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Book Review- Why We Love the Church

We live in a Christian culture that has helped make The Shack a runaway bestseller. This book has enough theological bones in the proverbial fish to choke any unsuspecting reader.  Among the subtle slights of theological hand wielded by the author of this fiction is his assessment and dismissal of the church.  On page 162, Kevin DeYoung observes:

“In the runaway bestseller The Shack, the Jesus character explains that he doesn’t like religion and he doesn’t create institutions.  The church we see is only a man-made system.  The church I came to build, Jesus tells us, is ‘all about relationships and simply sharing your life.”‘

Now go ahead and couple this view of the church with the energy of the emerging and house church movements that eschew organization & institution almost as much as they do suits and ties and you see an undercurrent of evangelicalism that is wearing away at the base of the church, which is the bride of Christ.  It is dangerous and troubling to think that the centers of influence in Christian thinking are trying to trade the bride of Christ into a more contemporary sexy model of herself.  We are supposed to call out 50 year old husbands for doing that and we need to do the same to professing Christians.

Enter Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck with their new book Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion. These guys are concerned churchmen who are trying to remind Christians of the importance of the church.  The authors attend the same local church in Michigan.  DeYoung is the pastor and Kluck, a layman (for lack of a better term).  I think this is a great fit in light of the topic they address.  It provides a real life context to hang their honesty and passion for Christ’s church.  They write as Christian men who are firmly convinced of the value, relevance, and beauty of the church.

The authors previously teamed up in Why We Are Not Emergent and did a terrific job pointing out various concerns within that movement.  Now, teaming up again, they write this much needed book for this time.

They write with clarity, passion, humor, honesty, and an edge.  They are informed about the issues surrounding the contemporary church and they seek to faithfully and honestly interact with them.  They spend time interacting with books from the popular voices such as Dan Kimball, Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren, George Barna and Frank Viola (not the former baseball player).  In their interaction I found them thoughful, fair and biblical.  Their graciousness with discernment are an instructive and refreshing model in such discussions.

They disclose that the book is written for four kinds of people:

  1. The Committed: Those that attend regularly and are on the team.  The hope is that the book will encourage further faithfulness and equip them with a thoughtful response to those with church related issues.
  2. The Disgruntled: Those who are frustrated with the lack of overall impact.  The aim is to show that frustration is often out of proportion.
  3. The Waffling: Those who not involved in the church and see no problem with checking out and watching NFL Live might be more interesting and beneficial.  The aim is to show that this is unbiblical and harmful to the soul.
  4. The Disconnected: Those who have left the church in their quest for God.  They are exploring new ways of spirituality. The aim is to show what the Bible says about the church.

And then they operate within the framework of objections to the church.  There are four categories here:

  1. The Missiological: The church does not work.  It is not having an impact therefore we need to make some significant changes, maybe even a complete different entity.
  2. The Personal:  In many people’s view the church has offended everyone.  The church has an image problem.  It is just a bunch of right wing Republicans.  Without fixing the image there will be no effectiveness.
  3. The Historical: The current version of the church with its buildings, pastors, liturgies, offerings, etc are not like the early church and so therefore it is not right.  We have been corrupted beyond recognition.
  4. The Theological: Many people believe that ‘church’ is just plural for Christian.  All we need are a few Christians together and we have a church.  The church is reduced to just loving Jesus and other people.

This really is the framework and the tone of the book.  The authors are fresh, clear, and compelling.  As a Christian and a pastor who loves the church I can say that was refreshed and encouraged by the book.  I heartily recommend it even if you are not in the midst of a debate with those who devalue the church; it is good with or without the controversy.

Why We Love the Church is available for a discounted price at Westminster Books or Amazon.

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