Book Review: The Unlikely Disciple
by Tom the Bomb
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 | Blogging, Book Reviews
Last month, Nathanael and I drove to Brown University to meet Kevin Roose, the author of The Unlikely Disciple. Kevin’s book chronicled his tell-all journey at Liberty University as an undercover journalist pretending to be “born-again.” The book is just as wild as it sounds.
I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect when I traveled to Providence to meet him. I just knew I had to after one of our ministry friends posted an article about the book on her Facebook page. A few months later, when I hung out with my friend Greg Johnson (Intervarsity @Brown University), he said he could probably get a meeting to happen. When he actually called me back with the meeting nailed down, I gotta say that I was impressed.
Relevant Magazine did a feature with Kevin Roose that I used to prepare for my time getting together with him. In it, Kevin summarized five things he learned from being around conservative evangelicals (Issue #41, September/October 2009).
1. The Roman Road is a terrible pick up line. Kevin went on a spring break mission and tried to evangelize students using popular Christian witnessing techniques. Needless to say, he struggled with it and found it wasn’t helping him with the ladies.
2. The physical stuff can wait. Kevin found that by following Liberty’s PDA rules (Public Displays of Affection) he found that he could concentrate more on getting to know someone rather than meeting physical expectations while dating a young woman.
3. All’s fair in self-love and war. Kevin joined a Christian AA group for men who struggled with masturbation on campus called, “Every Man’s Battle.” Kevin was given an accountability partner and tried to live up to the group’s standard. Kevin was conflicted that personal sexuality was given more emphasis than on helping the poor or living a life of service. However, he recognized that the young men in the group were committed to helping each other through their struggles and that equated to Jesus’ commandment to, “love your neighbor as your self…”
4. An unlikely friend. Kevin was able to get the last written interview with Jerry Falwell before he died for the school newspaper. Before coming to Liberty, Kevin and his family were put off by political remarks Falwell has made over the years representing the moral majority. Through his experience, Kevin was able to humanize a guy that he adamantly disagrees with and realize that it is possible to find good qualities in people who are diametrically opposed to our worldview.
5. The God Divide is overrated. Kevin found that Liberty students were just as friend-worthy as his friends at Brown. When returning to Liberty to visit after the book was published, he was worried about how his friends would react to the truth about who he was and why he was at liberty. He found his Christian friends to be forgiving and that, “the American culture gap isn’t nearly as big and forbidding as I once thought…”
I read the book before we went up. I have to say, I loved it! Kevin’s story telling ability and his creativity in finding a story make for a good read – whether you’re a Christian or not. Was I uncomfortable with parts of it? Absolutely. Were conclusions that he made that I wished had come out differently? Sure. However, Kevin’s book did all the things that a good book should do: I laughed, felt suspense, was saddened and was excited with him in his successes. I am impressed with his intellect and his ambition.
Kevin, a senior at Brown, is a pretty carefree guy. We met up at a little cafe too crowded by students to hang around and walked down to a little Mexican restaurant, got some food and sat. We talked a little about the book, but more importantly, we got to know each other. I learned Kevin is a pacifist. He has been overwhelmed with the Christian response to his book and not sure he meant for it to get as much evangelical attention as it has done. He is also serious about his writing and is eagerly looking for what to write about next.
Kevin sent me a book this month by a guy he’s planning on touring with next year. Look for it in my next book report…
2 Comments to Book Review: The Unlikely Disciple
Very cool, Tom. I want to read the book too.
Kelly, It was your page where I found out about this book!
December 1, 2009