Book Review: "Change Your Church For Good"

"The church in America is dying." This is the declaration we have been hearing for decades now, from everyone from modern/emergent types like Brian McLaren, conservative/traditional folks like Wayne Grudem and R.C. Sproul, and even secular sociologists and university types. While Christianity is exploding throughout the rest of the world (Korea, Africa, and South America, in particular), the U.S. has moved into the "post-Christian" category. Heck, China has more self-identified "Christians" than the U.S. now! Church attendance is down, particularly among younger generations, and more and more Americans are turning to an egalitarian "spirituality," not Jesus.

This is a problem that Brad Powell, the author of "Change Your Church For Good," desires to tackle. This book is aimed at American churches who feel stuck in their ways, out of touch with culture, and dying on the vine. He identifies the problem(s) as being an internal issue for the church; the problem is not God, or the Gospel, or even the "world" and their sinfulness. Powell does a great job of talking about the problems in the modern American church without it coming across as hopeless, overly-critical, or just piling on. While I may disagree with him about some of the solutions to the problems, his heart comes across as genuine and hopeful.

In many ways, this book feels about 20 years too late. It feels like it belongs to the stream of 80's and 90's make-your-church-super-exciting-and-more-consumer-oriented-to-create-a-bigger-draw-for-the-people-in-your-city type of books. He makes repeated calls to do away with the "man-made traditions" of the past while embracing newer forms of technology, music, and services. While I appreciate and respect the evangelical mindset (a tradition to which I proudly belong), I don't believe that the solutions are primarily solved through the activities, structure, and flow of our Sunday service. While heart issues are most definitely discussed, it feels like there is"Change..." seems to put a high emphasis on physical/practicial (superficial?) solutions to the problem of the dying church.

To give you one example of how this comes across in the book, Powell talks at one point of wanting to make people feel welcome in the church building for Sunday services. He speaks of churches that have signs hanging on their walls: "no food or drink in the sanctuary," "no gum," or "no running in the auditorium." These signs, he postulates, make people feel more like they are "in a museum" and not a warm, inviting place. The solution? Install cup holders in the seating so people feel free to bring their drinks in the services. While I 100% agree with the author that we should never "care more about [our] carpeting than people" and that "God intended the church to be about people, not place," my belief is that cup holder solution is only a band-aid, at best, for a society that is entirely too self-focused and consumeristic. (At least I feel too self-focused and consumeristic...)

This book does have several strengths, mainly in the call to speak the language of the culture without compromising the essential truths of the Christian faith. He (mildly) calls out both seeker-sensitive-evangelical churches as well as liberal-progressive-don't-offend-anyone churches. I fully agree with the author's conclusion that Biblical truths and cultural relevance are not mutually exclusive. Call us crazy, but people like Powell and myself truly want to have our cake and eat it too: love, forgiveness and acceptance holding hands with truth and transformation.

If anyone has read the book "Unchristian" by Kinnaman & Lyons, they will no doubt detect resonances of their work in this book. Where "Unchristian" comes across as a work of statistics and sociology, this book comes across as much more accessible and pastoral. The writing style is easy to follow, and the chapters are organized well enough to communicate the author's main thoughts. Overall, I found this book to be insightful, but not revolutionary. While I appreciate Powell's call for the church to look in the mirror and come to grips with the need for change, I found the solutions offered to be far too thin. By way of analogy, it would be like me looking in the mirror, recognizing that there is a problem, and then deciding to change my wardrobe and hair, not to exercise and eat healthy. This book does not address issues at a deep enough level for it to receive a truly enthusiastic review from this humble blogger. :)

* I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for a fair review. I was not required to give a positive review of this book.