Overview: ReChurch (Stephen Mansfield)

George Barna sets the stage in the foreword by diagnosing the problem: ecclesia exitus. This, he explains, is "the Latin term for church dropout" (ix). Then Barna cites a staggering statistic: "[N]early four out of every ten unchurched people (37 percent) in the United States avoid church because of bad experiences in a church or in relation to church people" (xii).

In this book Stephen Mansfield sets out to bring people back to church. He is concerned that "[S]ome of the most gifted and potentially powerful Christians I know are right now at a Starbucks or at a bar somewhere griping about the church, too tainted by grief and bitterness to be any use to anyone" (12). The growing number of people who "Like Jesus but Not the Church" has theological implications, too. Mansfield insists, "To think that we are entitled to love God and hate his people is sin" (15).

Diving in, he pins the problem (at least in these cases) on our forgetfulness of human nature. He says, "In our sentimentality about our church and those we love in it, we forget to stand guard against the natural failings of humanity" (45). Contrasting physical pain and emotional pain, he insists, "If we sit on a sharp object, the pain stops when jump up. When we are hurt emotionally, though, we carry the torment with us as we go" (66).

Moving forward, Mansfield walks the reader through forgiving the person(s) who caused the hurt. That process begins with identifying the positives and expressing gratitude for those things (107). His view about the origin of the negatives, however, teeters and totters between God's ordained plan and Satan's strategically placed traps. Maybe he is able to hold those two conflicting concepts together, but it's certainly an issue that deserves further clarification (especially because he builds much of his case on God's having predestined the hurtful events in question).

When it comes to heading back to church, he offers his advice: "Don't make your choice based on the Wow Factor or the Entertainment Factor or matters of personal charm and style. Choose instead after having listened and experienced for a while, based on whether or not the leadership team of this church will be able to coach you to your destiny and toward your place in the body of Christ" (153).

This book seems to be an exposition of the process of forgiveness and restoration, which is then applied to a person's stance toward the church. It offers worthwhile insights if you currently find yourself in a broken and bitter state of mind, or consider yourself "burned" by the church. You won't find all your answers in this work (it's only 170 short pages), but it can at least get you moving in a better direction.


disclosure: I was given a review copy of this book by Tyndale. All opinions are my own.