What is it like to be a liberally minded, ivy league student in the middle of one of America’s most conservative, evangelical colleges? That is the question Kevin Roose took on in his book “The Unlikely Disciple”. In the book Roose describes his semester attending Liberty University and posing as an evangelical Christian. It is a story of someone from the “outside” invading the right-wing, Fox News watching, purity ring wearing, alcohol abstaining world of Jerry Falwell and the so called “Moral Majority”.
Kevin Roose is not an evangelical, in fact he attends Brown University, which is a liberal, ivy league school, where even talks of Liberty and Falwell bring about cringes and talk of in-toleration. Roose described his expectations of attending Liberty with thoughts of the stereotypical conservative Christian personas. What he found was unexpected.
Roose did find those who were very much against gay marriage and abortion. That much he expected. What he did not expect was to find a community of people who had struggles with faith and with living a life that was pursuing purity and was God honoring. Nor was he expecting to find a community who loved and cared for each other, who shared each others burdens and faced persecution and mocking on the beaches of Daytona as they talked to people about The Gospel.
Kevin Roose is a very talented writer and this book was very compelling and hard to put down. As an evangelical Christian who came from much of the same background as Kevin, minus the ivy league status, I understood a lot of what Kevin was experiencing. The Christian community at times is confusing, it is hard to understand why people would live like they do, struggle like they do, and even face mockers like they do, unless you see what it has as its’ foundation, Jesus Christ. At the end of the book Kevin does not become a Christian, he is not now on tour with Mercy Me, but he is praying, albeit to an unknown god. He did go back and confess his deceiving ways to his dorm-mates, only to find love and forgiveness... hmm they must have some sort of role model who is good at that.
I would recommend this book to Christians and urge the reader to try to put themselves in Kevin’s shoes. It is at times easy to get defensive about some of the things that Kevin writes, but overall this book is not a slam on Christianity at all. Kevin even talks about some of the unease he experienced when being questioned by his lesbian aunts, who were worried about him being brainwashed.
Kevin also shares a side of Jerry Falwell that many who only know him as a bigoted, intolerant man would be shocked at. Kevin actually got one of the last interviews before Falwell’s death. In the interview, Kevin saw a loving, caring and calmer side of Jerry that seemed to shock him and help tear down some stereotyping. That seemed to be the biggest theme throughout the book, tearing down stereotypes.
All in all the book is a great eye opening view of how the world views Christians, especially fundamental, conservative ones. I found myself praying for God to change Kevin’s heart and that Kevin would see that Christianity is not about morals, or intolerance, but about Jesus. About a God who does not demand sacrifices, but became one for us, took our punishment and died as a criminal the way we should have. Sadly I think that was what seemed to be missing most from his experience, a good explanation of some of the depths and beauty of the Gospel.
Below is a video excerpt to help further explain:
What is it like to be a liberally minded, ivy league student in the middle of one of America’s most conservative, evangelical colleges? That is the question Kevin Roose took on in his book “The Unlikely Disciple”. In the book Roose describes his semester attending Liberty University and posing as an evangelical Christian. It is a story of someone from the “outside” invading the right-wing, Fox News watching, purity ring wearing, alcohol abstaining world of Jerry Falwell and the so called “Moral Majority”.
Kevin Roose is not an evangelical, in fact he attends Brown University, which is a liberal, ivy league school, where even talks of Liberty and Falwell bring about cringes and talk of in-toleration. Roose described his expectations of attending Liberty with thoughts of the stereotypical conservative Christian personas. What he found was unexpected.
Roose did find those who were very much against gay marriage and abortion. That much he expected. What he did not expect was to find a community of people who had struggles with faith and with living a life that was pursuing purity and was God honoring. Nor was he expecting to find a community who loved and cared for each other, who shared each others burdens and faced persecution and mocking on the beaches of Daytona as they talked to people about The Gospel.
Kevin Roose is a very talented writer and this book was very compelling and hard to put down. As an evangelical Christian who came from much of the same background as Kevin, minus the ivy league status, I understood a lot of what Kevin was experiencing. The Christian community at times is confusing, it is hard to understand why people would live like they do, struggle like they do, and even face mockers like they do, unless you see what it has as its’ foundation, Jesus Christ. At the end of the book Kevin does not become a Christian, he is not now on tour with Mercy Me, but he is praying, albeit to an unknown god. He did go back and confess his deceiving ways to his dorm-mates, only to find love and forgiveness... hmm they must have some sort of role model who is good at that.
I would recommend this book to Christians and urge the reader to try to put themselves in Kevin’s shoes. It is at times easy to get defensive about some of the things that Kevin writes, but overall this book is not a slam on Christianity at all. Kevin even talks about some of the unease he experienced when being questioned by his lesbian aunts, who were worried about him being brainwashed.
Kevin also shares a side of Jerry Falwell that many who only know him as a bigoted, intolerant man would be shocked at. Kevin actually got one of the last interviews before Falwell’s death. In the interview, Kevin saw a loving, caring and calmer side of Jerry that seemed to shock him and help tear down some stereotyping. That seemed to be the biggest theme throughout the book, tearing down stereotypes.
All in all the book is a great eye opening view of how the world views Christians, especially fundamental, conservative ones. I found myself praying for God to change Kevin’s heart and that Kevin would see that Christianity is not about morals, or intolerance, but about Jesus. About a God who does not demand sacrifices, but became one for us, took our punishment and died as a criminal the way we should have. Sadly I think that was what seemed to be missing most from his experience, a good explanation of some of the depths and beauty of the Gospel.
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Below is a video excerpt to help further explain:
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