Book Review: Searching for God Knows What

Well, I feel that by now I've quoted enough from Donald Miller's Searching for God Knows What, but it's good enough that it deserves a review, now that I'm finished reading it. What Miller does in this book is similar to what he did in Blue Like Jazz, which is to argue for a more relational understanding of Christianity or Christian Spirituality. To be fair, the two books are very different, but their similarity lies in Miller's articulation of an idea that Christianity must be understood as a relationship.

Throughout Searching for God Knows What, Miller points out the relational language of the Gospels and even of the Old Testament. And, he argues quite strongly that Christianity can't be seen merely as a moral code.

I'll be honest. That last part is tough. We're all really good moralists, aren't we? I mean, even if we're not always so good at following the moral code, we're usually good at knowing what it is and how to argue for it. And, sometimes, we're really good at understanding that we follow it better than other people.

Wouldn't it be nice if that were the goal? To be better than other people. I'm tons better than plenty of other people, and, if you asked me, I could tell you exactly why I'm so much better--better at following the rules, better at church attendance, better at reading my Bible, better at understanding what I read, better at praying every day, better at spending time each day reading about God and trying to understand Him more deeply. I mean, I think I just proved my point. I'm tons better than a lot of people.

But, the truth is that I'm not. I have a lot of flaws. I'm proud and selfish and self-righteous. And, sometimes I find it hard to see the good in people. There are plenty of people who are more loving to others than what I've been in my life. I guess I could throw in the fact that I'm materialistic, just for good measure. Okay, as long as I'm going all confessional here, sometimes I fall asleep during my nighttime prayers, and, on Friday, I forgot to read my devotional. Heck, it wasn't until a few months ago that I even did devotionals; I've never given anything up for Lent; I said the same prayer over and over for years, every single night; until recently, my church attendance over the last few years was incredibly spotty. And, those moral codes that I follow could easily be argued for without even mentioning God.

So, what's the point?

I think that's where Miller's book is helpful. Miller argues that, in keeping with the Biblical understanding of human nature, we are essentially a broken people. He begins his explanation of this brokenness with the story of the Fall. Miller's interpretation of the Fall is one that makes so much sense, but he doesn't give it to us as we're used to hearing it. Though he remains true to the concept that the Fall of Man introduced sin into the world, he talks about how the Fall also led to a rupture in the relationship between man and God. In this way, his interpretation of the Fall is quite relational. Miller illustrates not an angry God and a sinful man, but the sadness that must have been felt by man upon betraying his relationship to God. Miller writes,

"And then it hit me how awful it must have felt for Adam and Eve to have been deceived by Satan, to have been tricked into breaking their relationship with God. You and I almost have it easier. We were born this way. [...] I wonder at how terrible it must have felt, at the fear of no longer feeling God, at the ache of emptiness and the sudden and horrifying awareness of self. God have mercy" (72-73).

Miller explains that we became aware of our separation from God, and in this separation, we needed a way in which to define ourselves. We seek out many different ways of doing just that. Miller gives the example of the social hierarchy among young people in schools, how young people will do almost anything to keep from becoming marked as the cultural "other" in their schools. But, sadly, there always has to be some "other" who we define our worth against. Someone has to be the least popular. Someone has to be the outcast.

And, Miller goes on to explain how we sometimes continue in positioning people as outcasts by making morality the main focus of Christianity. I must explain here that Miller is not speaking against the moral codes given to us in the Bible; he upholds that morality. However, what he is doing is trying to make us see that what makes Christianity so special, what sets it apart, is that it allows us to have a relationship with Jesus.

The brokenness that Miller discusses is something that makes us feel that there is something missing. And, because there is something missing, we try to fill that emptiness. Sure, some people fill that emptiness with drugs or alcohol or therapy or, less destructively, with having tons of hobbies and interests. But, some of us fill that emptiness with feeling superior to those who are not as moral as we are. Miller isn't saying that we need to change the moral code; that's not the message at all.

Rather, what he is saying is that we must understand that we've all been shaped by our brokenness. Like I said earlier, it is easy for me to see how moral I am, how hard I work to understand God more. But, what is so humbling, is that I have to remember that it isn't by my own strength that I am able to do those things; it is because of the strength given by God.

Earlier, I also listed all the things that I struggle with, all the ways in which I'm just not such a great person. And, to be honest, it wasn't until recently--as I've come to look to God, His Word, His will for my life--that I would have even considered that those were things that I should struggle with. In fact, I thought I was just fine. But, the truth is, I wasn't. Not even close.

But, that's what we must remember. We must remember that often, it is not until we start working toward holiness that we really begin to see those areas of our lives that aren't so good. It is when we stop looking into the mirror or to other people for an explanation of how to live a good life and start looking to the example of Christ that we really learn what it is to live the lives we were meant to live. And, knowing that were it not for our seeking to be more like Christ that we would not fully understand life, it must change how we treat other people.

We should remember the verse, "For there is no difference, all have sinned, and lack the praise that is of valour before God" (Romans 3:23). It is only through grace that we have come to know of the relationship to God through Christ. Remember the story of the woman caught in adultery? Jesus asked he who was without sin to cast the first stone, but none were without sin. He also told the woman to go and sin no more. The woman was saved from death by Jesus' grace, and, in this salvation, she was to sin no more.

Surely we can show grace to others. And, surely we must understand that our greatest calling is to know Christ and to be more like Him.