“Why church matters” by Joshua Harris is a 140 page
book made up of 7 chapters addressing the issue of the local church and why
becoming a passionate, committed, member of the local body is important.
In chapter 1 the author
speaks about his past experiences going to church and how he felt about it at
one time. He also begins to discuss what the rest of the book will be about and
uses the idea of a relationship to relate how many people flirt with the church
but are not committed or passionate about the local church. He speaks about
people dating the church and encourages people instead to “marry the church”.
In chapter 2 he relates
how he felt at his own weeding and how he feels about his bride walking down
the aisle and then relates that to how Christ feels about his bride, the
church. He also states the goal of the book on page 21 where he says “My goal
in this book is to help you get connected and committed to a solid local
church.”
He also makes some
comments on denominations and how different denominations can be “united” by
holding to the major things (doctrines) that really matter and having an attitude
of grace on those things that don’t matter but of course there are different denominations
because they don’t see things the same and/or hold certain doctrines to be
essential while others see them as secondary and nonessential. The good news
here is he doesn’t really get too involved with this and so we can simply read
through this section without paying too much attention to it.
I do like what he says on
page 30 concerning the love Jesus has for the church. He says “If Jesus loves
the church, you and I should, too.” I agree and there is way too much church
bashing going on by those in the church. Really good point, I though.
In chapter 3 he discuss
the attitude many have today about going to a local church. Many people feel
that they can be Christians and worship God on their own and never be part of a
local body. It’s as if they think the local church was invented by men and not a
God ordained institution. The author shows that this is simply wrong and
unbiblical. On page 40 he says this “The longer I’m a Christian the more aware
I become that I cannot live the Christian life on my own.”
In chapter 4 he deals
with passion and commitment and tells the story of a man he knows who is a
Christian but this man loves his Jeep and even joined a “Jeep club”. He tells how
this man spent all his time thinking about and doing things with his Jeep and
the Jeep club. The author points out that the things we talk about and are consumed
with are the things we have passion for and are committed to. He urges us to
have passion and commitment for the local church and then goes on to give
suggestions on how to cultivate this.
Chapter 5 is all about
what to look for in a local church. For example he says to seek out a church “…where
God’s word is faithfully taught…” and another question to ask is “Is this a
church that is willing to kick me out?” and of course that question has to do
with leadership holding people accountable and not allowing open sin to go
unchecked.
Chapter 6 was an
interesting chapter dealing with how to make Sunday the best day of the week.
On page 94 he says “My premise in this chapter is that you and I are very likely
to be missing out on God’s best for the day (Sunday) unless we learn to build
our week around Sunday, and not the other way around.”He goes on to suggest
some ways in which we might prepare to worship and enjoy Sunday. One suggestion
he gives is to turn the TV off on Saturday night and to read the scriptures and
pray so we prepare our hearts and our minds for the following day. I liked this
suggestion and will give serious consideration to it.
Chapter 7 is simply the
concluding thoughts of the author and his wrapping up the book.
In the end I enjoyed
reading this book. It’s small and easy to read. I spent one afternoon reading
it. There are some issues related to worship and doctrine that I didn’t agree
with or that weren’t given a very full discussion but this isn’t a book that is
really dealing with those subjects so I found it easy to read through and not
get bogged down with those issues. He simply doesn’t spend a lot of time
talking about those other things.
So, I enjoyed the book
and would recommend it to anyone who has had a bad experience with a local
church and now doesn’t attend or to the person who simply thinks they don’t
need the local church and can go it alone. I also think that anyone who is
already attending a local church can gain some wonderful insights or maybe a renewed
respect and appreciation for the local church.
A great book reminding us “why church matters”.
Disclosure of Material: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah
Publishing Group for this review, which requires an honest, though not
necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am
disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16,
Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in
Advertising.”
