Jonathan Acuff is a phenomenon. His blog, Stuff Christians Like, launched in 2008 and his satirical wit has since attracted over 700,000 readers. This led to the Stuff Christians Like book, which promises to rock the bookstores upon its release in April of 2010. The SCL brand has become synonymous with hilarious insights on American Christian culture. (Check out my favorites: "Stuff Christians Like #550" : Surviving church as a single and "Stuff Christians Like #636" : Coming to church late.)
Recently, however, Jonathan stepped away from his irreverent hilarity to do something a bit more serious. He is using the Stuff Christians Like readership to raise $30,000 to build a kindergarten in Vietnam through Samaritan's Purse. His readers already donated the money for the first one, and the second one is in progress.
I am so fascinated by Jonathan's blog and so moved by this recent project that I decided to do an exclusive interview for the readers of JonathanMerritt.com:
JM: What inspired you to begin writing Stuff Christians Like? Any particular thing erk you into action?
JA: There was another really popular site called Stuff White People Like. I've always thought it was odd that we sometimes don't use our best creativity to celebrate the creator of creativity, God. We turn "Adidas" into "Add Jesus" or Burger King into "King of Kings." I thought it would be fun to talk about that problem but doing that, by essentially putting a God spin on a popular secular idea. I thought it would be one of many, many, many dumb ideas I've registered on godaddy and never did anything with. But for some reason, God blew up way beyond any degree of talent or coolness I have. And I've been hanging on ever sense.
JM: They say the best comedy is true experience. Do you pull a lot of your material from your childhood and firsthand forays into Christian culture? What is your deepest well for material?
JA: You are dead on. The best comedy comes from a place of honesty. My dad is a pastor so I write about the things I experienced growing up. If an idea isn't something I've lived personally, I usually ask guest writers to share from their story.
JM: What are your plans after this book launches? Can we expect a Stuff Christians Like 2 or do you plan to break out of that mold and go rogue?
JA: I can't promise you that there won't be a "Stuff Christian Teens Like" or "Stuff Christian Singles Like" or "Stuff Red Headed Uncle's with knife scars on their right cheek Like." But I am working on a second book right now that jumps outside of the Stuff Christians Like concept and explores some new ideas.
JM: On a serious note, you recently launched a campaign to raise $30,000 to build a kindergarten in Vietnam. What was your inspiration for an undertaking of this size?
JA: My six year old daughter. She saw a photo of a starving child and said “That’s not real though. That’s pretend right?” Her question really challenged what things in the world I accepted as OK or right. So I blogged about it and the readers of Stuff Christians Like raised $30,000 in 18 hours. Just blew me away. We're raising an additional $30,000 right now for a second school. Here's the link to donate in case anyone is interested: http://www.firstgiving.com/SCL
JM: There are so many justice/relief/poverty organizations around these days. Why did you choose Samaritan's Purse for your project?
JA: We've given to them as a family for three or four years. I like the heart of what they do and when I interviewed them I really felt like they got what I was trying to do.
Donate as much as you can to help build a school in Vietnam.
Pre-Order Jonathan's book on Amazon.
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