What should the Church be and do?
The following is a short list of books about what the church should be and do.
Church Growth Flywheel
Book of Church Order
Autopsy of a Deceased Church
Total Church
Small Church Essentials
Reimagining Church
Vertical Church
Purpose Driven Church
House Church
Unchurching
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church
Sticky Church
The Church of Mercy
The Prayer Saturated Church
The Church on the Move
The Homeless Church
Starting a New Church from Scratch
The Apostolic Church Arising
The Master’s Plan for the Church
Simple Church
The Unstuck Church
Church Unique
Center Church
Messy Church
The Forgotten Church
Weird Church
Everyday Church
The Emotionally Healthy Church
The Church of Irresistible Influence
The Antidote for the Luke Warm Church
The Mentoring Church
Word-Centered Church
Slow Church
Who Broke My Church?
Rich Church Poor Church
Who Stole My Church?
Disappearing Church
You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church
The Volunteer Church
Renovation of the Church
Five Star Church
Seven Practices for the Church on Mission
The Externally Focused Church
Real Good Church
Divergent Church
Blue Prints for the Little Church
The Strategically Small Church
Growing an Engaged Church
The Prodigal Church
Becoming a Contagious Church
The Replanted Church
Outgrowing the Ingrown Church
The Unexplainable Church
The Lifesaving Church
The Business of the Church
Sailboat Church
The Triumphant Church
Letters to a Diminished Church
Breakout Churches
Barefoot Church
Twelve Keys to an Effective Church
The Neighboring Church
The Teaming Church
The Spirit-Filled Church
The Connected Church
The Church That Works
Introducing the Missional Church
Small Church Checkup
Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church
The Multi-Site Church Revolution
Developing a Powerful Praying Church
Transformational Church
Leading the Team-Based Church
When God Builds a Church
Church Shift
Church 3.0
What Is a Healthy Church?
Deep Church
The Blessed Church
The Church That Never Sleeps
The Social Church
The Passionate Church
The Connecting Church 2.0
Starting Missional Churches
Church Zero
Marketing the Church
Selling Out the Church
Smart Church
And there are lots and lots more books on the church out there.
Before we go any further, let me say this: I have no opinion—for good or bad—about any the books listed above. For the most part, I've not read them. Yet, I'm almost certain that you'd find something helpful in most—if not all—them.
I'm just making this point: There are so many ideas about church and what she should be and do.
But think with me here a bit.
If we don't have the right mission, we'll spend all our time inventing a church the Bible doesn't substantiate.
And the only way to have the right mission is to have the right person—Jesus—the Jesus of the Bible.
Our ecclesiology must be informed by correct missiology—and our missiology must be centered on the person of Jesus Christ—as found in the Bible.
Is it?
Or are we just thinking up cool ways to do church without any real sense of the mission, method, character, and priorities of Jesus?
That's a fair question and I ask it without any animosity or finger-pointing.
Why do I ask it?
Because we've been warned: we "must be very careful." It's not "our" church. It's Jesus' church.
"Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ." —Paul, 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 (bold mine)
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