69. I Like Church...But. Dan Lupton. 1996. 208 pages. [Source: Gift] [3 stars, christian living]
First sentence: "Oh, she's the cutest of them all." A PanAm flight attendant responded that way when I asked if she had seen our baby.
There are eight chapters in Dan Lupton's book, I Like Church...But. Each chapter addresses a "but."
...But I wish it worked at being a caring family
...But I wish it would capture the heart of the community
...But I wish everyone would feel welcome there
...But I want it to empower people
...But it must model integrity
...But it should serve this broken world
...But where's God?
...I hope it anticipates a great future
Each chapter addresses a problem, a concern, an attitude. Each chapter concludes with a handful of suggestions on how to correct or address it. These are application-geared.
The book was published in 1996. In some ways the principles behind the book remain to a certain degree timeless. Humans change, for sure, but as Ecclesiastes says, there is nothing new under the sun. The application sections do seem a bit more dated, especially in the how. Should the church be making an impact in local communities? Yes. Are these specific tips helpful still today? Probably not as much. That's just one example.
The book does share a lot of personal stories or observations. Scripture is used, but it isn't used exclusively, or primarily.
The book definitely makes the assumption that your church is moderately large to large.
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