I hate John Eldredge

... but not for the reasons you might think.

Yeah, yeah, I've heard all the "he's a New Age, heretical, movie addicted, eco-freak who takes way too many vacations" diatribe (ok, that last one was mine... but he DOES seem to be canoe-ing down the Yukon or hiking the Grand Tetons an awful lot. Who takes this many trips, seriously? Of course, I am just jealous, I'll admit... but I digress...).

No, the reason I hate him isn't because I think he's some kind of some charismatic cultish, swashbuckling He-Pollyana, making the Gospel seem better than it actually is (which he has been accused of doing). It's not because he equates virtually every aspect of life to some scene out of Lord of the Rings (which he pretty much does)... or even that he actually likes the movie Titanic (which is grounds for revilement in and of itself).

None of these things are legitimate reasons to hate John Eldredge. In fact, except for his obsession with Lord of the Rings, I think he is right on. In the Biblical sense, even. He understands, and is desparately trying to convey to anyone with ears to hear, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ really IS good news, and that there is more to the Christian life than perfecting the science of "sin management". He gets it. He refuses to live in the malaise that much of the church is content to languish in, and call that "holiness". He dares to believe that Jesus really meant it when he said that He came that we might have abundant life. He REALLY believes that.

He has pushed me out of my comfy little stupor... confirmed things to me that somewhere, way back in the recesses of my mind I always thought were so, but never heard anyone else articulate... challenged me to get out of my complacent little comfort zone. He has forced me to face myself... and know that, whether or not I ever do step out and take the risk to find this abundant life in Christ, I can never go back to the way things were. I will never be the same.

And that's why I hate him.

Darn that John Eldredge, anyway.