Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz-Weber {Book review}
I wonder if Ann Voskamp and Nadia Bolz-Weber have ever met.
Because they meet in my world. I wonder if their two books fight it out each night on my nightstand.
Reading Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts at the same time as Bolz-Weber’s Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People is tricky. One is a homeschooling, pig farming mom with six kids in Canada. The other is a Lutheran pastor who ministers to drug addicts and prostitutes in Denver. One writes with flowery, poetic words, and the other is as raw as a sailor.
But I think they would be friends in real life.
Because they both preach the same message: Believe that God is good and that you are loved. They’ve seen it, experienced it, and now share it with others.
I finished both books last week. One Thousand Gifts was a re-read for a group study I’m participating in. But Accidental Saints was new to me (although Bolz-Weber is not—she also authored Pastrix).
Accidental Saints is a mix of contemporary stories and Bible stories to help us see that we’re all more alike than we are different, a mix of good and bad, but a beautiful family in God nonetheless.
God uses all of his adopted children. We are all broken. All lame. Like the name of the church Nadia pastors, we all belong to the House for All Sinners and Saints.
“In the kingdom of God, we need not cultivate a persona to hide the lame, poor, blind, or crippled parts of us. The unflattering photos. The parts that have nothing to offer, that must rely on others for help.
In other words, the uncool parts of us are exactly what Jesus invites to sit and eat around his table.”
So Bolz-Weber doesn’t clean things up to show us only her good side. While I might prefer more editing on her word choices, they don’t deter me from her truths. She may not look or sound like our preachers, but she’s able to reach and love people that we can’t reach, with our untatted arms and our proper dialects.
“Never once did Jesus scan the room for the best example of holy living and send that person out to tell others about him. He always sent stumblers and sinners. I find that comforting.”
For those who say, Why, I never! about Bolz-Weber, I say others say that about us, too, for different reasons. We just tune it out. Whoever feels holy enough to cast the first stone, go ahead. But I don’t.
“Wanting to get at this idea that God meets us first under the oak tree, when our feet are dirty, not just after we have managed to clean them up, House for All Sinners and Saints has the practice of both foot washing and bleach kit assembly on Maundy Thursday. We sing ‘Take, O, Take Me As I Am’ as we assemble bleach, tourniquets, and condoms into kits for outreach workers, through an underground needle exchange program, to hand to IV drug users on the streets of Denver. This is not a quaint ‘service project.’ It is a radical statement that we believe in grace.”
I love hearing about the good that God is doing through Bolz-Weber and the people she pastors. They take their faith seriously.
And they take it outside their walls to where pain is and where healing is needed and where many “church people” are afraid to go.
“We were continuing a practice started on our first Good Friday together where, after the liturgy, we gather together at a site where an act of brutal violence had taken place in our city and there we pray and lay down tulips, tulips that had been handed to those entering our Good Friday liturgy a couple of hours earlier. …We bring the holy things of the church onto the holy streets of the city because on some level, the violence and despair of Good Friday is still a human reality.”
As she states over and over in her book, she doesn’t do love perfectly. Who does? But to seek to do it with intention and with grace is admirable.
“It’s my practice to welcome new people to the church by making sure they know that House for all Sinners and Saints will, at some point, let them down. That I will say or do something stupid and disappoint them. And then I encourage them to decide before that happens if they will stick around after it happens. If they leave, I tell them, they will miss the way that God’s grace comes in and fills in the cracks left behind by our brokenness. And that’s too beautiful to miss.”
Like Ann in her poetic writings, Nadia shows us in her blunt writings that if God can work through her weaknesses, let him work through ours, too. In all things, let’s thank him for what he’s doing.
“Then we become something that can bear light, the brightness of which is not diminished, even when divided and borrowed.”
* * *
Have you ever met an “accidental saint,” someone you least expected to see Christ in? Haven’t we all been that person? Please share in the comments.
My thanks to Blogging for Books
for the review copy of Accidental Saints
- Who are you avoiding?
- When our love isn’t enough
Ah, we’re both writing about reading at the same time.
And Ann Voskamp is present in both posts.
No coincidence, I think …
;-}
Our reading lists are matching at several points this month, Linda. I’m not surprised. Can’t wait to start Brene Brown’s book this weekend!
