Leaving A-Holiness Behind: From Pious Jerk to Not-So-Pious Jerk

by Christian Piatt

When I was twelve, I tried to convert my friend, Tony, from Judaism to Christianity because, well, if he wasn’t like me, he was going to hell. He was cool about it, but stayed Jewish. It took me years to understand why it didn’t work and why it was a jerk move on my part. I didn’t know anything about his faith, his culture, or that we believed a lot of the same things. He actually was more like Jesus than most Christians.

This same thing happened a lot, with bunches of people. And eventually I realized that if they couldn’t see Jesus in how we talked and acted, something had gone wrong. Then recently, I heard a sermon that started with the words, “I’m a Christian because I’m an a-hole.” I thought, Well, that makes sense. But I still didn’t know why being a Christian seemed to make so many of us even bigger a-holes.

So I decided to try and figure it out, and there were two things I came to realize right away: we Christians take ourselves way too seriously, and we aren’t generally that honest with ourselves about our own issues. So to get things going, I’ll start…

Hi, I’m Christian, and I’m an a-hole. But I’m working on it.

192 pages, Paperback

Published July 20, 2016

About the author

I once heard a surgeon tell an author that he had always wanted to write a novel.

"That's funny," said the author, "I've always wanted to perform brain surgery."

Writing as a hobby is one thing; writing as a passionate obsession is entirely another; writing professionally is equal parts megalomania and masochism.

I started out writing arts reviews for a local paper, moving on to features and a few op-ed pieces after a while with some other publications. I picked up a few pieces for some magazines, and from there, got my opportunity to do a weekly column in the paper, a regular column in a national magazine and my first two books with a national publisher in the relatively short span of eighteen months.

It took me a decade of preparation to get there, though.

I hooked up with a literary agent in 2007, who has been focusing on shopping a novel and a memoir for me. Meanwhile, I do articles for various websites and magazines, and I'm in the process of acting as a series co-editor for a string of young adult theology books for Chalice Press. I'm also working as volume editor on a couple of books in the series. The first two books in the series will be out in 2009.

I'd insert something cute and funny here, but then you'd only be disappointed if you ever met me and thought, "Hey, he's not cute and funny like his bio at all. He sucks." So I'll just leave it at that.

Reviews

[Bruce Reyes-Chow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snarky, fun, thoughtful, and faith-filled "A-Holiness" is like a super burrito for the post-evangelical soul. While much of this was not part of my Christian upbringing, I appreciated the ways in which Christian really does pastor folks through some of the biggest obstacles of evangelical Christianity. The writting is snappy, the topics right on, and the depth of thought is striking. Well done.

[Andee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian Piatt is an a**hole. No, really. He says so himself! But then again, aren't we all? Piatt does a bang up job describing what the Bible says and what it doesn't. Why, oh why, do so many "Christians" stray from the true ministry of Jesus? Piatt takes us into a brief history on how this happened. The question for today's Christians is: what are we going to do about it?

If you question Christianity or how some "Christians" have used the Bible for their own agendas rather than grasping the true meaning (hint: compassion) - this book is for you.

[Evan Dolive · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christian Piatt tackles the question that every follower of Christ should ask themselves: 'have I become the Christian I can't stand?' This book reminds us all that Christianity is more than correct sayings and memorization, it's relational, dynamic and changing. Piatt's analysis of the heart of Christianity opens the door for questioning, discerning and growing into a person of faith without strings attached, something needed in the Church today.

[Etta Madden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not the audience for this book. Maybe you are. Christian Piatt writes with humor and poignancy, drawn from his experiences growing up evangelical. I read this book as part of a discussion group (for which I think it was an excellent choice). It certainly raised lots of discussion! Leaving A-Holiness Behind: From Pious Jerk to Not-So-Pious Jerk contains lots of rich nuggets, which for me were primarily reviews of ideas I have gained through the past quarter-centuries of study and discussion. This book speaks wisdom to those who are searching to make sense of various forms of Christianity and their relationships to the faith and traditions.