The Gospel According To...

Have any of you read a book that has "The Gospel According to" in the title?  It could be anything from "The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss" to "The Gospel According to Starwars: Faith, Hope, and the Force" to even "The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living Life with a Grande Passion".  The only book I'm not including in this list is "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" (Lamb).  With the exception of Lamb, the books in the "Gospel According to" category seem to be attempts at highlighting connections (intentional or not) between something that is popular in secular culture and the Bible.

A quick search on Amazon for "The Gospel According to" got over 28,000 results.  I've never read any of these books, so I'm not entirely sure what to make of them.  Usually, I'm all for analogies, but I wonder if these books may be trying to hard and "forcing" a connection where none really exists.

On Sunday morning, I will stand in the middle of my church and say, "The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John." A short while later, I will attempt to make connections between the Gospel and our life today.  Will my analogies be appropriate, or will I end up forcing some obscure connection that doesn't truly fit?

We are currently living in a society that is telling us Church is becoming less and less relevant to our lives.  Do we do what the Church has done in the past and start assimilating secular practices into what it means to be part of the Church?  At what point do we draw the line and let the Gospel speak for itself?

I'm afraid I don't really have answers to any of these questions.  Today is just a day of questions.  If you figure out any answers, let me know.