Donald Miller of Blue Like Jazz fame gave the world a baptized version of Jack Kerouac's storyized ramblings. Now, Christian George has given us a more orthodox exploration of life as a Christian in the 21st age in his creatively titled, Sex, Sushi and Salvation.
George is a sharp guy, and clearly a capable theologian. He builds his book on the premise that because humans are made in the image of God, we long for intimacy, community, and eternity. The stories that he tells are always engaging and often illuminating.
George's book functions as a youthful conservative response to a more liberalized Christianity. George registers concerns about "doctrine-resistant" emergent church proponents and others who have fallen sway to post-modern ideologies. George seems to be attempting to take the best story-telling aspects of post-modern adherents and weaving them into a conservative theological framework that is grounded, above all, in an authentic experience of the Living God.
There is much to be gained from this project, and George pulls it off well. Perhaps I am not nearly as in-tune with my generation, but much like Miller's book, I found the disjointed nature of the stories confusing and off-putting. There is some question, I think, whether Miller's style can be baptized effectively, or whether it is itself at odds with a conservative theological position.
Sex, Sushi and Salvation, however, is a compelling attempt, and worth passing along to young people who are intrigued by Miller's style. It is an entertaining and informative read, raises a number of interesting questions, and is a fascinating exposition of the Gospel through a very different lens.
Matthew Lee Anderson
Matthew Lee Anderson is an Associate Professor of Ethics and Theology in Baylor University's Honors College. He has a D.Phil. in Christian Ethics from Oxford University, and is a Perpetual Member of Biola University's Torrey Honors College. In 2005, he founded Mere Orthodoxy.
