Butterfly in Brazil: Book Review

Part of having a few days off at Christmas means I can begin catching up on some book reviews that have been accumulating. The first one I'd like to dive into is Butterfly In Brazil: How Your Life Can Make A World Of Difference by Glenn Packiam.

Glenn Packiam is worship pastor at a mega-church that has, in the past two years, suffered a great deal of trauma. Last year, their senior pastor (the notorious "Ted" of meth & massages fame) was in the news for all the wrong reasons, and just a few short weeks ago, the same gunman who murdered YWAM staff in Denver opened fire there as well -- killing two and seriously injuring others.

Butterfly In Brazil covers none of these events, of course. In all likelihood -- since I'm now very aware of how slowly the wheels of publication turn -- this book was finished even before Ted fell. I think it would be interesting to talk to Glenn about his book today, after having to face such difficult circumstances in his church.

Glenn's writings strike me as a good antidote to the overly-prevalent attitude that many of us develop as Christians over the years: specifically, we begin to treat prayer and the Christian life like a fast-food drive-thru. We're impatient for results, whether personally or in our "ministry", and if we don't see immediate answers, we move on quickly. Glenn is advocating for the "long obedience in the same direction", where the small things that we choose to NOT neglect eventually become a cascade of impact, personally and in the lives of those around us.

This is generally an encouraging book; I really like his metaphor of our free will and God's sovereignty being like a movie production. Glenn suggests that God is the Master Producer of the movie, and no matter what, He will get to the end that He has planned to get to. At the same time, the actors (us) have room for improv and experimentation within the script, but ultimately, the Producer achieves His plan and purpose.

Glenn refers to the life of Nehemiah repeatedly throughout the book, reminding us that many of the tasks involved in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem would have looked: mundane, repetitious, unglamorous, and -- dangit -- just hard work! Yet the result was spectacular, and ushered in a new era of worshipping Yahweh. One of my favourite quotes:

"This arresting combination of the unmistakenly supernatural and the unremarkably ordinary is the surest mark of God's activity."

At the same time, there were a few sections that bothered me. One was his assumption that anyone who was disillusioned with church needed to just get over themselves and quit being cynical. I agree that cynicism is deadly to a life of faith, but I was disturbed to see him refer to wounded dreamers who blog as being lazy, self-centred and immature quitters.

John Wimber was fond of saying, "Never trust a leader who doesn't walk with a limp." As I read these (small) sections of Glenn's book, it struck me that he writes as an encourager, a thoughtful student of Scripture, but he also writes like somebody who doesn't limp... at least, not yet. He is a pastor of a mega-church, leader of a ministry school, worship leader of a band that is selling CD's and getting invited to lead big-venue conferences, and now has a book deal. That's why I think it would be interesting to talk to him now, after the events of the past year or so in his ministry world.

I also found it quite interesing (in light of the mini-rant I posted a couple of days ago) to hear his take on church buildings that are NOT state-of-the-art, as he mocked multi-purpose "cafetoriums":

"Multi-purpose halls are good for so many things and yet great for nothing in particular. They're an economical choice that satisfies multiple needs with equal mediocrity."

Glenn uses these multi-purpose buildings as a metaphor for what he believes are half-hearted and tentative Christians who lack a sharply-defined focus:

"We've become walking cafetoriums, as if having our hands in several different pursuits is better than excelling at one... We carefully guard against complete failure in one area by half-heartedly failing in several."

While his larger point is that we need to have a certain degree of "stick-to-it-ness" rather than a fast-food drive-thru mentality -- which I would agree with -- it reads a bit like someone who has "not gotten his limp yet".

Glenn wraps the book up with the story of Jim Elliot, including one of his famous quotes: "Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." And then follows with a modern-day story of a missionary martyr from Glenn's church, which is equally tragic yet also just as inspiring as the Jim Elliot story.

Glenn's summation? "Be faithful with the small things. Act where you are. Stay over the long haul." Good advice, and done in an upbeat and encouraging way.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, I would, even with the concerns mentioned above. Glenn is a good writer, with an easy-going style of communicating and integrating Biblical teaching with the stories of everyday people who have made a big difference by just doing the small and mundane, people as diverse as Martin Luther and Rosa Parks. Glenn is obviously someone with a heart to encourage and inspire others, and as he gets his limp, his writing will only get better.