Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” (2) – I AM THE PROBLEM

I have to tell you that Don comes off as a bit of a political and religious lefty, so we disagree on a few things, but that’s not what this is about.  A number of times he diffused my frustration by stopping just short of rhetoric while relaying stories like the following about a protest he attended:

“More than my questions about the efficacy of social action were my questions about my own motives.  Do I want social justice for the oppressed, or do I just want to be known as a socially active person?  I spend 95 percent of my time thinking about myself anyway.  I don’t have to watch the evening news to see that the world is bad; I only have to look at myself.  I am not browbeating myself here; I am only saying that true change, true life-giving, God-honoring change would have to start with the individual.  I was the very problem I had been protesting.  I wanted to make a sign that read ‘I AM THE PROBLEM!’”

That was on page 20 of the book and I think that was when I decided that I was going to carry on reading the remaining 222 pages.  Whether you are on the left or the right politically or religiously, if you are far enough either way, you think that everyone else is the problem.  We are always telling ourselves that if only everyone else was like us, all would be well.  What if we all drilled “I AM THE PROBLEM” into our own heads?  Would there even be a left and a right anymore?

So I thought it was incredibly insightful of Don to say “I AM THE PROBLEM” and I think I’m going to have some T-shirts made up emblazoned with that statement.  That should make for some interesting conversations.

If I forget everything else I read in this book and remember the page that says, “I AM THE PROBLEM” I would still consider it a worthy read.  It is one of those statements that works itself into every day, changing your outlook and your responses. (Another recent one for me is John Naisbitt’s “The seeds of the future are embedded in the present”.)

I know how frustrated Don feels when he sees all the self-glorifying theology in the books and programs of TV ministers.  Feel-good-ism is the dominant Christian subculture theology and has been for a good quarter century at least.  While criticizing a fell-good theology Miller is certainly not saying we should never feel good about things, only that life will not always be the proverbial bed of roses that some of these television evangelists make it out be.

It’s important to reiterate that Don says “I am not browbeating myself here.”  It’s easy to confuse the honest self-examination with browbeating to be sure but Miller does a better job of it than most.  Go too far and you have guilt-based religion; neglect it altogether and you end up with man-glorifying pep-talk theology.

“I know now, from experience, that the path to joy winds through this dark valley.  I think every well-adjusted human being has dealt squarely with his or her own depravity.  I realize this sounds very Christian, very fundamentalist and browbeating, but I want to tell you this part of what the Christians are saying is true.  I think Jesus feels strongly about communicating the idea of our brokenness, and I think it is worth reflection.  Nothing is going to change in the Congo until you and I figure out what is wrong with the person in the mirror.”

Go to Part 3 

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