SO there is so much I want to say
about this book that I’m going to have to split it into parts. There was so
much Jesus leaping off the pages that I’m gonna have to categorize the
characters and themes shown throughout the book.
In this post I’m just going to
focus on the main character and his Jesus-like behavior.
In my generation living by the
motto YOLO is more like a state of mind.
Living in the moment!
Carpe diem!
There is no better character to exhibit the average YOLO
teenager than
Sutter Keely.
Sutter
Keely might in fact be the most real, 3 dimensional teenage boy I’ve ever read
on paper. Let me tell you good ole Timmy did a wonderful job on creating a
relatable character (Tim Tharp is the author).
Sutter is a
caring jokester, avid drinker, empathetic toward his peers, absolutely funny
and has a relaxed “I’ll do it later” personality. He is all in all a good guy
who’s all about having a good time 7 days a week.
In my
college group recently we talked about walking like Jesus walked. As a Christian
I’ve heard this my whole life. But never thought to myself, what does that
actually mean?
It wasn’t until I started reading this book that I realized
what it truly means to live like Jesus and show Jesus-like character on a daily
basis. Right away in the beginning of the book
Sutter reveals Jesus like behavior without even knowing it.
In the first chapter Sutter is in a
rush to be somewhere when he comes along a young boy who is running away from
home. Does he lecture the kid? Ignore him? Or simply walk away like many people
in a rush would?
No, he does neither of these things. Sutter buys the boy
some food and talks to him. Sutter listens to his problems and in the end
drives the boy home.
Now this is something that Jesus would do.
I am not saying in any way that Sutter is a symbol for Jesus
Christ. Sutter showed Jesus like behavior… but in a Sutter-fashion.
Sutter was completely buzzed the entire time he was talking
to the kid and despite the boy’s young age Sutter had no filter when it came to
his language (but then again what teenage boy does). But Sutter empathized with
this boy who came from a divorced family like himself.
If Jesus was on a time crunch and came across this young boy
at a gas station who had no money or food and was running away from home, Jesus
would not pass him by. Jesus would care for this boy, listen to him and guide
him.
So like I said before Sutter is showing Jesus like character
without even acknowledging the significance of what it means.
After reading all these different
situations Sutter was in, another thought came to mind. When I was growing up I
always thought that if a person wasn’t a Christian they were automatically not
a nice person. I thought there was no possible way for someone who didn’t love
the Lord to be a “good person”.
However,
this way of thinking went out of the window as soon as I went to college. I’ve
met so many caring people who are nice, thoughtful and who do not love Jesus.
This of course breaks my heart, but many people view Christianity like Sutter.
Much later in the book when his friend Ricky starts to go to church Sutter says
religion itself is out to turn people into zombies.
The thought of sitting in a church and worshiping a man who
lived over 2,000 years ago really seems insane
to Sutter and people like him. And rightfully so I would not find Christianity appealing if I
thought it was a bunch of robot-like people sitting in a building. What my generation
has been preaching over and over again is…
relationship
over
religion.
So my ongoing prayer to
people who compare being a Christian to being a zombie is that eventually they
realize that an intimate and personal relationship is what Jesus truly wants
with each and every one of us here on earth!
Though you have not seen Him you love Him; and even
though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an
inexpressible and glorious joy.
-1 PETER 1:8
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