Ann Voscamp

I haven’t read One Thousand Gifts, but many friends of mine rave about it. It’s not my kind of reading, so I rely on reviews for information about stuff like this.

I recommend Tim Challies’ review: hereMod: Made link clickable (Jim P)

Susan:

I read the review and was repelled by it. I was, however, struck by this remark by a blog reader in the “comments” section:

We are so concerned with correct doctrine ~ which is crucial, to be sure ~ that when anything smacks of emotion or, heaven forbid, actual experience we are immediately suspicious. May I suggest that emotion and experience are acceptable, and even anointed, so long as they accord with Scripture?

This remark cut me deep. I clearly think this book is over the line, for reasons made clear in the review. However, there is a line between gracious tolerance and hyper-critical nit-picking. I have been wondering lately, to be very honest, whether I’m too hyper critical. This is going to be a bit of a rabbit trail, but here goes …

Our church had a missionary in last night. He was a nice, middle aged man with a lovely family. He is on deputation. He preached a sermon full of passion and vigor, encouraging people to be willing to serve the Lord and go where He leads. I couldn’t stand the sermon. He said a lot of good things, but he destroyed the text he was speaking from. It made me angry. Doesn’t the text mean something? Is it right to be upset that a man preached a Biblical message but grossly misrepresented the text of Scripture? He should have chosen another passage; one that spoke to what he was talking about. I also thought he was a borderline charismatic.

Nobody else noticed. They said “Amen!” They loved it. As I sat there, watching so many people at the alter, I wondered if there was something wrong with me. Have some of us become so critical that we can’t be gracious anymore?

This is a battle I suppose we all have to fight internally.

Anyway, this book does seem odd. The reviewer noted that the author related an almost sexual experience as she grew closer to God. This is similar to the “crisis experience” sanctification I have seen with the Ellerslie cult out of Colorado.

We’ve had discussions at SI before about the role of feelings and emotions in our lives. It is a complicated issue, to say the least.

My girlfriends LOVE the book One Thousand Gifts, and constantly talk about what a blessing it was, and from what they say, this book definitely moved them emotionally, which is not necessarily bad. I can’t say if it moved them spiritually, although one comment I have heard repeated about the book is the concept of learning gratitude. It makes one want to ask “How can that be bad?”. But we know that the ends doesn’t justify the means.

Bottom line for me- when reading books by women, for women, I’m very, very cautious about how much of what I’m reading is warm fuzzies and how much is sound doctrine.

But considering how I’m wired, especially when it comes to books- give me cut-and-dried any day of the week. I’d rather feel confident that the work in my heart and mind is being done by the Holy Spirit and not emotional manipulation.