Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion

Continuing on my Kevin DeYoung kick, I recently read Why We Love the Church, his 2nd co-authored book with Ted Kluck in response to the Emergent church movement. The first of which was Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be. I have come to really respect DeYoung; he is a well thought out, well researched, Christ-centered writer. He is readable, respectful, and can make just about any topic interesting. Case in point: The two books I've read of his have been about decision making and church institutions.

But, enough about DeYoung, let's get to the book. This is much more a response to the faulty, unbiblical teaching of Emergent Christianity, than it is anything else. It delves into why books like Revolution by George Barna, Life After Church by Brian Sanders, and even a book called The Gospel According to Starbucks by Leonard Sweet are off-base and out of touch with God's true desire for Christian community and His bride, the Church. The essence of the Emergent movement is that the church (small c) is old, stale and irrelevant. Leaders even go as far as to say, Jesus' true desire for His Church (big c) is that they experience Him in real community--often small group, house church community or golf course community--outside of the church building. They would rather drink coffee at Starbucks and talk vaguely about God, than step foot in a institution with rules and regulations. To them, going to a church building is all bad and stepping out into a small community of Christian believers with no real structure is all good.

The two authors, DeYoung, the lead pastor of a church in East Lansing Michigan, and Kluck, a church laymen and sports writer, spend most of their time deconstructing the life-after-the-church mindset, warning of the dangers and presenting clear Biblical evidence for why Jesus does in fact like the "boring" parts of church--the institution, structure and hierarchy. They admit the church is not a perfect organism, but frankly, it is made up of all sinners and it will, therefore, have lots of room to grow into a more Christ-like thing. They contend the church does a lot of good and give many examples of this.

As for my opinion, I found this to be a worthwhile read. I didn't expect it to be such a drawn out critique on the Emergent movement, as I thought that was what their first book was about, but I did find it to be pertinent to a culture that looks for the easy way out (read: let's go hiking and talk about God's creation, rather than sit in a pew and sing the same old worship set). I think they boldly, yet tactfully, made their point. I leave you with one of their concluding thoughts that I liked:

"It's easy for the church to be blind to her failings. But it's also easy and borderline slanderous to constantly berate the church for all her failures as if she cared for no one, helped no one, and made no difference for anyone anywhere." (page 222)

"Church Doctrine" (3.5 of 5 STARS)

- ae

Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will

I thought I would finally write a review on the book I've been quite obsessed with the last 2 months. In fact, to give you an idea of how obsessed I have been, I have been going through this book in discipleship with six of my guys, along with doing a seminar based upon it at U of I Cru's Fall Getaway, among many other plugs to anyone that will listen to me :-)

The main thrust of DeYoung's book on Godly decision-making is that God cares much more about how we make a decision and much less about what our decision ends up being. The catch is, if our decision involves sin or sinful motives, by no means is that where God's will would have you go. God cares most that we love Him and walk with Him, living daily by going to the cross of Jesus, worshiping Him for who He is and for saving us from our sinfulness, raising us into a righteous standing before a perfect God. If we are doing this, which very much involves seeking Him, we are free to make choices in our lives.

According to the author, God is not going to give you a "yes" or a "no" answer for the everyday decisions we face. The same goes for big decisions in our lives, such as who we marry, what career to take, and when to buy a house or have children. The key here is that God promises to lead us by the Holy Spirit as Christians, but He never promises to give direct answers. Moreover, there is not a corn maze for us to track down God's will for our lives. His will and what He most desires is that we walk a life devoted to Christ. As for where he wills us to go directionally, he doesn't so much care. Now, of course, the God of the Universe cares for us, but at the end of the day, if you are not in sin, walking in manner worthy of His calling, he doesn't care what you choose.

Isn't that refreshing?!?! Personally, I think this is the biggest insight of the entire book and it is truly liberating, as the subtitle tells us the book will be! Our lives do not have to be an exhausting search for God's will for our lives. He doesn't have a hidden path, filled with secret Bible verses, that he expects us to miraculously discover.

I would highly recommend this short read for everyone out their that faces decisions, which means you! It is a quick, engaging read that you will not be able to put down.

"Christian Living/Practical Life/Decision Making" (5 of 5 STARS)

Death by Love: Letters from the Cross

As I began reading this book, it quickly became apparent to me that Driscoll's writing style is much more pastoral than I would have expected. This book, heavily due to that fact, quickly became one of my favorite books long before I finished the last page. The combination of cross-centered theology and practical application of the gospel is far unmatched by any other book I've read. In fact, Driscoll is so real and caring for those he is ministering to, both inside and outside of the book, that you get a real taste for his heart as a pastor. His minister's heart, interwoven through the text of this book, is one thing I came to really respect.

The book consists of twelve letters written to twelve individuals, meant to witness gospel truths to ways they have sinned, been sinned against, or both. For example, in one letter written to a man named David, a man who would call himself a Christian because he follows all the rules of Christianity (good morals, basically), the author writes of how only Jesus' righteousness and work on the cross could save David. There is nothing he can do, even by what he thinks to be "good" morals, as his self-righteousness, no matter how good, will get him nowhere with God.

Through some of the most real and devastating sins--rape, molestation, pride, violent abuse--Jesus' person and work on the cross are appropriately applied. In the book's simplest form, Jesus dying on the cross and resurrecting from the grave is the solution to any sin of man, even the most dark and horrific. After all, the killing of a perfect man was one of the most dark and horrific events in history, but Jesus came for this very purpose, to love wicked man enough to die the death he deserved.

This pastoral book helped me to see Pastor Mark minister to those in and around his church in an astounding way. He was bold, yet gentle; forthright, yet truthful; and even blunt, yet filled with the grace of Christ. Each person he ministers to is done so with an appropriate signpost, if you will, pointing to Jesus. The harsher the sin, the harsher the message. This is not to say that all sins are evaluated differently in God's eyes; they are not. Each sin does, though, have differing earthly consequences, especially as to who they affect.

Another big positive to this book, is its Christology, or theology of Christ, which is applied to real-life situations in a way that would minister to any reading heart. What Jesus has done for all of mankind is made new and understandable. Through twelve unique people and their stories, it is sure to impress the gospel on you in significant ways.

It is for these very reasons that I would give "Death by Love" my highest recommendation. It does just what it is categorized to do: Make theology practical. Jesus' act of reconciling, revealing, sacrificing, atoning and much, much more will be a lot more clear and visible after reading this book.

"Theology/Practical Life" (5 of 5 STARS)