Book Review: Real Church – does it exist? can I find it?

I’ve read a pretty tall stack of books lately on “how to do church” and “how to be a better Christian.”  Thanks to Thomas Nelson, I was able to add Larry Crabb’s book Real Church to my stack.  The only other book I’ve read of his was Papa Prayer.  And it was good in concept and I liked the theology, but a bit awkward in the “PAPA” alliteration and the actual prayer instructions didn’t stick for me. 

I’m not sure what I expected from this book.  I thought Crabb wrote books on Biblical counseling, which is not an area of interest for me.  But I like books that explore ecclesiology, and this one sounded controversial and exciting, perhaps trash-talking some groups and promoting others.

 

But it isn’t much like that.  This is more like sections from his private journal, interspersed with essays on ideal Christianity.  Essentially, Crabb is tired of church.  He isn’t tired of a particular style – he’s tired of all of them.  Why?  Because they don’t help him where he needs help the most – how to overcome the deep self-addiction and loneliness he feels.  Crabb discusses the types of church that don’t work, and further explores how he is often spiritually empty.  The meat of the book is his very clear, very encouraging discussion of what the church does need to do for its community.  In my words, he decides:

1. A real church explains the full Bible as a story of God’s love – which includes the character of God, the grace of the gospel, and our proper response through the Holy Spirit.
2. A real church demands that its members lovingly confront their own and each others’ selfishness, and encourage each other to mature.
3. A real church demands that its community practice forgiveness, unity, grace and love with each other, through all our human weaknesses.
4. A real church sends out its community to work for God’s kingdom here, expanding God’s rule in both evangelism and justice.

The parts of the book that most resonated with me:

• Crabb’s honesty about how he feels isolated.  And that someone who is dedicated to being like Christ may not feel that empty space filled with God, but instead learns to hope and trust for the eternal fulfillment of the kingdom to come.  And it’s our temptation to fill that empty space now that is the addiction all Christians struggle with.
• Standard church activities of singing and listening to sermons do not provide the painful training needed for real spiritual growth.  Real spiritual formation requires me to honestly articulate where I am now and humbly accept instruction from actual friends about how to move to be whom I want to be.
• “Missional” ministry only moves beyond humanist morality when it comes from a community of believers who are seeking loving unity and spiritual growth within themselves first and concurrently.

This book is honest, clearly articulated, and has valuable insights about what a strong Christian community would look like (plus he cites Gerald Sittser’s Water from a Deep Well, which I love).  I highly recommend this book to all Christians, but especially to pastors and small group leaders who ache for for a Christianity that moves beyond Sunday morning.