if you die tonight are you going to heaven?

Yancey, A Writer For The Faith Fringe

10:28am Thursday, 1st September 2011  

Joshua Maule

For someone who has spent time in the "borderlands" of Christianity, Philip Yancey is not in short supply of companions. The words he's typed, the things he's said, have been received like a wellspring. Thousands have drunk them down. "A borderland - such as the no man's land between the two Koreas," he writes by email, "is an in-between, uncommitted state, one in which you don't want to linger. Yet I find that many people live in a borderland of faith."

With 15 million books in print, Yancey's honest struggle has resonated with a global readership. But every one of his 20 books, now published in 35 languages, has been forged in the crucible of lonely days and unanswered questions. "I sit in a room all day and work through what concerns or bothers me ... Writing is an exploration for me, and I think of myself as an explorer in a thicket of doubt, not as a teacher of others."

It's not until he's in the tour bus that Yancey remembers others have been reading along. "On my last visit to Australia - in 2008," he recalls, "a woman said to me about my book on prayer: ‘it's the only book on prayer I've read that didn't make me feel guilty'."

It's the kind of response he likes, because honesty is what he's going for. Rather than towing a party-line, Yancey - who began as a journalist - considers himself a representative of the average Christian. He is a kind of spiritual reporter, telling both the positive and the negative.

As such, he wants to dialogue with those who don't share his views. Speaking of his Australia-wide tour in September he says, "I wouldn't want to speak to people who agree with me on everything-what's the point?"

Yancey hopes to rub up against doubts and intentionally levels his gaze at universal human questions - such as why suffering exists. "I know that Australia has a much lower church attendance rate than my own country," he says, "yet from my four previous trips there I know that Australians also face the same kind of issues and questions as people everywhere. Is there anything more to this world of matter? If there is a God, does that God really care about the details of my life?"

But for Yancey, the questions are only the beginning. He aims to take people towards conclusions. "I haven't found a single question posed by doubters and atheists that isn't already anticipated and addressed in the Bible," he says. "We just need to remove our blinders of preconception and give faith a fresh look." And remove preconceptions he does. Perhaps his most favoured trait is he has made God more accessible.

However it wasn't always that way. Yancey grew up in the south of the United States and felt stifled by a rigid church upbringing. The church was discriminatory and racist, and he felt deceived. For a time he gave up his faith. To this day he sees that church as "a collection of frightened people who clung together and followed a bunch of narrow rules with the main goal of surviving this life to attain some future reward". Time showed him that congregation had missed the "heart of Jesus' message" and Yancey saw the goodness of the gospel.

He speaks differently now. "I believe connecting with God makes a person more alive, not less. The gospel means good news, after all, and if a church isn't presenting something that sounds like good news, that's not the gospel."

This hope in the midst of despair is why Yancey will draw crowds in Australia. Alongside a group of UK actors, he plans to present material from his latest book: What Good Is God? They will address what Yancey is calling the "the most basic question of faith" as well as the "seasons of the soul".

For a self-described non-teacher, Yancey's influence is overwhelming, and a little unexpected. It shows, if nothing else, how an internet-saturated generation still enjoys reading. Yet when asked if he feels much responsibility for his influence, Yancey says simply: "I suppose I should, but I don't."

He sees himself, less as guru and more as a fellow pilgrim walking with people. "I hope people would come away with the strong affirmation that ‘I am not alone'."

7.30pm Sep 2 Claremont Perth; 7.30pm Sep 3 Adelaide; 7.30pm Sep 5 Brisbane; 7.30pm Sep 6 Toowoomba; 7.30pm Sep 8 Melbourne; 7.30pm Sep 9 Sydney; 7.30pm Sep 10 Sydney.

For more details visit: http://www.koorong.com/tickets/2011/yancey.html

 

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