Are we a nation of "believers" but not "belongers"? Bestselling author Joshua Harris (I Kissed Dating Goodbye) turns his attention here to our lack of commitment to church and offers ideas for relating to the family of God.
Harris admits he once played the "dating game": enjoying the social benefits of church but not wanting the responsibility that came with real commitment. Church-daters tend to be me-centered, independent, and critical, he writes. "We can't use the excuse," he writes, "that the church has messed up too many times or that we're disillusioned."
He looks at how God views the church, what keeps us from committing to it, and what happens when we make church a priority.
Harris provides a checklist of 10 important questions to help someone consider what church to commit to. He also includes ideas about when leaving a church is justified.
Committing to a church "doesn't tie us down; it anchors us in the storm of life. And even its faults become an opportunity for us to love and serve." Harris's enthusiasm for this needed message is infectious.