Just Talkin' About Jesus Podcast Interview
I did not intend to write a book. That's how The Trouble with Jesus began.
Many persons, including those who have been in church for a long time, have deep questions, even doubts about their faith, and it is not unusual to learn of those who have shut the door on God in their lives.
To candidly deal with those questions is the purpose of her book, The Trouble with Jesus: Considerations Before You Walk Away.
After more than 20 years in ministry (faith-based counseling and church settings), Constance has found many persons in the pews (or chairs) have on their hearts people whom they love but who have serious obstacles to accepting Jesus.
Too often they feel the "church" is the place to be saved discounting how their witness is primary for the Holy Spirit to work in lives. Simply put, they don't know how to do it.
This book is first written for that doubter or skeptic with an edgy voice that challenges Jesus' narrative, faithful to the Gospel story as Jesus as Son of God. In that place, it is an excellent tool whereby believers can present it to these persons and introduce Christ with, "If you would read this, could we have a conversation?" As said, the Holy Spirit then has an open door in which to enter lives and confirm a commitment.
Curious about how to bridge the gap between skepticism and faith? Constance opens up how her book is aimed at those who wrestle with doubt. She encourages a healthy engagement with questions of faith, drawing inspiration from the lives of biblical figures like John the Baptist and Peter.
I did not intend to write a book about Jesus.
I did not believe I would ever join any church. I never thought I would be involved in formal church ministry as ordained clergy. My life should have been my own, teaching the literature I loved and having a life to enjoy my simple hobbies and family. But the Trouble with Jesus is God does not let us walk away, but instead pursues us until we find ourselves found.
I was very good arguing with God, wanting my own direction and expecting it to be blessed. Didn't happen. With gentle nudges and a Holy Spirit grab around the throat, God has taken me through a life-journey to places and people I would have never known except by God's plan. Not the path I ever wanted, but the one I was given. Thank God.
I can't solve all problems. I had a faith-based counseling practice for 18 years and would tell new clients, I can't solve your problems. If I could solve your problems. I'd be the richest woman in the world.
At the same time, I held ordination as a deacon. A church nearby asked me to come and do a morning Bible study for the women of the church, sort of like a mini retreat kind of thing. And they gave me several months to think about a topic and direction for that.
And I couldn't come up with a thing.
I could not come up with a thing. I had 66 books of the Bible and there was nothing. And yet I also knew these women. And these women were very smart, they were professional, they were accomplished.
The usual women's study, if you'll forgive me, just wasn't going to have an impact on them. And that was part of my struggle.
One day I just looked to heavens and I said, the troubles with Jesus. Oh. I put together the study and I realized in my outline was actually an outline for a book. God took it from that.
That edgy voice throughout the book will interrupt the narration. It will challenge it or express a lot of skepticism. Basically, it calls out to the story from a perspective that is of today, in today's cultural context. And the narration tells the story of Jesus an answer to those challenges
I try and help people understand the distinctiveness of Christianity is just that.
Not that we go seeking God, that we have to fulfill certain rituals or do certain things to become closer to God, to reach heaven,
but that God comes to find us.
As I said, the book is written specifically to address the doubter or the skeptic. So, you know, if you need to call that the primary audience, it is. However, and this is my prayer for the book, is that believers who have on their hearts someone who is this doubter, who is this skeptic, who has put up such obstacles to who Jesus Christ is, to knowing him as the Son of God. That person sometimes has a difficult way of expressing their faith. This book is for this praying person to have a tool whereby to begin the call by offering it to that skeptic by saying, “If you would read this, could we have a conversation?” Let the Holy Spirit take it from there…
Listen to Just Talkin’ About Jesus Here.