As young believers, my friends and I were often excited when rock stars and other celebrities said they were Christians. Why was this important to us?
I guess it came about from a cultural cringe, a feeling of embarrassment at owning the label "Christian'. So, if "popular celebrity x' is a Christian, well, being a Christian must be legitimate and cool, right? Right?
At some point most of us get beyond this. We acquire a level of confidence in our own faith and no longer need the false lift provided by celebrity conversions.
Given this, you might question if there is any value in a book like Simon Smart's Bright Lights, Dark Nights - The Enduring Faith of 13 Remarkable Australians.
Why should it matter that a number of well-known Australians are Christians? Why should we care about their stories?
Smart tries to answer this question in his introduction. He notes that "Stories have a way of getting under our skin". His purpose is to share the "journey of faith" undertaken by each of his subjects. He says that he was inspired by these stories and he hopes that his readers will be inspired too.
Smart has assembled an interesting selection of subjects. All are Australian, all are Christian, and all have a significant accomplishment or experience to share. Readers will be familiar with the likes of Tim Costello, Justin Langer, Leigh Hatcher and Aaron Baddeley. Other names will be less recognisable.
A chapter is devoted to each subject. Smart begins by describing his first meeting with the person, and he then briefly sketches their life story, interspersing his narrative with dialogue from their interview. The chapter ends with the subject sharing some general thoughts on matters of life and faith.
The stories are brief, well written and well paced. Smart seamlessly inserts himself into the text, sharing his own views and related experiences, and this adds a lot of flavour to the writing. The result is a very easy-to-read book, and at just 170 pages, it is also a friendly size.
Each story is worth reading for its own sake. The general biographical material was interesting enough but I was even more interested to hear about people's faith. In this area, things were a bit of a mixed bag. Many of the subjects spoke about God as a source of strength and comfort, but not much beyond that. Of course God is these things. And this is how many Christians talk about God. But I was hoping for something with a bit more gospel bite.
Without doubt the best chapter is the one on John Gilmour, the Federal Court Judge. His Damascus road experience makes for a great read and he speaks clearly and in some detail about his faith and the practical expression of it. I also especially enjoyed the stories of Leigh Hatcher, Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Jim Wallace. I was encouraged by how these people were sincerely working out their Christian faith in their respective vocations.
I think this book has value as a giveaway to non-Christian friends. They won't come away from it with a clear understanding of the gospel, but it will raise the whole "God question" and each of the stories is interesting enough to be a conversation starter.
I asked at the start if there is really any value in books like this. I would answer that there is, but not because of the celebrity glamour. It's because underneath it all, we find a number of stories and stories that are worth hearing.
