You Are What You Love Summary

There is an immense and ever increasing problem within the church that many have not even realized has developed right under their nose. This is the problem of appearances in the church becoming the main focus and even purpose of church gatherings. Imagine walking into a building full of men and women clothed in the trendiest fashions and designer shoes, some decked out in stylish tattoos, and carrying the newest (most updated/sleekest) tablets. All of these people are lingering around in clumps, chatting about the hottest gossip of the week or the new underground band they just started listening to. You look to your right and see a dimly lit coffee shop filled with inviting scents and a lengthy line, and then you peer to your left where there’s …show more content…
After reading You Are What You Love, by James Smith, I would claim alongside him that our senses strongly impact our desires, “The most powerful liturgies are attuned to our embodiment; they speak to our senses; they get under our skin. The way to the heart is through the body, you could say.” Here, Smith brings to light the idea that humans are deeply attracted to things that appeal to our senses and are also extremely habitual creatures who subconsciously crave routine. These things aren’t necessarily evil and most certainly not the root of the issue. I believe the issue runs much deeper than journaling bibles and coffee shops. In fact, getting rid of all of these things may have no effect on the church at all. Rather it all begins with a change in our attitudes and mindsets. This is one of the themes that James Smith’s book discusses. He begins with the lie that so many have bought into: “You Are What You Think”. He then proceeds to go through chapter by chapter debunking this myth to prove that it is not what we think that makes us who we are, but rather, it’s what we love. Since it’s what we love that drives all of our decisions we need to stop and ask ourselves: What is it that we love? If we’re completely honest with ourselves we may get an answer that would not appease our Sunday School teachers: I love myself. I believe this concept is very clearly …show more content…
First, I need to mention that these sensory things are not all bad or unprofitable. Jessica Coleman says in her Odyssey article, I’m Tired of Trendy Christianity, “I'm not saying that we can't have these things and still be Christians, but I am saying that having these things are not what makes us Christians.” We need to heed this concept and begin to go through our church buildings and meeting and determine what should be in our churches by asking a simple question: Does it glorify God? If it does not, that is when we should consider changing the way that certain function is run or getting rid of it