Ancient Thought Meets the Emergent Church

A Review of Ian Morgan Cron’s Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim’s Tale
I’ve been a bit hesitant to review this book, as I am still very much in the process of digesting it. However, after thinking about it a bit, I decided a review of what the book IS may be in order, even if a review of what it MEANS may be some time in coming. Besides, perhaps if I review it, others of you will be intrigued enough to read it and join me in the interpretation thereof.

The book itself is written in the style of (as the author himself describes it) “wisdom literature”. By this, he means that the story is the authors unabashed attempt to convey a message by way of a long-form parable. This isn’t a case of your eighth grade English teacher exhorting you to “find the meaning” in Mary Poppins or The Grapes of Wrath. In this case, the author will present a problem to the protagonist that he or she believes many readers are encountering as well, and then will lead the protagonist through the proces of discovering the authors suggested solution.

Our protagonist, in this case, is a self styled conservative evangelical that has founded what has become a very “successful” megachurch. We quickly learn that this lead pastor has recently been suffering the early stages of a crises of faith. The senseless death of a young child in his congregation acts as the final straw. Chase Falson, the pastor in question, has the incredible bad timing to not only have his “spiritual meltdown” in the middle of his sermon (the one just after the funeral), but to also express this fact over his microphone. It doesn’t take the elders long to meet and inform him that he will be taking a forced sabbatical to figure out what the deal is. Enter Kenny, Chase’s Baptist-turned-Fransican-monk uncle who lives in Italy. When he calls Kenny on impulse while struggling with what to do next, his uncle’s suggestion to come for a visit to “meet someone” doesn’t sound any crazier than anything else. This sets the stage for the author to convey his belief that the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi has much that it can teach the post modern church. As it turns out, Francis is the “someone” that Kenny wants him to meet. As Chase learns of and follows Francis, so does the reader. There is more plot to the story, but I’ll leave that to the reader to discover. The real meat of the text is the commentary about Francis and the applicability of his teachings today.

Things I liked:
1. Learning about Francis – This was one of the main attractions to this book. I’d heard a few quotes from St. Francis along the way that really appealed to me, and I wanted to know more. What you learn from this book will include a few specific stories from his life, and some of te principles of his teachings.
2. Writing style – This “wisdom literature” style is one that I have enjoyed in a few business titles I’ve read (Death By Meeting (Lencioni) and Leadership and Self Deception (Arbinger Institute) to name a couple) and it really works for me. It makes what could be a dry read much more enjoyable and encourages the author to think about context and applicability of what they are selling.
3. Being challenged – There are parts of the book that absolutely pull NO punches. There was at least one phrase in the book that I never expected to read in Christian literature. If you read the book, you will know it when you see it. I don’t agree with every thing he calls the church to be in there, but there are some things that were very convicting.

Things I didn’t:
1. If you aren’t Emergent, you just aren’t enlightened yet – This part was oddly the worst at the beginning of the book. It came around some at the end though, too. This seems to be one of the primary Kryptonites of this wierd aggregation of folks we label Emergent. While they don’t all agree on what Emergent is, most seem to thing that everyone else just isn’t quite as enlightened as them. I happen to believe there are things to be learned from a lot of different approaches to faith, but NONE of them have a monopoly on truth. “For we all know in part and prophesy in part…”
2. Learning MORE about Francis – I wished I could have heard more about who Francis was. The notes on the book suggested that Chase would follow “in the footsteps of Francis”. Well he does, but he tends to jump around the path a good deal. I guess I expected something a bit more comprehensive in regards to learning about the Saint, but in fairness, that wasn’t really the authors primary objective.
3. Inconsistency on the political thing – This particular comment applies more to the “liberal” side of the church in general, but certainly has applicability to this book as well. One criticism they consistently have is that conservatives in the church integrate the church with their politics to advance a conservative social agenda, all in the name of God. The problem is, folks like the author turn around and advocate using the church as a body to lobby the government for issues like the environment and other things. My problem with all of this is that Christ didn’t call on the government (US or Roman) to feed the poor, save the whales, or clothe the naked. He called on Christians to do these things. Personally. With THEIR money, not TAX money. I have seen no historic evidence that any close alignment between government and Christianity has worked out particularly well for God’s mission for His church. I have no reason to believe this will be more true if the alliance is on the liberal side rather than the conservative. Render unto Ceasar the government of nations. Render unto God the focus of His church.

All things considered, this was a great book for me to read and it was the perfect time for me to read it. It was a bit unsettling to read about St. Francis and his work with the poor while I was on a cruise ship, but that is probably good for me as well. I’ve dogeared numerous pages, some of which I will blog about and others I will patiently wait for someone else to have read the book so I can discuss them. If you want to hear a point of view that blends ideas from the past with ideas from the Emergent perspective, and perhaps find something that you can use in your life, this is probably a worthwhile title for you. I give it a 7 out of 10.