Jesus Died for This?: A Satirist's Search for the Risen Christ

by Becky Garrison

Who is Jesus, really, and what’s he up to these days?Becky Garrison invites you to laugh and ponder in her self-proclaimed “travelogue of a religious satirist’s search for the risen Christ.” These days, it seems, Jesus doesn’t always show up where we expect to find him. In a series of provocatively titled essay-like chapters, Garrison offers snapshots that take you from her evangelical press trip to the Promised Land in January, 2007, to the Presidential Promised Land, a.k.a. the 2008 elections. You will be treated to thoughtful, well-placed jabs at the shallow, self-reflective, self-righteous finger-pointing of those modern Christians who bend Heaven and theology to make Jesus into someone just like them. Along the way, Garrison captures glimpses of God as she spots both ordinary radicals operating below the spiritual radar and those extraordinary individuals who actually walk the walk. At the crux of this sojourn is thoughtful and articulate consideration of how we “lost” Jesus in the first place, and why we might want to stand face to face with him if we’re going to truly model ourselves after him. Garrison suggests that real spiritual discernment involves looking Jesus up rather than serving him up.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2010

About the author

Since my upside down birth, I've always viewed life from a singular perspective. "Becky only you would think that way" is a common statement made by friends and relatives alike. My quest to explore my creative spirit took me to Wake Forest University where I received a BA in Theatre Arts. Later, I enrolled at Yale/Columbia universities where I received a dual MSW/MDiv degree, where I began to take my childhood ramblings as a writer seriously. .

While I wrote my first play, an anti-Nixon rant at the age of 9, I did not call myself a "writer" until I sold my first article in 1994 to the Wittenburg Door, the nation's largest, oldest and only religious satire magazine. I continued to write for this outlet until they closed shop in 2008, rising to the position of Senior Contributing Editor.

My most recent book Roger Williams’ Little Book of Virtues will be published by Wipf & Stock. This is a part-memoir, part historical account that speaks to those concerned a politicized form of US based Christianity that enforces its will via governmental intervention. In particular, what can contemporary seekers like me learn from my ancestor’s life and ministry as this pioneer of religious liberty left the institutionalized church but continued his quest for truth and justice for all?

My other six books include Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church (Jossey Bass, PW starred review), as well as contributing essays to a dozen other books and co-editing a book for a small transgender press. Also, for twelve years I served as the Senior Contributing Editor for The Wittenburg Door, the nation's oldest, largest and only religious satire magazine. Additional writing credits include 52 Perfect Days, American Atheist magazine, Epicure & Culture, GrokNation, The Guardian belief section, Hub Pages, The Humanist, The Kind, Northwest Travel & Life, The Revealer, Perceptive Travel, Travelhoppers, Advocate.com, Magnetic Magazine, On Faith blog, and Oregon Coast.

Reviews

[Michael Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

Becky Garrison is a satirist. I know this because she helpfully informed me of this fact on nearly every page. This was very wise of her, because I never would have known if she hadn’t told me. The title, cover, and introductory set up for the book all screamed “this is going to be a satirical skewering of kitschy, consumer Christianity.” But Garrison, who (I am reliably informed) happens to be a satirist, seemed to have forgotten to write that book and instead wrote a borderline narcissistic travelogue. Ironically, instead of satirically laying waste to the consumer folly of modern Christianity (because she is a satirist after all), she serves up a heaping helping of experiential consumerism. She dabbles in numerous trendy Christian spiritualities and attends an endless variety of conferences, soaking in the latest offerings from the cutting-edge, ecumenical, evangelical, emerging church gurus. She picks and chooses from the churchly smorgasbord those elements that appeal to her or make her feel spiritually enlarged. She has consumed religion and written a book length restaurant review of her experiences. I wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t because it wasted its great potential.

[KHoopMan · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I graduated from college, they invited an alumni to speak to my class about her amazing accomplishments as a Rhodes Scholar. She spoke for an hour and a half (seriously- 90 minutes!!) about how great she is, how she doesn't let it go to her head, and how she even communicates with ordinary people every once in awhile. It was unbelievable how far her head was shoved up her own ass. I was flooded with this memory while reading this book. Every chance the author gets, she reminds you that she is a satirist. It starts to become annoying, because she never actually gets around to writing anything satirical. She's just so pleased with that title: "Satirist." And I had such high hopes for this one.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeking the Risen Christ

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve... 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.

