"Get Real" is a book about my frustration, anger and loss over feeling out of place at church.  It is about feeling as if I don't fit in and about the anxiety I feel even as I drive closer to the church parking lot as I prepare to worship on Sunday.  The book is also about the masks that this pressure encourages us to wear in order to conform to the church's image (which I happen to believe is so different from Christ's image that I wonder if He would feel comfortable in the very church He founded) and how this makes people behave in a fake way toward each other.   I find church to be one of the most unreal places I ever go to.

          This is the reason for the title of the book.  The words have a double meaning in that from a positive perspective I am encouraging the church universal to become more real (or authentic) in order to allow for the healing we all so desperately need and are looking for from our churches.  From a negative perspective "Get Real" is a sarcastic statement which means that if this is the best we can do then, like teenagers like to say to each other, I say we should all "Get Real."  This means that if this is the best we can do then, not only is "it" sad, but "we" are sad examples of what Jesus' life reflected and the words that He taught. 

          Jesus was and continues to be today the most authentic person who ever stepped foot on this earth.  If we can become more like Him and, therefore, more real, then we will become healthy by dropping our masks by being more honest with each other.  We would also become a better witness by being more genuinely attractive to the unchurched world.  I think to most nonChristian, secular people we just look "goofy" and "silly."  We need to do better and I think the best way to accomplish this is by "Getting Real."

Click here for the title page to  Get Real