In the Land of Believers, by Gina Welch

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Whole heartedly and thoroughly - which might seem a bit odd when I tell you about it.

The full title is In the Land of Believers: An Outsider's Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church and it is written by Gina Welch who has also written for such charming (ahem) publications as Playboy. In this book she documents how she decided to "infiltrate" the evangelical church, pretending to become a Christian, "get saved", be baptized and generally experience the Christian life. She even went on a missions trip. Under false pretenses. And yes, if you are a Christian you would want to definitely know whether or not she took communion and you bet she did. (I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that.)

She choose to enter the fellowship of Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia in the fall of 2005. Some of you might also clue in that she was also on the outskirts of the Liberty University, which was initially begun by Falwell. (Falwell passed away during the time Welch was attending the church and so she witnessed death on a grander scale within a Christian community which I thought was interesting.) She came into the fellowship as a self-proclaimed and acknowledged atheist who knew that she would be treated as an outsider if she were to come and simply interview evangelical Christians to try to find out why they believe what they believe. She figured that her best bet was to go undercover in order to attempt to truly understand what makes a self-professing Christian(/society) tick. Her purpose was also political, in a sense, in that she had been raised to dislike and distrust the "radical right wing conservatives." Hers was an honest search, I felt, although there are certainly aspects of it that I heartily disagree with.

Why did I love this book?

I loved it because it's honest and kind. Refreshingly so. Here is an atheist who essentially says, "I don't understand these quacks" and yet wanted to try to understand them and reveal them and their beliefs to others as best as she could. I read the entire book wondering if by exposing herself so thoroughly to Christians and their society would change who she was. It does, but I think it's something of a spoiler if I explain the exact ways how. I liked reading this book just as much as I liked reading Betrand Russell's Why I Am Not A Christian. As much as Welch wanted to understand Christianity, I think it's fascinating to understand "the other side" as well. It's interesting to me to hear the reasons why someone would outright reject the Christian faith, holding it at bay in disbelief - even when they are holding the evidence right in the palm of their hands, which is the case with Welch. She certainly got a front row seat as to what Christianity can be like.

(I also have to say "What it CAN be like" because I didn't particularly agree with all of the theology espoused by Falwell and portrayed in the book.)

Will In the Land of Believers make Christians wince? Yes and no. I think the best thing that this book may have to offer to Christians is the proof that people are watching what you do and are listening to what you say at all times. If you profess faith in Christ then this book is a good reminder to you to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Examine yourself to see if you are dwelling on what is good, pure, holy and of good report. Deal with and submit sin issues to the Lord and repent where repentance is necessary. Ask the Lord to search your heart, know it, and to grant you wisdom to persevere in your Christian walk.

At the same time, I don't think this book should be remotely scary to Christians and I certainly do not feel threatened by the exposé. I'm fascinated by it, as I've said. Welch was extremely fair in her portrayal of all that she saw. I'm not a member of Falwell's church, I'm not Southern Baptist and I've only walked the campus of Liberty University (I had a friend who went there) but I know the Christian community well enough to see the picture that Welch was painting for her readers. I love how she pointed out that Christian terms and terminology frequently did not make sense to her. Phrases like "get saved" and "washed in the blood" simply do NOT make sense to the unbeliever. When you think of it, those phrases can be construed as freakishly weird. I remember a pastor (can't remember who although I believe it was R.C. Sproul) relaying a story of how he was accosted once by a fellow passenger onboard an airplane flight. The co-passenger leaned over to the pastor and asked him forcefully, "ARE YOU BATHED IN THE BLOOD!??!" The pastor simply looked back at the man and said, "I might suggest a different tactic." As Christians, we might laugh at that example but a non-Christian would rightfully raise their eyebrows and think something was seriously askew. The confused curiosity that Welch felt as she navigated Christian waters was sincere and not overstated or exaggerated. She was fair in her assessment of phrases and passages flippantly tossed about by Christians that would make no sense whatsoever to a non-Christian. I appreciated hearing - directly from her - the confusion she felt when people would ask her questions of her (supposed) faith as she was masquerading about as a Christian. An excerpt:

"I still had a hard time holding on to an understanding of these words - a personal relationship with God. As in you and God stay up late talking? As in you and God are secret sharers? I mean, I knew the rhetoric - an intimate relationship with God and a willingness to put Jesus first was the outward manifestation of real Christianity. It was somewhere beyond What Would Jesus Do? and using the Bible as an instruction manual for life. It had to do with perpetual prayer for guidance, with a life in which every single action was a micro-tribute to God. But there was more . . . Christianity wasn't works-oriented. Evangelical language was a language all of its own, where the rhetoric often didn't mean what the words seemed to signify in English. Words were encoded symbols used to describe feelings Evangelicals understood. Sometimes I was able to understand these feelings and crack the code on a turn of a phrase. But not so with the personal relationship with God. With this I scraped and scraped for a direct meaning, but each layer I revealed was just another picture of a picture." (page 236)

Books like these are insightful and helpful to Christians - or, I would think, should be. It's hard for me, in particular, as a life-long Christian to step outside, if you will, and take an honest look inside the church doors. You see, I've always been inside. (A fact for which I am thoroughly grateful, by the way!) I sympathized with Welch in her struggles to understand where I was coming from and yes, I did pray for her as I read through her experiences. I prayed for her understanding and over her life. She had an experience which she testifies has left her a different person. She has been changed. (Not spoiling. If you are a Christian you would find it difficult - if not downright impossible - to believe that someone could immerse themselves so thoroughly among believers and NOT be changed!) I cheered her on. I liked the people she came to like and respected those she wrote about, even if I did not personally agree with them (theologically speaking.) I came to think of her as a friend, someone that I would love to sit and have coffee with or, at least, one that I would certainly want to hear publicly speak of her experiences if she were in my area. And I would seek her out and shake her hand.

I heartily recommend In the Land of Believers. I marked so many passages but there is not enough time or space here to go over each one. I'll keep this one on my bookshelf and will happily re-read it again on down the road.

In the meantime, I'm very happy to say that the publisher, Picador, has offered up a copy of to one of my readers here at Reading to Know. If you'd care to read this one, please leave a comment below. This contest is open to U.S. Residents only and will be open through Tuesday, May 17th. Friday, May 20th

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER, as selected by Random.org, IS #16 - TAIA

Thank you, Picador, for graciously sending me a copy of this book to read and learn from. I enjoyed it greatly!