosperity to contributors gets him pretty ticked off.  He is also turned off by the obvious use of formula.

Jim pretty much acts as Casper’s straight man, asking probing questions to elicit candid responses, but not really adding a lot to the narrative.  So we get a lot of the outsider’s perspective, and it is bristling at times.  But I would have liked to see more input from Jim.  Or, if Jim was really just to be a facillitator, I would have like to see him hire a committed, well-learned Christian to come along as well.  Because there are things that Casper just can’t tell us.  He can’t really tell us if the church that they are auditioning is really communicating the gospel.  The central truth of Christianity, that Jesus died to allow us to be saved, can only be fully understood by one who has experienced salvation.  To Casper’s credit, he doesn’t really attempt to speak to this point.  However, I would have liked to see that perspective addressed in a book like this, as the real effectiveness of a church as far as outsiders are concerned is how well they communicate the gospel.  Should an average non-Christian come into a  Christian church on a Sunday morning, we would hope that they have been given a real view of who Jesus is and how one can become a Christian.  If a church is not communicating the gospel, they might as well be a Moose Lodge.

I do have a favorite line from this book.  It is Casper’s line, and he repeats it a few times.  It comes up when he sees things in church that he would not expect to be there.  Like fog machines.  Like tearful pleas for funds.  Like sermons that did not mention the name of Jesus.  Like churches that spend more money tring to be relevant and cool rather than helping the poor.  Like an offer of salvation that amounts to little more than a get out of Hell free card.  His question, over and over again was, “Is this what Jesus told you guys to do?”  A great question, not only for the decision makers in each local church, but for each Christian as well.