Accidental Saints is shocking in many ways, just as it's
intended to be. The author, Nadia Bolz-Weber, is an unlikely, atypical
pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the more liberal
branch of Lutheranism). She is covered with tattoos and cynicism, enjoys
making people squirm with her f-bombs, and spurns the right as much as
they spurn her. Your typical radical, left-wing liberal, full of
questions and doubts, yet astonishingly in love with Jesus. And anyone
who is love with my Savior is alright by me.
At times, Nadia
made me angry. I admit I was indeed bothered by her swearing. I can
totally understand that anyone, including myself, can let a curse word
fly when upset, but her language is intentional. I just see no need for
it, and have always believed that an intelligent, educated person can
find better words to express herself.
It also made me angry that
she so often portrays anyone with conservative values as narrow-minded
and stupid. I would definitely rate myself as conservative in my views,
yet I don't believe I am either narrow-minded or stupid. I was
open-minded enough to read and review this book (I received it from
Blogging for Books for free in exchange
for my honest review). Although she claims to be a liberal, she is not
so liberal in her views of those who are not like her. But, that is the
point of the book. Even the subtitle says it: Finding God in All the
WRONG People. Not finding God in surprising people or different people,
but wrong people.That bothers me.
I did learn some good lessons
from Nadia and I think you could too. I am certainly not proclaiming her
as the next greatest pastor, but I am always blessed by reading of
God's grace and this book does proclaim it.
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