Christless Christianity

I usually do not post negative book reviews. If a book is not worth recommending, it is not worth reading. I put down a lot of books that are not worth reading or recommending. So, if I post a review of a book, it is usually a recommendation.

I don't consider this review negative, just not positive. Let me attempt to give an honest assessment of Christless Christianity by Michael Horton.

This was a book that I was excited about reading. It is a subject for which I am passionate about. And, I had never ready a whole book by Horton.

I totally agreed with everything in the book. The content is true and sad.

Here is a quote that could summarize the content: "A church that is deeply aware of its misery and nakedness before a holy God will cling tenaciously to an all-sufficient Savior, while one that is self-confident and relatively unaware of its inherent sinfulness will reach for religion and morality whenever it seems convenient" (p. 243).

Much of the book is based on errors surrounding Joel Osteen, Willow Creek, and the Purpose-Driven model.

However, I did not enjoy reading this book very much. I'm assuming the problem is me.

Here are some of my thoughts:

-This book lacks a definable outline. It contains random reflections and examples of how the church has abandoned the gospel. It was very difficult to discern what exactly the point of the book is.

-The chapters are long and seem to ramble on and on without a goal.

-The tone of the book seemed to be more about what is wrong with the church than how to move forward. I kept expecting the book to transition to laying out ways the church can move toward being Christ-centered.

I would much prefer reading books like The Deliberate Church or 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, which expose errors by expositing God's goal and purpose for the church (and giving a clear guide to transitioning our churches to being centered on the gospel).