Deconstructed Do-Gooder

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In a Christian culture driven by answer-knowing and movement-making, we have largely become addicted to figuring out the way and ensuring that others are walking it as well in order to be counted faithful. An addict to this end herself, Britney Winn Lee is no stranger to the question posed by the lawmaker in the story of the Good Samaritan: "Teacher, what must I do . . . ?" Here, she takes us through her journey of becoming every character in the parable--from Priest to Innkeeper, from Robber to Wounded. Lee offers us an invitation to find ourselves in the story, be that in conservative evangelicalism, overseas missions, new monastic communities, cynical doubts, or the pain of postpartum depression and ministries ending. Her complicated road of theological deconstructions (expressed through narrative) exposes the harm that can be caused by a deep desire to do good as well as the mercy that can be found when all of one's religious paths and purposes are lost. "What does it look like to love one other after we've been stripped of pride and certainty, or knocked down by exhaustion and grief? In Deconstructed Do-Gooder, Britney Winn Lee invites us into her journey from bright-eyed optimism to holy hustle, and ultimately, to the acceptance that she is spectacularly human. Her story vibrates with tension and sparkles with ordinary life. In the end, she reminds us that surrendering to the gospel can only mean surrendering to mercy. I wish I'd read this decades ago." --Shannan Martin, author of The Ministry of Ordinary Places and Falling Free "This is a memoir of new monasticism, a work of narrative theology, a story of continual deconstruction and reconstruction. And in the end, it invites the reader to think about their own roles in this, the most famous story of Jesus. The hero, the villain--or something in between? May you read it, be encouraged, and consider what it might mean to work towards entire systems that are built to take care of our most vulnerable." --from the foreword by D.L. Mayfield, author of Assimilate or Go Home Britney Winn Lee is one of those rare voices in contemporary Christian discourse whose joyful truth-telling is as generous as her theology, who doesn't withhold grace. We need more of her. --Sarah Arthur, author of A Light So Lovely: The Spiritual Legacy of Madeleine L'Engle and A Wrinkle in Time Britney Winn Lee is a writer and community arts director for a United Methodist church in Shreveport, LA where she lives with her husband and son. Follow her on her blog at britneywinnlee.com.