[English Disciple 1 - Saturday] Book Reports on "Autopsy of a Deceased Church" and "Anatomy of a Revived Church" by DJ Kim > 제자학교

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Disciples Book Report by DJ Kim

These books taught me what to do and not to do to prevent our church from dying.

Autopsy of a Deceased Church

The core reason for a church dying seems to be that it seeks inner comfort and does not obey

the Great Commission to reach outward with the gospel and love. For example, financially

speaking,

“In dying churches the last expenditures to be reduced are those that keep the

members most comfortable.

” (p. 33). However,

“Thriving churches have the Great Commission

as the centerpiece of their vision, while dying churches have forgotten the clear command of

Christ.

” (p. 40).

This passage struck me hard: “Perhaps it would be more truthful to say these dying churches

had ‘Great Commission disobedience.

’ They chose not to remember what to do. They chose

their own comfort over reaching others with the gospel.

” (p. 43). Ouch. Sometimes, we become

wishy-washy and choose to ignore our disobedience. However, the author’s analysis is spot on.

We choose not to remember what to do because we want something else for ourselves. We do

not want to carry the cross as Christ did. We would rather choose a life of pleasure and comfort.

We choose to disobey the Great Commission as a church because it feels irrelevant to our faith

and our daily life. However, this book reminded me that if we don’t run towards the vision of God

to share the gospel with all nations, then we will die as a church. I pray that our church will

continue to obey God’s will to share the gospel in the community and among all nations.

Anatomy of a Revived Church

Ultimately, the church needs to obey God’s word, and above all else, the Great Commission

needs to be at the center of it. Reaching out to the community and to all nations with the gospel

and love should be the first and most important priority that a church needs to focus on: “Church

leaders and members who refuse to accept their God-given responsibility to reach and minister

both inside and outside the walls of the church buildings are on a clear path to decline and likely

death.

” (p. 24). I think the word responsibility stood out to me - I am, and our church is,

responsible to do certain things in our local community and also for the dying nations. I pray that

our church will continue to focus on reaching out to the poor and needy, both physically and

spiritually.

Also, I learned that “traditions are not inherently evil. Where traditions become fixation or

obsession, they often become issues of idolatry. They become more important than sharing the

gospel message, reaching people, serving the community, and making changes…

” (p. 30). I

think that not only traditions of a church, but also cultural traditions can play a big role in ourchurch. Or it can be a personality trait that needs to be smoothed. Whatever it may be, we

cannot let it become a hindrance to God’s work.

Another thing that hit me hard was that “in the churches where the problem of the toxic member

was addressed, we saw a consistent theme in our anatomy: Leaders did not try to deal with the

issue on their own.

” (p. 79). I’ve experienced times when difficulties or challenges arose due to a

member of the church. The church leadership wanted to just resolve it quietly - without causing

any commotion, to avoid hurting that person’s feelings. However, the book clearly states that the

toxic member has to leave for the church to start the revitalization process. I am personally

guilty of giving in to that culture, especially because I am a soft-spoken person. I pray that I’ll

have the wisdom and determination to look out for our church and act upon God’s will in times of

conflict.

I contemplated the author’s point on how worldly membership is about being served but “Biblical

membership is about giving instead of receiving, serving instead of being served.

” (p. 97). It is

interesting to me because there is such a stark difference between the world and the church of

Christ. To serve or to be served. I pray that I’ll always be able to serve others first and make that

my priority in every aspect of my life, including my small group, work, and family.