Who Stole My Church? - Book Review

A lot of people feel like their church is being stolen by a new generation, church movement, or both. Their tithes built it, their sweat equity resides in virtually every square inch, and they'll be darned if those new young people are gonna steal it out from under them. At least not without a fight...

Problem is, it was never their church to begin with. It's not the others' either.

Whether they want to acknowledge it or not, countless well-established churches across the nation are at a crossroads. Many will continue to "do church" as they have for the past 50 years and scratch their heads as they ponder why their church is quite literally dying. Then, one day, they will do what was unthinkable in their hey day when their vision was fresh, their excitement was contagious, and their methodologies for reaching people with the Good News were radically innovative - they will shut their doors. The stats show it happens every day.

For others, they will successfully (and necessarily) jettison obsolete strategies and programs that no longer serve the purpose they once did. Yet in doing so, they will ignore their heritage instead of celebrate it and dishonor the faith heroes that have paved the way for success for God's Kingdom to that point. In doing so, they will cast entire generations aside in their fervor to see the church achieve its mission.

Unfortunately, more often than not, churches are ripped apart as a civil war erupts over hot-button issues. Whether it's so-called "worship wars," transitioning Sunday School on site to small groups in homes, or installing technology in our houses of worship, generations are waging war against each other in ways that make Christ's defining characteristic of His followers - our love for one another (John 13:35) - laughable. The carnage is unsightly, but the real victims are the millions of people who live in our spheres of influence that remain apart from God as people quarrel over turf.

Gordon MacDonald, a pastor of 40+ years, creatively and proactively drives us into the crossroads in his fiction work Who Stole My Church?. MacDonald is firmly planted in the generation of Builders and Boomers (generally those born between 1930 and 1960) which is often at the center of this controversy. More often than not, it is people from these generations that are asking the question, "Who stole my church?"

Gordon's work is unique in that he and his wife, Gail, are factual characters in a fictional church with fictional people, yet the issues they face together are uncomfortably familiar and undeniably real. In the story, he has been pastoring a church in Massachusetts for three years, during which many changes have started to come about. A business-meeting-gone-bad causes some underlying issues within the Builders and Boomers to rise to the surface, yet "Pastor Mac" is able to seize the moment and what ensues is quite unexpected. By God's grace, he and a "Discovery Group" of 15 or so disgruntleds enter in to a period of honest dialog, Bible study, historical and sociological survey, and personal growth. What results is indeed a miracle.

But miracles don't have to be confined to fictional stories. They can happen in churches that are facing the dilemma of embracing the 21st Century or the inevitable onset of missional rigor mortis. Pastor Mac demonstrates that while we don't always have easy answers to hard questions, carelessness and laziness should never prevail as we pursue change. Leading a church through change is hard work, but loving people is sometimes even harder; however, if countless churches are going to advance God's Kingdom in the 21st Century and beyond, they must take seriously the charge to "above all, love each other deeply..." (1 Peter 4:8).

At its core, Who Stole My Church? is a story of redemption. Through of a group of flawed humans (who at times you feel like you already know personally or have attended church with), God is able to do great things. Having grown up and served in established church settings, many of the scenes that played out resonated with something deep within my soul. MacDonald has allowed me to finally put words to things I've often thought and felt but never known how to express.

If your church is going through a season of change (and who isn't?), and particularly if you are a Builder or Boomer, I would highly recommend this book. I think it has the potential to be the catalyst for an awakening as you seek to understand what is happening in the 21st Century Church. No matter your generation or perspective, it's worth reading with an open heart as you pursue what role God would have you play in His Body.