I’m reading a new book entitled Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Cluck. It is such a great book! I cannot recommend it highly enough. If you’ve given up on church, or are disillusioned with it, if you’re tired or thrilled with church this book will be worth your time.
Here’s just one excerpt:
“…The church has often been despised. It would be wrong to wear unpopularity as a sure marker of faithfulness. But by the same token, we should not assume we have failed just because outsiders dislike us. It is well known that the Romans despised the early Christians. They were considered odd, unlearned, ungodly, culturally lowbrow, and socially unprofitable. The Romans thought the Christians practiced cannibalism because they ate the body and drank the blood of Jesus. Some thought they were incestuous because they called each other 'brother' and 'sister' and took part in love feasts. Others thought they were atheists because they had no icons for their God….Their early press was uniformly bad. It can be helpful to know how others perceive us, but not always. In our self-esteem-oriented, easily offended, suffering-adverse world, I fear that the church is too eager to be liked….Of course Christianity has an ‘image problem.’ At times, this is our own fault. But at other times, our lack of an image has been just as damning. We’ve been indistinct from the world with nothing to set us apart, nothing to suggest a transformed life or renewed thinking bound by the Word of God.”
Get a cup of coffee, crack open this book, and enjoy the fall weather!
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