These two different ladies are what I think is so beautiful about the body of Christ – each can be used by the Master – just as they are, to minister to different people. Some might not be touched by Ann’s ministry but they would respond to Nadia’s, and vice versa. It takes everyone sharing the light we’ve received from our Lord to touch the world.
Love it!
Exactly–great point, Jerralea. God created each of us unique for a purpose, and we honor him most when we use our uniqueness instead of trying to blend in with everyone else. Thanks!
Hi Lisa! I think there are so many authors and books because we are all so different in style. And one is going to connect over another. How fun that you are enjoying two such different approaches to the same message. The love of God.
And that’s how it is with us too. We all meet God’s love right where we are. In Canada, or Denver, or wherever we are. Our encounters are all valid and all beautiful!
Blessings,
Ceil
“Our encounters are all valid and all beautiful!” Yes, Ceil. That sums it up nicely!
Great post. The old church adage hit me as I read this; “Different bait for different fish.” I think it’s amazing how God uses folks where they are to reach the people as they are.
I’ve also found in life that the folks that seem the most put together are usually the farther away than those that look like something from a movie.
Great comparison, analogy, and lesson.
I haven’t heard that saying, but it’s very applicable. We each were probably drawn to Christ in different ways, that appealed to our own situations and personalities. Same God, same family, but different individuals. I love the diversity. Thanks, Floyd.
Lisa – I really love this book review – love the two book contrasts – can’t wait to read “Accidental Saints” – thanks for your post! Visiting from Holley’s. Blessings!
I hope you like it too, Sandra. Nadia tells very real stories that cut to the core. Challenging but encouraging.
I often say that my soul needs Anne Lamott and Ann Voskamp! In the same way, the church needs room for both Beth Moore and Nadia Bolz-Weber.
Anne Lamott is another of my favorites too, Melissa. I’m SO grateful we live in an age where we have such easy access to all kinds of voices. It helps expand my faith to read from a variety of views, not just my own. Hope you and your family are well!
Boy! Talk about two very different authors-at least in style. I’ve very slowly reading my way through Ann’s book. I read a little before bed each night. I find I have to in order to understand and contemplate what she is saying.
But I love authors that are raw in their writing. I’d probably gobble up Nadia’s book. I’ll be adding hers to my book list!
Yes, definitely very different authors and styles. I love both, but Nadia’s book does go MUCH quicker. 😉 I have to go very slowly with Ann’s writings too. We just finished week 5 of her DVD series, and she speaks in the series just like she writes. It’s sometimes hard to comprehend when I can’t rewind and slow her down. ha.
WOW…now I HAVE to read this book by Bolz-Weber! Somehow I feel it is going to be convicting because you have left us questions to answer in your post, Lisa, that are also convicting. Thank you for your openness. xo
It’s a very convicting book. (Just be forewarned there’s lot of language.) I love Nadia’s heart to do the hard things that the Lord wants her to do, even when she’d rather not do it.
“Never once did Jesus scan the room for the best example of holy living and send that person out to tell others about him. He always sent stumblers and sinners. I find that comforting.”
I love this truth!
I love this truth, too, Kristen! We don’t have to put on masks for Jesus; he chooses us to love us and use us just as we are.
I have to admit, Nadia’s ministry and methods are challenging for me. But to judge them would be the way of the Pharisee. I believe we are all given unique gifts, and a unique call to service. It is not for me to judge hers. I appreciate you so much, Lisa! You’re always pushing me outside the box 😉
I appreciate your non-judgmental attitude, June! We all have things we can learn from each other when we look for the good instead of pinpointing the bad.
I have never heard of her, but that book sounds eye opening. We sit there so smug (even when we don’t think we are) and judge others. Or we let other people minister when it should be us. Thanks for the recommendation!
I know, Sarah–it’s easier to be smug and judge than it is to get our hands dirty and serve. 🙁
Couldn’t help bring startled at the sharp contrast between your lovely review and this one http://challies.com/book-reviews/accidental-saints
which adds a discerning dimension worth considering.
Thanks for adding that link here, Linds. It is always worth considering all sides of an issue. I had read that same review before I ever read the book, so I was aware of it. I do appreciate and respect Tim’s opinion (I’m a faithful reader of his blog), but I disagree with him about Nadia Bolz-Weber. I’m thankful neither one of us has the job of judging her because we can’t read her heart; only God can. We can only see her fruit, which includes bringing a lot of people to the cross of Jesus.