Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back To Jesus-Shaped Spirituality (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This. Book. Rocks. I think it's an important read for those considering leaving the church as well as folks that may be happily engaging in "churchianity" - and all those who fall in-between. Michael Spencer challenged me on a lot of fronts - not necessarily with new information, but in a way that I couldn't conveniently dismiss or discount. It resonated with the tugs (and sometimes head slaps) I've felt from Jesus while dealing with my frustrations in finding a church home. In 2011, I started on the path back to God after being effectively out of church for the better part of two decades. I still went to church occasionally, but I wasn't a regular attender and no longer a devoted follower of Jesus. I began attending church every week with my family, and began reading books about faith, and looking for podcasts to listen to on the commute to work and in the office. I came across Coffee Cup Apologetics from Michael Spencer and really enjoyed them. I even checked out his blog at InternetMonk.com and that is when I found out that he had passed away the year before. What a tragedy, because the man had wonderful insight about living out your faith in today's world.I finally got around to reading this book and really enjoyed it. You could tell that Michael's point-of-view was definitely one he had come to via the journey of his life, and I really appreciated that given my own meandering path back to grasping my faith with both hands.As Christians today we need to decide how we are going to use the Bible and Jesus' teachings, either as a blunt instrument to hit people with, or a salve to sooth the hurts in others caused from living in a broken world. Many people who have either been victims of the blunt instrument approach, or who frankly didn't know how to put on the facade that everything is right in the world could benefit from reading this book.My favorite quote in the book is as follows: "My humanity, my sin, it's all me. And I need Jesus to love me like I really am: brokenness, wounds, sin, addictions, lies, death, fear...all of it. Take all of it, Lord Jesus. If I don't present this broken, messed-up person to Jesus, my faith is dishonest, and my understanding of faith will become a way of continuing the ruse and pretense of being good." We have to come to God as we are, and we need fellow Christians to help us along the way, and not beat us into a state of being numb and walking away from church. Wounded soldiers on the battlefield do not cover up their wounds, they ask for treatment. Christians sometimes can act as if others should just grin and bear it and fight through it on their own, and that is to the detriment of us all.
What do You think about Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back To Jesus-Shaped Spirituality (2010)?
"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review"
—laurajean1
Michael Spencer has some timely things to say in this book.
—Cassandra
Michael Spencer "knows things". He is missed.
—gunja
