This is a book for people who have left the church or are thinking about leaving the church. I am not planning on leaving the church, but am often frustrated by what the church has become, so I thought it would be an interesting read.
The author doesn't out and out say we should leave the church. He points out that there are benefits in both solitude with God and with community. And that Jesus sought both. What he does say is that, no matter where you worship and serve God, you should strive to live a "Jesus shaped life." We should be more concerned with thinking in terms of "if I spent three years with Jesus, what would I think about....", in other words, what did Jesus say about this situation and how did or would he respond than in church tradition that often doesn't reflect Jesus at all.
In describing why some people leave the church, I recognized myself several times. One was a feeling of being alone or isolated, even when in a big church with lots of stuff going on. Or being disillusioned when seeing a group of Christians being totally disrespectful and and inconsiderate and anything but examples of Christ like behavior. Interestingly, his example was of a youth group's behavior in a restaraunt toward non church members. Sadly, we all to often see that same unloving behavior inside the church doors toward our fellow church members.
At one point he says "I know a lot of church-leavers, and they aren't who you think. Many of them have left evangelical churches and found new homes in other Christian communities and traditions, often those that conservative Christians are convinced have "sold out" and gone "liberal". Later in the book he points out that the "map of truth" is not just the property of one kind of church. That there are many paths to the truth in both the evangelical and mainline traditions and that we often miss important truths by rejecting the other paths completely. This really hit home with me. My background includes paths in many different traditions and I value them all for what they bring to the table. While I disagree theologically with some of the beliefs of some of my friends in some of more mainline denominations, I often look at what their churches are doing and think that they are more on the mark for actually following Christ's example in serving mankind. I often struggle with that balance. Wishing that I could have the best of both worlds.
He encourages us not to judge those who have left the church and empowers those who chose to walk a different path. Reminding us that our main objective is to follow Jesus and to serve him no matter where we are. That we can worship and serve him in often unexpected ways.
I encourage everyone to pick up this book. Whether you are disillusioned with the church or not. It can serve as a mirror for to see where our priorities lie and whether our walk is patterned more after Jesus's ministry or whether our lives or more shaped by man's tradition.
To read chapter 1, follow this link.
Author Bio:
During the years when he was blogging as the Internet Monk (www.internetmonk.com), Michael Spencer was followed by hundreds of thousands of readers. He offered a lifeline to the spiritually dispossessed in his speaking, teaching, and writing. Michael graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College and earned a master’s degree in theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. For seventeen years, he taught Bible and served as campus minister at a Christian school in Kentucky. Michael passed away in April 2010.
The Internet Monk Blog
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.
