As a wildlife biologist, I have a vast collection of field guides in my library, from birds to mammals to the identification of road-killed wildlife. So, you can imagine how excited I was to find out about the new field guide to evangelists that is coming out soon (Hat tip to John at Locusts and Honey).
This book is being put out by Lark News, which is a site that takes a satirical look at Christian issues. I am a fan of satire, because I believe that it is healthy for the church and for Christians and even for us evangelicals to stop and take a look at ourselves and our points of view from a different perspective. What, for us, may be normal behavior may be confusing or simply humorous to those outside our particular persuasian. That is one reason why I was not offended by the short-lived NBC show, "The Book of Daniel," or by the Mandy Moore movie, "Saved."
Satire frees us from dogmatism and keeps the church healthy by forcing us to evaluate what we believe, why we believe it, and how we are portraying it to the world at large. I am reminded by the Apostle Paul's words in Romans 6:19 where he says he put the message of the gospel in "human terms" so that the church in Rome might understand it better. Satire can keep us from hiding behind Christianese and Christian lingo and can keep us speaking in human terms so that others might hear the message of Christ from us in a way they can understand and apply.
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