"...take a good look at Jesus' crew!" Jesus' people still includes even those of us who don't fit, never have really belonged anywhere and probably never will qualify as conventionally religious, never will be recognized as church guys, church ladies, potluck princesses, bulletin board superintendents (etc.), yet when she started looking, Becky Garrison kept seeing "everyday saints" (like all of us Jesus has claimed, forgiven and freed), the literal embodiment of the crucified and risen Christ all over the place.

The book begins with a basic stroll through a few selective Holy Land sites - both authentic and spurious - noting along her way the parallel presence of kitschy, tawdry places that might be able to rake in an occasional shekel from an occasional tourist with no taste. So far so good; her energy level and what she observes both seem similar to mine, so I enjoy it the way I'd appreciate going there with a friend. Later she sojourns some in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and then visits some spot in the USA.

A few dozen pages into the book, and how about spiritual swag? Americana Christianity? From "the newest shiny theological toy" to Sing-along Savior and Contextual Christ, through Postmodern Pal and Money Messiah, Becky has a hunch "...Jesus of Nazareth doesn't exactly like 'doing lunch' with his classier counterpart Commercial Christ."

About that "spiritual home" (but Christianity is incarnational and enfleshed, yet I do get what Becky is saying), like Becky many of us need to ask:

* What am I looking for?
* How will I respond if my questions change?
* Am I ready to be surprised by the answers?

Becky cites alternative worship that carries everyday artifacts and technologies into sacred spaces as something seriously to consider, since it reflects ways Jesus lived immersed in local culture yet constantly challenged it in word and action. A few pages later, "Casino Style Christianity" is another apt description of branded varieties such as Emergent Church(tm), New Monasticism®, Organic Church© exactly like any place on the strip, different storefronts yet pretty much similar insides. I fully resonate with her telling us casino glitz obscures the Nevada's beauty and Becky suggests some of the newer expressions of the church can obscure God's voice. For sure this book is not comprehensive, but how about theological and confessional labels worn by mainline denominations--not to mention the history and events they hold dear and attempt to keep unsullied? Martin Luther as our ancestor? Aldersgate as the place of our spiritual birth?

The quest for the Risen Christ! Why do we seek the Risen Christ and why do we seek the living among the dead?

As Becky describes her dad's activist brand of Christianity [page 151], this is part of the "why" of the search for the Risen Christ: "Without the power of the risen Christ, Dad's civil rights activism that drew him to seek the [Episcopal] priesthood was reduced to Sesame Street sing-alongs. When peaceful progressives downplay the life-transforming power of the resurrection, they reduce the words of 'social justice' Jesus to just another prophetic voice calling people to repent."

At the end of the book there's a helpful chapter-by-chapter "For Further Reading ... Reflection ... Respite" with references, books and websites.

These are a few of my very positive impressions of Jesus Died for This? A Satirist's Search for the Risen Christ; I've done my best to say something about ways I found it helpful. Becky Garrison writes in a low-key conversational manner that's easy to read and understand, and nothing about it would be off-putting to the more formally theologically educated among us, yet almost anyone seeking to learn how another person's journey might parallel and help them sort through their own and point them in useful directions where they might meet the Risen One and be the Risen Christ for others could enjoy reading and re-reading this book.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this since the back of the book seemed like it would be an amusing collection of essays by a self proclaimed religious satirist. Sadly it is not as it appeared. Occasionally she has a funny insight but most of the time it's more of a dulled down discussion of a born again Christian trying to find a church with discussions of her crappy childhood. Haven't decided if I'll finish it yet.

UPDATE: Having finished this, I still didn't like it. Still not sure why I bothered to finish it.

[Theresa M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just not as funny as I had hoped it would be, seeing as it was written by a religious satirist. But she spent more time talking about being a religious satirist than actually satirizing anything about religion.

