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June 1, 2010

Jason Boyett’s 'O Me of Little Faith'

The Pocket Guide writer uses doubt for a specific purpose: to deepen faith in God.

Sarah Raymond Cunningham, guest blogger

 

O Me of Little Faith: True Confessions of a Spiritual Weakling (Zondervan) is the story of Jason Boyett and — probably — of just about everyone who has pursued faith in the midst of uncertainty.

 

Boyett, a writer, speaker, and marketing professional, has dotted the Christian literary landscape with his Pocket Guide series, which are like CliffsNotes for big topics like “the afterlife” and “sainthood.” Boyett’s work has also appeared in Salon, Paste, and Relevant Magazine among others.

 

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Unlike Boyett’s previous work, which provides informational overviews, O Me of Little Faith is a foray into Boyett’s personal life. The story begins with Jason voluntarily taking off his “happy Christian mask” and admitting that he sometimes wonders “if maybe, just maybe we’ve made the whole [faith in God] thing up.” Jason hopes this confession will help doubting readers identify with him and join him in allowing their doubts to fuel their search for God rather than to abandon faith.

 

He includes refreshingly human stories, stripped of excessive spiritual gloss, about his five-foot, 70-pound framed high-school self struggling to hoist a bench press bar in the weight room. He uses the metaphor of a stack of turtles for the presuppositions on which faith rests. There are even some accounts of him trying to but never actually speaking in tongues.

 

All of the real-life anecdotes give Boyett a little more credibility, nurturing a familiarity with readers, so that he can delve into religious terms that don’t easily slide off the tongue. He does a good job offering intellectual ideas in bite-size summaries, dropping weighty terms like “ontological argument” and “anthropic argument” before getting back to down-to-earth layman’s metaphors like reverse brick laying (dismantling the wall we build between God and ourselves).

 

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Throughout the book, Boyett offers an understanding ear for those who doubt, affirming that hiding questions disservices the seeker. He also offers hope for the rocky moments of faith, noting that doubts don’t have to paralyze spiritual growth, but that doubt is an intrinsic part of having faith. The two coexist; they work together.

 

O Me of Little Faith does not feed readers relativism or a celebration of doubt for doubt’s sake. Boyett insists that we use doubt for a purpose: to seek deeper faith. In fact, he doesn’t let his readers bask in doubt at all. He insists they try the kind of definitive action that has worked in his own life. Go and serve, he advocates. Adopt Jesus’ teachings. Do it even if sometimes—as you follow—you get ahead of your ability to believe in the value of every last thing you’re doing. Faith isn’t just intellectual assent to a set of propositions, Boyett insists. It is also something we do (James 2).

 

Sarah Raymond Cunningham is a wife, mother, and the author of the memoir Picking Dandelions: a Search for Eden Among Life’s Weeds (Zondervan, 2010). She blogs at SarahCunningham.org.

 

Boyett's blog recently moved to Beliefnet. O Me of Little Faith: True Confessions of a Spiritual Weakling is available from ChristianBook.com and other book retailers.

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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey on June 1, 2010 9:32 AM

Comments

A nice review! I'm curious about the statement that "faith is also something we do." The intellectual assent has to play itself out somehow, and if not in deeds, maybe in an actual shift in mindset, perception, and attitude. I'm doing this project, "Live with Flair" http://www.livewithflair.blogspot.com/ that attempts to find God everyday in the mundane. It's a massive revolution of my faith. It's a daily faith choice to see where God works. A change in attitude and perception is also a form of "doing." It's the most full of faith I've felt in years. I'm not serving in the traditional sense, but I'm thinking and writing my faith. Thanks for the review!

Posted By: Heather | June 2, 2010 5:04 PM

Sometimes I wonder if we made the whole God thing up.

Posted By: K. | June 4, 2010 4:45 PM

Im not sure where to put this query.
I was raised in a Christian/religous family but never knew right from wrong and my life got in a bad mess by the time I was 40. I had a vision of Jesus and that started me on the right road as I realise that I had to keep the 10 commandments of morality etc. Then I began to find out about praying and believing in a Loving God and the Holy Spirit.
Is the Church for people like me who were nevr taught by their parents ? Because most people manage in life without going to Church but they know rught from wrong and probaly believe in God and pray to Jesus.

Posted By: janet sparrow | June 9, 2010 12:22 AM

To Janet Sparrow: The church is for people like you who were never taught right from wrong by their parents. In fact, it is for everyone who believes in Jesus or who is curious about Him. I pray you will find a congregation you can become a part of.

Posted By: Lisa W | June 11, 2010 12:13 PM

What is the general postion for the Church regarding tattoos?

Posted By: Christina | March 23, 2011 8:50 PM

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