If I could go to coffee with anyone right now, it would be Jen Hatmaker.  Her books and blogs and absolutely ridiculous Facebook posts make me laugh, cry, and challenge me to think bigger and beyond right now.  I mean, my friend Whitney and I regularly have texting conversations about her. Which may be a little weird considering we don’t actually know her..oh well.  Given my huge respect for her, when she sent out an e-mail enlisting bloggers to be her launch team for her newly re-released copy of  Interrupted,  I immediately jumped on the opportunity.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to the chance to read a book for free, write a blog about it, and then give one away to your faithful readers (pretty good chance my mom might win!). All this to say, here is my review of Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity by the one and only Jen Hatmaker.

Several years ago, I spent a summer in the bush of Africa. At night, we had the only lights within miles and you could see the stars with incredible clarity.  You also find a lot of ways to entertain yourself when it gets dark at 6 and you are stuck in a small building with 18 other people.  So one of the things we did often was drag the mattresses outside and gaze at the stars.  One of those nights, I remember feeling so very small in the grand scheme of things.  Here I was, a middle-class, white girl in the middle of Africa thinking I might be able to do something good.  And while I am sure we did something decent while there, the internal change in me was probably more significant.  I came home convinced it was not about what I could do, but it was all about Jesus.  And Jesus, well, He will compel you to do all kinds of crazy things.

Fast forward five years, I am planted in a southern Indiana. A far cry from the simplicity of Africa and the simple joy of star-gazing and discussing when exactly was the last time you showered.  An internal wrestling began in my soul-how can I be Jesus to those around me? Is there not more to this being a Christian thing than cool worship sets and trendy churches? Why do I feel so exhausted after doing church? As I have traveled down this road, God has brought along encouragement and answers at the exact moments when my soul was ready to listen. Interrupted came at just such a time.

Author Jen Hatmaker, in Interrupted takes readers through a journey of figuring out what following Jesus looks like in our post-modern world.  The book is broken into five phases in which Jen, in her typical style, walks you through the journey of starting Austin New Church. Her writings made me laugh, cry, and put into words so eloquently the deep wrestling of my soul. She doesn’t write from a place of having all the answers, her book is more like a conversation. One between close friends sharing the victories and the struggles.  When I finished the book, I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt like I had permission to make mistakes, engage culture, and be about the business of loving people like Jesus loves them. This is not about us. It is about Jesus and His kingdom.  We may get to play a small role in the big picture, but never ever is it about us or our church or our program or our ministry.  And amen to that because if it is all about Jesus, we have the freedom to love and to admit mistakes and to try again.

I could write all day on this, but I will sum it up by saying if you go to church, lead in church, or serve in church, you need to read this book.  The message is overwhelmingly clear. It is not about the church. It is not about the band or the building or the programs. It is about the kingdom of God and the bold message of Jesus who proclaimed light in the darkness, commanded his followers to love the least of these, and offers hope and salvation to anyone who would believe in His power to cleanse their sins.  He doesn’t demand perfection, He demands sacrifice, bottom-dwelling, and death to self. As Jen puts it at the end of the book, “the battle is for the souls of humanity, and our secret weapon is love.”

To give you more incentive to read the book, here are some of my other favorite quotes..

This is it. We can follow our Jesus to every dark, scary, broken place He just insists on going, hell-bent on healing and restoring people, because He is a good Savior and we can trust Him.

I realized I was completely normal. But  my Savior was the most unnormal guy ever. And it was His unnormal ideas that made everything new.

We don’t get to opt out of living on mission because we might not be appreciated. 

I dream of a church that is once again called great, even by our skeptics, because our works of mercy cannot be denied. 

I am no Savior; I am just a sister. 

Serving people is not heaven’s requirement, only a response to heaven’s mercy.

People are hungry to have a meaningful spiritual discussion; they just don’t want to have it with the Christian weirdo who doesn’t even know their last name. 

Living on mission will be misinterpreted and criticized.

And stay tuned for a giveaway of the book in the next week!!! 🙂

All quotes taken from: Hatmaker, Jen. (2014). Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity. Navpress.