The Reason for Church

Why the Body of Christ Still Matters in an Age of Anxiety, Division, and Radical Individualism

De: Brad Edwards, Michael Keller - introduction

Narrado por: Mark Smeby

Rediscover the goodness and beauty of the Body of Christ.

The evangelical church is hemorrhaging. Over 40 million Americans have dechurched in the last 25 years alone, and multiple generations have been raised to believe the most spiritual thing they can do is follow God by following their heart - right out of the church. Yet, this shift is happening right as society is hitting record levels of loneliness, stress, and anxiety. In The Reason for Church, pastor Brad Edwards connects the dots of our current church crisis and provides compelling reasons to come back.

In part 1, Edwards shows how individualistic beliefs make church implausible and compromise our spiritual formation:

• Marketplace logic and consumeristic approaches to discipleship
• Intuitional spirituality and therapy speak
• Social media's distortion of what is true, good, and beautiful
• Performative politics and culture wars
• Virtuous victimhood, the decline of trust, and the rise of power

These chapters show why individualism won't satisfy and can't provide the refuge it promises.

In part 2, Edwards uses personal examples, church history, non-Western expressions of faith, and Scripture to show how the church is our existentially satisfying alternative to individualism. Equipped with an institutionally robust vision, we will rediscover the church as God's spiritual greenhouse where soul-tired sojourners and lonely exiles are restored and repurposed for life in the world.

The Reason for Church offers an honest-yet-hopeful vision for church as a necessary institution. With radical individualism tearing us apart, we need compelling reasons to fall back in love with Christ's bride, now more than ever.

Reflection questions can be found in the audiobook companion PDF download.

A very needed book

I wish there was more expansion of greenhouse and more scripture references. But I think Edwards’ project is not what my project would be with this same idea.

Why We Need the Church

In an age when so many have given up on the church, Brad Edwards gives us a compelling reason to return to find what we actually need most and haven’t found elsewhere.
-David Rapp, Pastor, Redeemer Golden (CO)

Religious thought leader!

I think that Brad is a highly intelligent and scholarly thought leader in the American Christian Pastor world.

Whilst I don’t agree with every statement made in this book - I feel like the overall narrative resonates and many of these words needed to be said and will need to be heard again. I think this book has a lot of truth nuggets that every Christian, pastor, and church leader in Ameria should read!

A great read, not merely to understand the great exudus of the church by millennials and younger, but define the healthy and attainable counter culture. How to, rebuild the institution, and our faith in it.

Church needs to be something different! And not something of our own making.

Successful religious community cannot be led by our feelings, emotions, traumas, or relational brokenness… rather built upon the unchanging truth of salvation, and saving grace - which can only be extended by a good and perfect Savior.
Christians can only grow fully and work-out their faith to greatest maturity within tight knit church-lead communities. Whether we like it or not, we need the institution. And, we need the institution to be revamped. Highly recommend this book!

Make the main thing the main thing

Pastor Edward's book is valuable for those wondering why we have a church and those desperately trying to preserve it. He explores our current cultural moment and the present generation's challenges with institutions like the church. The book is both well written and well reasoned. The book is easy to read yet drives deep reflection. Highly recommended!!

A beautiful painting that was dropped in the toilet.

Ch 1-3 had me thinking that this would be a 5/5. Edwards articulately critiques our culture’s idolization of individualism in a way that I’ve never read. We worship self-definition instead of wanting God to define us. We look inward for truth instead of outward to the Christ’s bride. We need to reemphasize the importance of Church. Amen! Preach it!

The problem is, Chapter 4 preaches the David French/Russel Moore political third-Wayism that equally critiques both sides and pretends that Christian values aren’t radically more aligned with the side not trying to murder babies (he literally quotes French). He implicitly discusses America’s systemic racism. He wants both political parties represented in his church. He likens the desire to win elections to the desire to want your favorite WWE wrestler to win - pointless. It’s shockingly tone deaf when babies are being slaughtered by the millions and gender is being redefined. In no way does this imply one side is righteous or “Christian” in any way. But if Edwards wants to talk politics, it’s irresponsible and cowardly to pretend as if both sides are equally aligned with biblical values.

He tries to walk over to the other side in the next chapter, but ends up lacking the courage to make any pointed critiques.

Despite chapters 6 and 7 being painfully wordy and adding little to the book, the last three chapters are solid. So, balance out and give this a 3/5.