A Method to My Madness

Writer's Notebook (continued)

“Jesus Christ.”

Christianity is too familiar to Westerners. The above quote is common among English speakers. The meaning, however, depends entirely on context. First, it can refer to the person who lived in the first century. Second, when used in songs of worship, it expresses love and commitment. Finally, though few dare criticize Jesus himself, another all-too-common usage of this phrase is as an expression of frustration.

Other well-known religious figures are not used in this trinity of meaning. No one uses “Muhammad” or “Buddha” to express frustration. No one says “Joseph Smith!” or “Sun Myung Moon!” or even “L. Ron Hubbard!” And though Moses has been used in a similar way in the past he has never been worshipped as Jesus has. Whether speaking English or another of the 7,170 languages around the world, these two words name a man who lived thousands of years ago and yet is, arguably, the most famous person who has ever lived.

Yet, after more than 20 years as a pastor in Los Angeles, I discovered a problem. Many people cannot see the real Jesus clearly.

Dan finally came to the church I pastored after years of knowing him. I saw him tear up as we worshipped. I was excited as he made a point to greet me as he left the church. But he said, “The service was wonderful! Thank you. But I need to tell you that I won’t be coming back. I’m just not a church-kind-of-guy.”

This was only one example of what I experienced again and again. So many English speakers demonstrate this confusion:

• We refuse to disrespect Jesus as a person.

• At the same time, we have the habit of using his name in anger and frustration.

• While being unwilling to consider Jesus for who he said he was.

And to make things even stranger, the church often adds to our confusion.

I know many who’ve been hurt by the church. I know others who, despite having spent significant time in church, never really grasped what following Christ is really about. I have known others, like Dan, who see participation in Christianity as something for certain personality types. Something about the way we do church is a barrier to many people giving honest consideration to following Christ.

It isn’t because people aren’t familiar with the church. After all, in the year 2000, 84% of the United States population self-identified as Christian. But that number has been in decline since the early 1960s. In 2026, only 65% consider themselves followers of Christ.

I have spent years working on the renewal and redevelopment of many congregations many states. I have studied works of apologetics, theology, and philosophy. I have attended conferences and tried out numerous fresh approaches to teaching the faith. They all aimed, in one way or another, to make the church more palatable to contemporary Westerners. But they haven’t worked. The decline continues.

It was when I came across the title of a book entitled "The Word Made Strange,” that I found my approach. The method of my madness flows from the idea that Christianity is too familiar to us. I need to present Christianity in a way that will again capture the Western imagination. But how?

Pilgrim’s Progress, published in 1678, has sold over 250 million copies worldwide. This Christian allegory¹ has been translated into 200 languages and released in more than 1,300 editions.

The Divine Comedy, an epic narrative poem ² completed in 1321, has been a source of inspiration for artists through almost seven centuries. Franz Liszt was one of many composers to write works based on the Divine Comedy. In sculpture, Auguste Rodin includes themes from Dante. On the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, Timothy Schmalz created a series of 100 sculptures, one for each section of the work. There have also even been references to the Divine Comedy in cinema, television, comics and video games.

I knew I had found my approach when a mentor of mine said she had become a Christian because of C.S. Lewis’s famous work of Christian fiction, The Narnia Chronicles. As a child, she read all seven volumes of the series, written between 1950 and 1956, and the seeds of the faith were planted in her imagination and in her heart. To date, Lewis’s books have sold over 120 million copies. Three of his books have become Disney films.

I am excited to “make the word strange” by writing a work of historical fiction. It will chronicle the experience of a young pastor who flies into Los Angeles with hope and ambition. But based largely on my experience, the main character finds that following Jesus is different from what he expected. Join me in praying that I can write this story in a way that stirs the imagination of many in the West to reconsider Jesus. My prayer is that they would find the incredible riches I have experienced by walking with Jesus throughout my entire life.

1. A fictional story in which characters, events, and details symbolize deeper moral or spiritual meanings, often linked to religious themes.

2. A long narrative poem in which a heroic protagonist engages in an action of great mythic or historical significance.