Recommended Read: Letters to the Church, Francis Chan

Church Hurt is real.

I hate the way people want to minimize the hurt people have endured while attending their local church.  By not addressing some of the toxic behaviors that are found in many church cultures, we cannot change the culture of the church so that we can become known for our love.

Jesus said, "They shall know you are my disciples by my Love"

I think the disconnect comes because people aren't clear on the church's mission.  Church has become a social activity, a social club, and/or a place to practice our rituals, ceremonies, and rites.  It's no longer a living organism empowered by the Holy Spirit where the community of believers gets together to be devoted to the Lord's teaching and fellowship like they did in the book of Acts.

What would happen if we decided to follow the model of the church in the book of Acts?  Not the superficial shallow nonsense of limiting that to worship services (which we have no record of) but following the model of devoting ourselves to Biblical teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer.  We would have everything in common and be joyful about being generous.  (Acts 2:42-47)

I believe this is the point that Francis Chan is making in his excellent book:  Letters to the Church.

Chan's story is one that many one time church refugees like myself can relate to.  He left his megachurch that he founded in Southern California to go on a journey with the Lord.  He now heads up  a network of House Churches with a home base in my hometown of San Francisco.

A call to embrace suffering and persecution

What do you think would happen if a Pastor got up and started preaching about how we should pray for more suffering and persecution.  We should be EXCITED when there is persecution and suffering because we're sharing in the suffering of our Lord Jesus.

I bet the audience would be shaking their heads and attendance would start to decline.

In one of my classes, the teacher said some of the fruit of those with higher callings is: "Willing to Suffer".  There was an audible groan in the class.  I know one of those was mine.  Here's the thing:  We see these preachers with their perfect social media lives and listening to all these prosperity messages but what about what's going on with believers in other parts of the world?  What about those in China who risk jail or death for worshiping the Lord?

In the book he addresses how believers in other places start to groan when their churches take on the characteristics of American Christianity.  People become comfortable and the enthusiasm starts to wane.

I think this book really calls on believers to re-examine what the church is supposed to be about.

This Book is Not to Bash the Church

If you're looking for a book to bash the church and to talk about everything that it's doing wrong, this isn't it.  Sure Francis Chan points out some pitfalls of the church but he's doing it more out of love than criticism.

Founding Shiloh Pastor Violet Kiteley used to say that: The new wine is found in the cluster.  I truly believe that.  I believe there is power in the cluster of the church so I'm not sold on Chan's model of House churches and someone I know who participated said that they didn't connect well with it.  

I do believe in the power of smaller groups but there is so much POWER when the multitudes enter into worship TOGETHER.

The Church of Jesus Christ is experiencing an awakening in this hour and I think this book captures the improvements that we can make and points to how we can get back on track.

I heard Francis Chan speak at a conference and as he says: We may not all agree on doctrine and shall we be so arrogant to say that we are the only ones who are right?  We need to stop bickering, come together, and unite for the common goal of seeing people saved and set free because the alternative is much worse than bickering over traditions.