Thanks for being a lightning rod …

A reader writes…

Thank you for your books “A New Kind of Christian” (the warm up) and “A New Kind of Christianity” (the main course)! I am a graduate of [a well known Evangelical] College and [an Evangelically-based seminary], and I have been searching for a voice like yours for the past 8 years. After reading A New Kind Of Christianity, I have been absolutely re-energized and given the confidence and hope that God is bigger and more creative than thought He was . I came to the conclusion years ago that if Christianity didn’t offer freedom, it was counterfeit and not worth my time, and my shadowey version of Christianity offered everything BUT freedom. Grew up in a family similar to yours and was always the trouble maker. [The seminary president] always told me that it was noble for me to rebel against the perverted Christianity that my family and friends lived. Anyways. I am not sure if you read these or not, but I just wanted to write you a “thank you” note for the risk you took in rethinking what Christianity might be offering us. I have always wondered why scripture had to be inerrant and why it could not be just TRUE? You articulate what our guts have been telling us. I am still a bit timid to step into a more 3D Christianity than I have been programmed with, but I suppose it is a lifelong pursuit worth engaging in.
As an aside, you say that the parts of scripture you gloss over and disregard are the ones that have the most to teach you. For me, your “Everything Must Change” and Social activism messages are that to me. I live in Seattle, but don’t feel the stong urge to care for the planet and plant a tree. I think that growing up in the Midwest and being a white male makes it unnecessary to worry about people other than myself. Anyways, like you said, the things I write off may have the most to teach me.
Thank you for being a lightning rod in order to voice your hope,