07.18.09
My Comments on Saving Grandma
Saving Grandma is the second part of the Calvin Becker trilogy by Frank Schaeffer. Knowing that the storyline is about a young boy growing up in a Reformed Protestant family, I assumed that the “saving” part referred to Calvin’s grandma’s need for salvation. While I was right about that, the story does take a little twist in that grandma did need another kind of saving. To avoid revealing a spoiler, I’ll leave it at that for those who may not have read the book, yet.
I’m not sure why, but this book had a different feel to it than the other two parts, Portofino and Zermatt. While Calvin’s character still remained true to his usual funny and mischievous self, in this book Calvin had a more serious side to him which was evident in how he eventually cared for his grandma, his love for Jennifer, and his concern for his spastic friend, Jean-Pierre. In the other two books Calvin seems more happy-go-lucky, while in Saving Grandma, he seems to have more of the cares of the world weighing on him. As a result, I thought it gave the book a slightly different feel. Calvin spent a lot more time day-dreaming about Jennifer than his usual imaginings of trying to figure out the mysteries of women in general. I think this gave the book a different feel by way of a different literary style.
Since a major aspect of Calvin Becker’s life is that his family is part of the Reformed Protestant religion, it’s impossible to escape the message Frank artfully weaves into the story of the down sides of organized religions, in particular, Calvinism. While the story is a bit extreme, the point is well-made how the best of intentions can result is wacky behavior. The “church split” was laughable, but before I could dismiss it as “out-of-the-ordinary,” I recalled a family feud wherein one of my own uncles climbed up on the roof of my other uncle’s house and cut down his TV antenna. Ha! And then consider the myriad of civil and domestic cases that require police and court intervention. The church split magnified the irony of how one of the main themes of the Bible is to love one another as Christ loved us, yet, we continue to find reasons for divisions in the name of the Bible. Instead of displaying love, we commonly display intolerance.
Another concept that stood out to me in Saving Grandma was regarding “real work.” Calvin’s grandmother had a major issue regarding Ralph and Elsa’s “work” in the ministry. Grandma didn’t think that missionary work was “real work.” She claimed that her husband, who worked the coal breakers, did real work. While I can kind of see her point, it’s also a bit confusing because what then does work mean? A desk job is not work? Only manual labor? How about someone who just stands in an elevator pushing the buttons for clients? And really work is relative in that work is work whether or not someone gets paid for it or not. I mean what’s the difference between washing your own dishes at home and washing the dishes as an employee at a pizza parlor? Both are work, although at home there’s no pay, while at the pizza parlor there is pay. I can give advice to a friend for free, but I can also give advice to a stranger for a fee under the guise of counselor. Likewise, I can share the gospel for free, but then we can pay missionaries to do that instead. And there’s the rub for me. I think the gospel should be free, so why do religions make a business out of their faith? There are so many “warnings” in the Bible how the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, yet, so often religions focus on accumulating more and more money and even imply that if a believer “gives” then they will also receive wealth in return. I think not enough focus is made regarding what are the blessings the Bible tells us we are to receive if we obey. Often church members are lead to believe blessings equals prosperity and prosperity equals more money. But didn’t God give prosperity to Joseph while he was in prison?
Genesis 39:21-23
“But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. 23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.”
How does one “prosper” in prison? Somehow I don’t think it was monetary, but that he was shown favor. Good health is also a form of prosperity. So this is where I think the rip-off comes in terms of various religions leading their followers to believe if they give to their church they will receive monetary blessings. It may happen that they do receive monetary blessings, but in light of the fact that the Bible teaches us not to strive for riches on earth, and that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, it seems contradictory that God would want to reward us with money as a primary blessing. So back to grandma and her concept of “real work,” the Bible tells us that there is profit is all labor. That profit my not be money, but rather in all work/labor, there is benefit/profit. In that respect, missionary work is work just like any other, thus missionary work is real work, but since I think the gospel should be free, I think it should also fall into the category of washing our own dishes. We do our own dishes for free just like we can share the gospel for free. Missionary work should not be work in the sense of work for monetary gain. Matthew 10:8 reads, “Freely you have received, freely give.”
Finally, the issue of Calvinism is complicated. Among the many issues is that of evangelism. I mean if the chosen are chosen, why bother with evangelism? I know it’s not that simple amongst Calvinists and they have their counter to that. Actually there’s so much written about Calvinism that while I’d like to comment more on it, for now I’m gonna leave that alone.
As with Portofino and Zermatt, I recommend Saving Grandma to mature readers who have a good sense of humor, are not offended by sexual content, and can take some religious criticism. All three books definitely have laugh-out-loud moments. I give the trilogy two thumbs up.
And that concludes my comments on the Calvin Becker Trilogy.
Marlakins
BumbleBee said,
July 20, 2009 at 3:06 am
Dear Marlakins,
Thanks for sharing your comments regarding Frank Schaeffer’s fiction. The worldly churches have been built on leftovers of Constantine’s creation. John Calvin and other worldly reformers used political manipulations to usurp authority over an unauthentic Christianity based on ownership of religious buildings and artifacts. The physical bodies of those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us, not in stained glass, pews, and religious church buildings, things which the traditional religions are envious for. Francis was manipulated by the very forces he revered to entertain. Becoming more Biblical would have us abandon Christianity as business. The Gospel is to be free and is free, by belief in Jesus Christ alone, not in any religion, to tend to the poor not to give to the empowered religious elitists. Many missionaries have troubles since they become beholden to and entangled in institutions of men who love the seats of honor and who enrich themselves with donors money. Jesus overturned the money changers tables, we must follow his example since you cannot love money and love God too. All of the major Christian religions cannot love God since they already love money first. We must follow the scriptures not the institutions.
Administrator said,
July 20, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Hello BumbleBee:
Thanks for your insightful comments. While I do hope that the motivation for these religious institutions are driven by good intentions, I do think that the way they are currently run tends to confuse the masses regarding the relationship of the church and money/mammon. In my opinion, they’re too intertwined. So I do find your comment about not being able to love both money and God an important observation. It reminds me of the passage in Luke 18:18-23 when the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied that he should give all his riches away to the “poor” and then go and follow Him. I think Christians who actually do that are few and far between.
Regarding Francis Schaeffer, Frank said that the character, Ralph, was not his father. However from reading Frank’s book, Crazy for God, I am under the impression that it was more his mother, Edith, who was more enamored by the wealthy or upper class, than was Francis. She seemed to value their favor and tried to emulate their social customs, and even pointed out Francis’s shortcomings as a result of his lower class upbringing.
Anyway, thanks again!
Marla .