[Jeff Garrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jesus Died for This is the combination of a religious travelogue and a personal essay. Garrison’s quest begins with a “spiritual safaris†to the Holy Lands, a “safe and sanitized expedition†that allows her to “see the preapproved holy sites without getting all devotionally dirty.†(24) Of course, half of God’s children in the region, the Palestinians, are off-limits, but otherwise, there was much to see and mock. It appears kitsch is alive and well in the Holy Lands. On the Mount of Olives, she learns that faithful pilgrims can rent a life-size cross and retrace Jesus’ steps without the same consequences. There are even wheeled crosses for those lacking stamina, an accommodation not provided by the Romans. (26) From the Holy Lands, she travels to a Book Seller Convention in America, to the British Isles for Greenbelt (think Woodstock) and around the British Isles, back to the Holy Lands where she her travels shadow that of then Secretary of State Condi Rice (and on this trip she does meet with some Palestinians), and then she travels back around the United States.

As Garrison travels and reports on the faithful and absurd (which too often seems to go hand-in-hand) she ponders her own upbringing. Garrison’s father was an idealistic Episcopal priest and professor who crashed and burned. Both of her parents were dead by her seventeenth birthday, plunging her into a “dark-night-of-the-soul.†(52) Such a background certainly colors her view of the world and also provides much to reflect upon. Although her father’s excesses were many and destructive, she also saw glimpses of good in his work. In most everyplace she travels, she sees both the good and the bad and her critique is not spared on the conservative and liberal, the fundamentalist and the mainline, the charismatic and the emergent. As a good satirist, Garrison cares for the church and for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is constantly calling for those who follow him to live up to his standard and not a standard that we force onto Jesus. During her travels, Garrison notes that
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“select Christians have appointed Jesus Christ to the rank of a four-star general in the “War on Terror.†Meanwhile, some progressives depict Jesus of Nazareth as the ultimate social justice warrior, as though they’ve reduced the crucifixion to nothing more than a really bad day at the activist office. Then you have the armchair insurrections decked out in faux Che Guevara gear who deconstruct and then deny the resurrection, a war of words that may exercise the mind but fails to feed the soul. All this cherry-picking through the gospel leaves us with a Christ that tastes good but in the end is less filling.†(137)

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Garrison does realize that the pen can be dangerous and destructive. “Righteous anger, which is one of the best weapons in the satirist’s arsenal, can eat me alive if I’m not careful,†she writes. “Jesus must look at some of my moves and shake his head.†(136-7) Although a satirist, Garrison seems to hold back some punches out of respect for the church and certainly for the church’s Savior. As Mark Twain did in Innocents Abroad, in which Twain traveled through the Holy Lands, Garrison pokes at that which fails to live up to Jesus’ ideal, but never pokes at Jesus himself. Instead, she finds comfort in the mystery of Jesus’ resurrection, the hope in which all Christians share. I agree with her assessment that she makes early in the book as to the 21st Century’s greatest challenge, “finding ways to communicate theological change without becoming yet another crass Christian marketing machine.†(42) Of course, if we can find a way to communicate Christ in such a manner, there would be no need of satirists and Ms. Garrison may have to find another arena to satire. However, I don’t think her pen is in danger of being retired.

Ironically, I found myself reading this book while in Las Vegas for a wedding. Vegas was another city Garrison visited during her travels. Sitting by the pool at the Monte Carlo, I nodded in agreement when Garrison writes about the “majestic mountains surrounding Sin City [being] obliterated by massive man-made monstrosities.†I had already decided the city needed a sweep by the INS when I read her description of “the throngs of illegal aliens hawking flyers promising the ultimate sexual partner.†I agreed with her assessment that “The Strip†blocks Nevada’s natural beauty. (111-112). Yes, there was much in this book that I found myself agreeing, but maybe that is because we’re both an ENTJs on the Myers-Briggs scale. (101)

I recommend this book to the faithful who need to be reminded of what’s essential in our faith: Jesus Christ. I also recommend this book to the skeptical, who may see through Garrison’s insights that not all Christians buy into Joel Osteen’s slickness or the rapture-ready hype of the LaHaye dispensationists. And I recommend the book for anyone in need of a laugh, but warn you that there are also some sad parts.

To meet the full disclosure requirments the FCC may have imposed on bloggers, I admit I was given a copy of this book to review, but received no other compensation (not that I would be opposed to that, if it could be arranged). I also note that, to my knowledge, I'm not related to the author.

