For some people the title of this blog is offensive; others may feel a sense of relief. I am not personally fond of it but it is what came to mind after i stumbled into a new book entitled Am I Really A Christian? by Mike McKinley. The title really should be You’re Not a Christian If… because that is the way every chapter’s title starts. The chapters in the book are:

– Forward by Kirk Cameron
– Introduction: Is this book mean spirited?
– You are not a Christian just because you say that you are
– You are not a Christian if you haven’t been born again
– You are not a Christian just because you like Jesus
– You are not a Christian if you enjoy sin
– You are not a Christian if you don’t love other people
– You are not a Christian if you love your stuff
– Can I ever really know if I am a Christian?
– A little help from your friends

The cynic in me wonders why there isn’t a final chapter entitled “You’re Not a Christian if you are Human” but I must resist such cynical attitudes and give the book the benefit of the doubt. I have not read it so I am treading thin ice here…I will read it because I am curious as to whether this book is helpful despite the chapter titles or if it is simply a huge pharasaic stumbling block.

Clearly this book is not meant to evangelize because anyone seeing the title Am I Really a Christian? who answers with “No – in fact I am Hindu/Muslim/Jew (fill in the blank)” is ever going to read it. I am never going to read a book entitled Am I Really A Muslim? because I strongly suspect that I am not and would rather not spend $12 to have what I already know confirmed.

So here we have a book that seems to be capitalizing on the insecurities of Christians and the deep question that is often asked “Am I really saved?”.

You can tell from the tone of my writing that I have already pre-judged this book as something I suspect is both unhelpful and pointing people in the wrong direction (toward works). You will find that I am often that way and I apologize and will work hard at improving. In the meantime I am curious to know if anyone has read this book.

I really want people to let me know what they think of these titles? Do they say anything to you?

I will taint your opinions in advance by offering some of my own, once again stressing that I have not read the book and so am being unfair.

The chapter title – You’re not a Christian if you enjoy sin bugs me. It seems to me a great deal of sin (perhaps all of sin) is entered into because people like to sin, dare i say people love to sin, in fact we know that sin is woven into the fibre of our beings. I know I should not enjoy sin but I can honestly say there are few instances of sin in my life that I was dragged kicking and screaming into sin against my will.

You’re not a Christian if you don’t love other people…hmmm…this one bothers me too. Look – I try to love other people and I think I do a pretty good job most times. But I confess there are some people that I find tough to love. Heck sometimes I struggle to love myself. So when I read this chapter title it makes me wonder again of the book should have been titled You’re Not a Christian if You’re Not Jesus.

At any rate there’s my observational rant. Stay tuned for the book review. I may even email the author and ask for some feedback…his bio makes me think he’s a nice guy really and not out to scare the pants off Christians (or the salvation into them).