Mark’s Reviews > The Prodigal Prophet > Status Update

God may direct us into fellowship among those with whom we may disagree on many points. God can use this to teach us more about ourselves and the world around us through the differences we see and experience, and our eyes can be opened to a broader picture. The differences can highlight problems as well as areas of minutiae that really don't matter in the big picture.

A couple chapters describing events where God slowly breaks through resistance, sometimes in dramatic fashion, to get Dylan's attention. Dylan attends events that naturally arouse his suspicions based on former abusive experiences, but God is able to work through and even apart from the content of the messages of the events. The message may be far less important than the act of opening up to receive God.

A brief summary of Girardian (c.f.,René Girard) mimetic theory and its manifestation within religious systems. We have a tendency to idealize strong and charismatic spiritual leaders and seek to become like them. As we do they subconsciously begin to see us as rivals and they seek to place distance. We sense disapproval and try even harder. Cycle continues until we are scapegoated and pushed out.

Fear of disapproval by those we consider to be out spiritual superiors can compromise rational thinking and place us into spiritual abuse.

It is easy to fall into spiritual abuse without even realizing it is happening. We have spiritual egos that want to be stoked. Popularity, prestige, acclamation, invitation to serve a well known leader, etc. all can be means of stoking our spiritual egos. In return we allow these things and people to control us, often leading to abuse. Even so, God still works through such dysfunctional systems and beings.

Comedic vignettes of the author's encounters during his earlier years with various religious groups and denominations.