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	May 2003				When Bad Christians Happen to Good People: (Where We Have Failed Each Other And How to Reverse The Damage) by Dave Burchett, WaterBrook Press, Colorado Springs 2002. 243pp
		When Bad Christians Happen to Good People reviewed by Jenny Matthews
			When I was about seven, a visiting bishop told a story of a man who taught crabs to walk frontwards on Sunday, while the rest of the week they determinedly walked sidewards This might have been the first analogy I both recognised and then tried to do something about. In my enthusiasm to tell my school mates that 'The wages of sin, are death' I wonder how much 'collateral damage' I did to the Christian message? So you see the title of this book was like a poke in the eye! Dave Burchett, at the outset, debunks the idea that Christians are wholly 'good' and shows that some of us are 'bad' Christians at one stage or another. 'This book is written for the person who has been hurt by a judgmental or unfriendly church' he writes and 'also for Christians who inflicted the wounds.' This is a very quick read and Dave Burchett can sound like the Emmy Award winning television sports director. Get past his loyalty to George W. Bush and his few Americanisms, and you'll be in for an encouraging read. There is a rich sense of humour here too with asides from Dave and his wife Joni. This is a honest and frank critique of how Christians have made other Christian's lives difficult and non-Christians have their prejudices reinforced. Burchett quotes author Flannery O'Connor 'sometimes you have to suffer as much from the church as you do for it'. We have to be careful that we don't belong to 'The Unfriendliest Club in Town'. There are many reasons why some churches are going gang-busters and others dying a slow painful death, most of them to do with grace, sound practical teaching, and a deep love of Jesus. Also part of this book is the story of Burchett's daughter Katie, born only with the brain stem and no more. This tale alone would be enough to recommend the whole book. How churches support families with challenging experiences is important not only for the family, but for how the world sees the love of Christ. It also helps us when our own 'wheels fall off'. All sorts and conditions Burchett tells it like it is; especially in the chapter 'All God's Children Got Souls, Even the Annoying Ones'. The old prayer book says 'we have to rub along somehow with all sorts and conditions of men', but by glossing over our feelings we are not being honest with our selves or with God. Prayer begins to work when we acknowledge the sin in ourselves, and don't jump ship because we mightn't like our fellow travellers. This book helps us to affect our culture by living authentic Christ-like lives, and it is crammed with ideas and practical advice. I could say so much more but I think you would be better off reading it yourself.