Leaving A-holiness Behind
From Pious Jerk to Not-So-Pious Jerk
By Christian Piatt
Copyright Christian Piatt
All rights reserved. 2016
Published in the United States by CrowdScribed, LLC
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Typeset by CrowdScribed in conjunction with Lightning Source,
La Vergne, Tennessee. Printed in the United States
by Lightning Source on acid-free paper.
Set in Avenir Next Medium
Interior Design by Brianna Spayd
ISBN: 9781945455995
Available in Ebook.
Christian Piatt tackles the question that every follower of Christ should ask themselves: have I become the Christian I cant stand? This book reminds us all that Christianity is more than correct sayings and memorization, its relational, dynamic and changing. Piatts analysis of the heart of Christianity opens the door for questioning, discerning and growing into a person of faith without strings attached, something needed in the church today.
-REV. EVAN M. DOLIVE
Author of Seeking Imperfection:
Body Image, Marketing and God .
Christian Piatts writing is humorous, irreverent, entertaining, and accessible. But dont let that fool you. Leaving A-Holiness Behind brings important and necessary insight that deserves your attention and consideration. Highly recommend for those interested in understanding Christianitys place in society and committed to setting a better course.
-TOM KRATTENMAKER
Contributing columinst of USA Today
and author of Confessions of a Secular Jesus Follower .
Christian Piatt is finally putting on a book cover what we all know to be true: that God really will work with anyone. Somewhere between a memoir and a humorous confessional with deep thoughts around the edges, this book gets at the heart of why so many others cringe at the word, Christian. Plus theres a word search, and who doesnt like word searches?
-TRIPP FULLER
Founder of Homebrewed Christianity
and Director of Theology at the Hatchery LA.
Christian Piatt cuts through the fog of talking points, code words, and politics to get to the heart of what it means to be a follower of Christ and not just someone who uses him as a team mascot. Leaving A-Holiness Behind is a funny, reflective, and brutally honest examination of modern Christianity.
-MARK RUSSELL
Author of God Is Disappointed in You ,
Writer of Prez, The Flintstones comics.
OTHER BOOKS BY CHRISTIAN PIATT
LOST: A Search for Meaning
MySpace to Sacred Space
Banned Questions About the Bible
Banned Questions About Jesus
Banned Questions About Christians
PregMANcy: A Dad, A Little Dude and a Due Date
Blood Doctrine
PostChristian: Whats Left? Can We Fix It? Do We Care?
CONNECT WITH CHRISTIAN PIATT
www.ChristianPiatt.com
www.facebook.com/ChristianPiattAuthor
www.twitter.com/ChristianPiatt
www.homebrewedchristianity.com/category/CultureCast
www.patheos.com/blogs/ChristianPiatt
TABLE OF CONTENTS
HELP US CHANGE THE CONVERSATION
If you have this book, you probably agree that some things about Christianity have to change. Big time. Weve gotten so far away from what was originally intended that people often struggle to see the connections between what we say and do, and what Jesus said and did. And I havent just wanted to write this book for five years because we need to be able to laugh (though thats part of it).
We can change the world for the better. For everyone, and not just Christians. And I am just audacious enough to believe that this book can be a part of that change. Now, since you are reading it, so can you. But people have to know about it in order to do anything. For that, I need your help.
Here are some things you can do to have an impact:
Post reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, BN.com, iBooks, etc: This is quick and easy to do, but it helps a whole lot.
Share on social media: Take photos of you with the book to share on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter. Be sure to tell people why you love it and include a link to where they can get a copy.
Buy copies for friends and loved ones: Its a great conversation piece and it gives you something to talk and laugh about with them. But youre also helping this independent publishing effort become sustainable.
We dont make much on book sales. We do it because we believe in the work. But we also depend on you, our readers, more than you can imagine. Thank you for what youve already done. You committed to this idea just because you believe in me, my work and the concept. Thats amazing. Now I trust well keep this going together.
Much love,
Christian
PLEASE ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF
This is a book about assholes, which means its about pretty much everyone. Not you of course. Just everyone else (dont tell them). More specifically, this book is about asshole Christians, because thats something I know plenty about. But just to make sure we all are on the same page, lets take a moment to bring a few great heroes down to our more familiar asshole level.
Mother Theresa was an amazing woman. She dedicated her life to God, and to serving the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. Thats definitely more noble than anything I ever did. Hell, once I was so proud of myself I just had to tell my friend that the food vendor at a soccer game gave me too much change and I gave it back. Yay me!
But Mother Theresa admitted that she struggled to love those she served, sometimes feeling like the only thing allowing her to keep loving them was to serve them. Its also weird to consider that a woman who has been sainted and is considered a holy woman wasnt even sure that she believed in God. Awkward.
Martin Luther King arguably did more to advance civil rights for African-Americans in the Untied States than anyone else of his time. But he also cheated on his wife, and some questioned the size of his ego. Even Gandhi, the image of gentleness and peace, has been accused of spousal abuse, and had some questionable views when it came to womens rights.
The good news is that, if were all assholes at one time or another, we all have something in common.
The world has enough self-serious books written by nerds about why religion is great, why it sucks or whatever. The rest of us are just trying to live better lives, understand who we are and what were meant to do with our lives. Too often religion ends up being yet another demand on our time, another to-do, another item to check off the list just so we dont feel guilty about ignoring it.
But does it offer what we really need? If so, why do so many Christians seem to be such.... well, you know. I know, and Im one of them. So I dont want to read one more article or book trying to tell insiders how to save the Church or telling outsiders why they should go back. I dont care if you go to church or not. Thats not the point. This book is meant to do a few things.
First of all, we have to stop being so damn serious. When I was in college there was a small circuit of Christian comedians who would make the rounds to schools and churches. They were nice enough folks and meant well, but they all shared one common flaw: they werent funny. It took me a while to figure out why, because when they werent performing they could keep a room laughing for hours. But I realized their bits werent funny because there was this sort of unspoken set of rules they all had to follow:
1.No profanity or any suggestive or provocative material of any kind
2.No slamming the church or Christianity as a whole, and no making fun of Christians
