Book Review: Searching for God Knows What

My latest book from Booksneeze is Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What. Originally published in 2004, the book has recently been revised and re-released.

I've heard of Donald Miller before but this was the first book of his that I'd read. I'm happy to say that it won't be the last. I found Miller to be extremely refreshing, asking some difficult questions about Christianity that I too have struggled with over the years. I appreciate his honest and earnest search for authentic representation of the Gospel.

Miller discusses the trap that many churches and religions fall into, that of treating Christianity as a formula to follow rather than being about an intimate relationship with Christ. As Miller puts it, "the essence of God's message to mankind wasn't a bunch of hoops we needed to jump through to get saved, and it wasn't a series of ideas with had to agree with either; rather, it was an invitation, and invitation to know God." (pg. 14)

I think that this book will appeal not only to those who, like me, are longtime Christians who are weary of the formulaic messages of how to get salvation and have all your prayers answered in five easy steps, but also to non-Christians who are seeking something more in their lives. Authenticity is a quality that seems to be in short supply these days, and I find myself drawn to people and groups who display authenticity in their lives. This book is a challenge to me to view my personal faith as a relationship with Christ, not a formula to follow. And relationships are messy, not tied up neatly with a bow. Yet that's the only way to experience authentic, true life in Christ, mess and all.

I'll be adding Searching for God Knows What to my collection of books that I read over and over again, and I look forward to reading more of Miller's work.