Mere Churchianity - By Michael Spencer

Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality

Michael Spencer, known on his blog as the Internet Monk asks, "Have you left the church in search of Jesus?" Spencer says, "In seeking to be a "good" Christian, I was deserting the truth that there is no gospel for "good" Christians, because the Lamb of God was nailed to an alter for those who are no good at pretending to be good. The exhausting effort to be a good Christian denies Christ. If you insist on securing your own holiness and acceptability, you disqualify your-self from receiving anything from Jesus. He came to the earth to save sinners, not good Christians."

While I loved this book, I'm not sure I agreed with everything he says. This is the type of book that really makes you think about things.  I liked that he challenges Christians to focus on the main point of the gospel which is Jesus.  I don't think we need to leave the church, or "churchianity" to do this. The church is not perfect.  But sadly, sometimes the church can start selling you "the church" and not Jesus.  Instead, Spencer recommends what he calls "Jesus-shaped spirituallity".

Disclaimer: I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah as part of their Blogging for Books program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.