The Ideal Church?

I’m in the midst of reading Brett McCracken’s book, Uncomfortable:  The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community. McCracken is a 30-something Christ-follower who brings a bold challenge against the consumer mindset that’s killing so many Christians and churches.  Here are a few quotations to ponder:

“This book is about the comforting gospel of Jesus Christ that leads us to live uncomfortable lives for him” (p. 25).  “Are you willing to lay aside your ‘dream church’ consumer fantasies and accept the hard-to-stomach truths and awkward requirements of locking arms with weird people in common pursuit of Jesus?” (27).

“The number of people in the United States who call themselves Christians is shrinking.  And that’s a good thing” (34).  It’s good because there’s a “healthy pruning away of the mutant and neutered forms of it [i.e., American Christianity] that are easily abandoned when they become culturally inconvenient or unfashionable” (35-6).  This dying away of cultural religion gives genuine followers of Jesus an opportunity to show the true gospel to the world.

Authentic Christianity focuses attention on that rugged, disturbing cross.  “To be a follower of Christ is to join his journey of abandon­ing comfort and enduring suffering, a journey that is foolishness in the eyes of the world” (46).  Jesus calls us to take up our cross (Luke 9:23-24).

The trajectory of the Christian life follows the way of Jesus—the path of descent in humility which ultimately leads to the ascent into glory (Philippians 2:5-11).  “Like Christ, we descend to ascend” (56).  And what’s more, “Every loss is worth the gain of Christ.”

McCracken is frank about the quirks of church life.  “We should not expect our church, or any church, to be free of people who annoy us” (124).  Churches, like families, are supposed to have a wild array of personalities—and yes, they’ll clash.  The Lord will use our Christ-like way of treating each other in tense times for his honor.

And about diversity:  “Paul’s vision of the church is not a melting pot as much as a salad bowl, where the different flavors and textures are all there, complementing one another and working together to create a dynamic, surprising, and beautiful entree” (138).  He has many words of warning against thinking we need to find a church that “suits me” and “fits me.”  Our natural impulse will be to gravitate toward others who are just like us—and yet the Lord has something much better for us in the beautiful diversity of the body of Christ.

When it comes to worship, a humble heart means everything.  “We should not let our worship preferences get in the way of our worship participation” (149).  “What would happen if we put aside our pickiness and just sang our hearts out?” (150).  A humble and submissive posture “is the heart and soul of Christian worship because it reflects the deferential character of Christ himself” (153).

I could go on, but for now I’m sure this will give you a feel for the book.  McCracken shares about the main message here, and the publisher provides a creative video intro to the book here.  I encourage you to read this book—join me reading, and reflecting, and praying for the Lord’s gracious and uncomfortable good work in our church!