Weekend Reads: Go to church ... and what to do when you get there

I am a seminary graduate. Many of my friends are pastors. I preach at least twice a month. And I learned a great deal from Josh Moody’s How Church Can Change Your Life: Answers to the Ten Most Common Questions about Church (Christian Focus, 2015). That’s because Moody doesn’t ask “how,” but tells “why.” Why should you go to church? Ultimately, the answer is that you can meet Jesus there. Church is not a continuation of Jesus or a substitute for Jesus. It is a way—the God-ordained way—of getting to know Jesus.

Moody’s key insight is that preaching is the living voice of Christ speaking in His church: “Biblical preaching is important because it is Jesus’ way to meet with his people and show us his glory, his beauty, his love, and help us to be captivated by who he is.” So when you listen to a sermon, you are not comparing this sermon to other sermons, or to what you would say about the passage if you had the chance. You listen to preaching because it is what Jesus has to say to you at a particular moment. Thus, Moody writes, “Churches are not meant to be led by administrative geniuses with fancily marketed programmes for all ages; they are meant to be led by Christ through his Word, which means that preaching is centrally important.”

With that focus on the preaching of the Word come excellent short chapters on the sacraments—and on other things that are often hard to find good answers on. Do I need to go to church if I am Christian? Moody’s answer: Does a severed hand need to be reattached to the body?

To those who wonder which church is the true church, Moody points out that Jesus founded the church on the confession of Jesus as the Messiah. He adds that ancient churches like the Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian, “churches in South India that traced their origin, they claimed, to Thomas … and Celtic churches in Britain that went back before the beginning of Roman Catholicism in that country” underscore the pluriformity of the church since New Testament times. “Finding a single stream of the one true church organizationally seem[s] incredibly unlikely—quite irrational.” But finding a church that confesses and proclaims Jesus as Messiah? That’s very possible.

Thom S. Rainer, who inspired many Christians with I Am a Church Member, has returned to the theme with I Will: Nine Traits of the Outwardly Focused Christian (B&H, 2015). It is not enough to bea member; one must fulfill that commitment with action.

Rainer’s major concern is with consumeristic Christians—people who are in a church for what they can get out of it. Those people will not be joyous church members. But those who are in a church for the sake of worshipping God and growing in their walk with Christ will find much joy in serving. Rainer asks readers to make the commitment: “I will serve. I will go. I will give generously.” Moody’s advice parallels Rainer’s: When serving in the church, “Ask yourself not, ‘What can I do that’s really cool?’ but ‘What can I do to help out?’”

Rainer’s research has found that people who come to worship and to a small group (e.g., a Sunday school class) are five times more likely stay in church long-term than those who come only to worship. And 80 percent of unchurched people will come to church if someone invites them.

Church can change your life—but that change will only last if you remain attached to the body, continually getting to know Jesus better.