CNG

I started reading a book on the weekend called 'No more Christian nice guy'. I must confess that I'm a bit sceptical of the book, and assume it'll be just another 'fad' in the Christian literature department. Probably one of those books that could have been condensed quite well, eliminated fluff, and just saying it as it is... Anyway, Dave.T. bought it for me, and read a paragraph to me last week. This is the paragraph he read to me:

A woman likes her Christian boyfriend, but can't deny the lack of some necessary spark. She feels horrible, perhaps even ashamed that it's not there; wonders if there's something wrong with her, not him. She practices in her mind those dreaded words to say and hear: "Can't we just be friends?" or "You have a great personality, but..." The christian nice guy thinks to himself, 'Dogs have personalities too.' He secretly loathes that this always happens to him, and he blames God (though he tries to be nice about it). 'How come Nice Guys don't get the girl?' he asks himself in smoldering resentment.

That doesn't ring any bells at all. I'll be honest, in the whole post breakup analysis that I've been going through lately, me being a 'nice guy' and that being the source of my demise never really occured to me. I'm sure there's a certain element of that to it, but to say things didn't work out because I'm a nice guy would be too simplistic. It's a way more complicated situation than that, obviously. There was a girl involved. 'nuff said...
So, as I read this book, I'm being rather cautious with it, wearing my 'critical thinking cap'. The book goes on to describe the not so nice guy qualities of Jesus, the stuff that doesn't usually make it to Sunday school. Sure he had children come up to him and sit on his knee while he told them stories, but he also called people names, made wine, hung out with 'sinners', turned over tables, etc. He had balance though, which was the key.