Your God is Too Safe

February 5, 2001
Canadian pastor and first-time author Buchanan says that he "hit the ground running" when he first became a Christian. He got involved in a church, taught Sunday school and read his Bible regularly. Then things got rote. Buchanan was, in a word, "stuck." But he had friends who weren't stuck: the elderly widow who seemed full of spiritual joy, a multiple sclerosis patient with a broken body but a strong faith. So Buchanan set out to write a book that would explain why many Christians fail to progress spiritually and why only a few grow stronger in faith. He concludes that believers reach a plateau when they think God is too cuddly and (as the title suggests) safe. The literary conceit of this narrative is all too familiar in evangelical Christian books: the church is full of euphemism and afloat on pat answers, but this bold, new author is going to be refreshingly honest about how difficult his own faith walk has been. Buchanan may be honest, but the tactic is stale. Equally banal are Buchanan's tips for "breaking free": Don't boast about your good deeds. Read the Bible. Confess when you've sinned. Pray. Perhaps his only innovative advice is that Christians take up fasting, a biblical activity that has become increasingly popular among contemporary evangelicals.

February 15, 2001
Born-again Christian Buchanan led youth groups, taught Sunday school, wrote the church newsletter, became a camp counselor, and mentored several young men. Like many who try to do everything, preferably all at once, he became bruised, jaded, and frustrated--afflicted with "chronic spiritual fatigue." This book records his restorative journey of self-discovery and tries to figure out why some whose lives are marked by great pain and suffering refuse to surrender to their darker impulses. Buchanan turned to such persons' stories and those of others throughout the ages for inspiration and a cure for the spiritual malaise that he sees has enveloped contemporary culture. The resulting, luminous book is full of self-doubt and self-knowledge. Ultimately, Buchanan chooses to celebrate life's goodness in a cautious optimism that offers hope and a sense of wonder without sentimentality or saccharinity. His book is a gift, pure and simple, that dares to question the status quo and attempts to restore meaning and purpose to daily living.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)