[Ali Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn't. As other reviewers have mentioned, Garrison makes sure to remind you that she's a religious satirist at least once on every chapter. There were maybe a handful of deep, thought-provoking lines scattered throughout the book, but for the most part it just seemed like she was rambling about her life a good bit.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love satire. Given this book's subtitle, I expected more...satire. Read more like a daily journal than anything else. A few good lines and thoughts here and there, but felt like it was written for the author, not an audience.

[Aaron Loy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book with high hopes. The title was thought-provoking and sounded like it was going to be right up my alley: a book challenging the status quo of the Church and asking difficult questions about how it has turned into what we see today. Unfortunately... that ISN'T this book.

"Jesus Died for This?: A Satirist's Search for the Risen Christ" is a great example of something that over-promises and under-delivers. Becky Garrison may TECHNICALLY be an author of satire, but this book reads more like a blog rant rather than traditional satire. Throughout her travels, Garrison chronicles different events through the use of her idiosyncratic inner-monologue instead of with thought-provoking commentary. This is exacerbated by the fact that she comes across as a liberal, opinionated feminist which will be very polarizing to the average reader unless of course they see eye to eye with her. To her credit, however, I did appreciated the rare introspection on her own opinions from time to time. Overall, the simplest way I can sum up the shortcomings of this book is as follows: the narrative has no real beginning, middle, or end, which leads the reader to ask themselves, "did this book need to be written in the first place?"

Favorite Passage:

"...while we're supposed to be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), if we lose touch with the Scriptures, then we get so salty all we can do is float."

[writer...]

Becky invites,
*As part of the launch for my new book "Jesus Died for This?" (Zondervan, August 2010), I am launching a podcast featuring a number of voices who are featured in this book. This includes a number of US and UK Anglican voices that I thought might be of interest to some in Anglimergent. If you're interested, here's the link.*

http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/jesus...

jonny baker says,
"she does a good job it seems of sniffing out where people are seeking out creative and authentic ways to follow in the way of christ. she is one of many pilgrims who have found friendship in the emerging communities in the uk and grenbelt festival to take back as inspiration.

to accompany the book becky has been interviewing people and uploading movies and podcasts where she asks people to respond to the idea of what jesus died for - the video stream is here (the answer i wish i had given is spencer burke's where he suggests we should be asking what jesus lived for! i give something a lot more earnest) | the podcast stream is here (becky throws me a googlie question - what do i say to people who say that the mainline denominations are dead - the new is where it is at!?). the quality of some of the interviews is rough and ready but that's part of its charm..."

[Tim Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Becky Garrison writes from the heart. she 'calls it like she sees it.' this is a book that is raw. i appreciated the tone that Garrison writes in. I connected with her sarcastic/satirical musings - as i, often feel the way she writes... only she is bold enough to lay it all out there - exposed... for all to see and read.

her musings on the current state of the 'church' (and all of the baggage that comes with that) are poignant and amusing. i appreciated that despite her skeptic bent, she attempted to be fair - acknowledging when God was active and present - even if in ways that she either didn't connect with or fully grasp.

Jesus Died For This is an honest book. we don't seem to get many people speaking as candid as she - so kudos to her for that!

it's an enjoyable read... worth my time... and yours.

the church is screwed up. most church's within empire building nations are probably missing the point (perhaps not intentionally) but Garrison brings to light some groups and communities that truly are uniquely 'church'... communities doing all that they can to BE Christ - with no conditions.

[Rod Horncastle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book makes me feel awful for the state of modern Christianity. Her quest gave me the impression that she's surrounded by desperate needy people attempting to get their quota of bagged souls. This isn't totally accurate but impressions often aren't.
I hope her writings help and encourage someone. Even though I partially relate to her passions: the book left me frustrated.

I used to enjoy pop culture. Now I see it for what it always was: empty consumerism that only gives up a few chuckles. This book reminds me that Christianity has its own pop culture - and its embarrassing us all.

But now i'm off to find her other writings. I can use a laugh.

[Marco Ambriz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny bedtime or coffee table satire for Christians who are ok with laughing at ourselves. I found it very humorous having grown up in some of the slices of christianity that Garrison pokes fun at. I think the readers would need to have been immersed in significant Christian-Subculture (like I was) to get the most out of this book. I also found a few moments that challenged me missionally as a Christian who seeks to love God, love others and do justice. That's always powerful! Well done, Becky!