Gaining By Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches that Send

by J.D. Greear

People are leaving the church J.D. Greear pastors. Big givers. Key volunteers. Some of his best leaders and friends. And that’s exactly how he wants it to be. When Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, he revealed that the key for reaching the world with the gospel is found in sending, not gathering. Though many churches focus time and energy on attracting people and counting numbers, the real mission of the church isn’t how many people you can gather. It’s about training up disciples and then sending them out. The true measure of success for a church should be its sending capacity, not its seating capacity. But there is a cost to this. To see ministry multiply, we must release the seeds God has placed in our hands. And to do that, we must ask ourselves whether we are concerned more with building our kingdom or God’s. In Gaining By Losing , J.D. Greear unpacks ten plumb lines that you can use to reorient your church’s priorities around God’s mission to reach a lost world. The good news is that you don’t need to choose between gathering or sending. Effective churches can, and must, do both.

Genres: Christian, Leadership, Church, Christian Living, Faith, Christianity, Theology

256 pages, Hardcover

First published July 21, 2015

About the author

J.D. Greear, Ph.D., did his degree work in Christian and Islamic theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. He is Lead Pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC. The Summit’s vision is to plant 1,000 churches in by the year 2040. Currently, they have planted 11 and have several church planting teams stationed around the world.

Reviews

[Rainer Erani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know who you are, but I know you need to read this book.

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Christian needs this book and what it communicates in their pocket! This is a resource I will share for a long time. It so clearly reminds us of the Great Commission and what we are called to as followers of Jesus! It’s so simple yet we lose sight of sharing the good news! Every Christian is called to be about using their gifts, experiences, and where they are planted (or where they could move to) to share the lifegiving hope of the gospel!!

10/10 recommend!

[Kinsey Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

every member of a church body should read this, especially those in ministry. changed the way I think about the Great Commission in practice. grateful to be part of a network of churches that sends.

[Meggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly radical call to be an outward facing church, willing to give its best and brightest for the cause of the gospel. Greer is passionate and inspiring, reminds me of David Platt. I found his call enlivening and encouraging as my own church seeks to “gain by losing” in missions and church planting. It’s all about the gospel.

While written for those in the ministry, it’s great for an engaged church member.

My only complaint was Greer’s occasionally cutesy tone or (parenthetical) comments. It was just a little too silly or self deprecating for the topic.

[Jeanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

To send we must love the glory of God and others more than anything else. When we do, the sending becomes more natural. Motivation for mission grows out of deep personal experience with the gospel.
The gospel is the helium that fills the heart with passion and propels us to soar in mission.


J.D. Greear is practicing what he preaches by sending out and planting churches. Raising up leaders with a heart to make the gospel known in places all over the world. Not just going across the world but also across the tracks. What does that mean for you and me? It does question my heart motivation. Am I building my kingdom or the Kingdom of God? I do think there is a misunderstanding of the mind-set of kingdom which J.D. Greear is adamant about sharing.

He gives 3 examples of how church does church. Are we the cruise liner that offering Christian luxuries for the whole family such as sports, entertainment, childcare services, etc…Or a battleship in fighting for the mission. Greears’ offers a 3rd choice- an aircraft carrier.. Where the church member is engaging in the battle.

Engaging in the battle requires 10 plumb lines that Greear describes that help keep sending out “central to the mission of the church. In sending out there is always a risk. You could lose good people that may never be replaced. You can lose resources that are not at your disposal or you can multiply. Multiplication is better than addition and it always gives you a better return. It may be slow and steady but the risk is worth it. It becomes about worrying about the bottom line of our budget and resources or about sacrifice. In sending out, we also create a culture of sacrifice. What culture are you experiencing in the church that you are part of?

Greear is conversational in his book about sending out discussing the lows and the highs. What his church as experienced in the mission of sending out. All good news. He did lose me in midway when he talked about the attractiveness of the church. It seemed like contract diction in some ways and I don’t think that is the problem for the church today to become more attractive. In becoming more attractive, the church has compromised the gospel. The attraction becomes the main thing instead of the gospel. Jesus was not concerned about making the gospel more attractive. The attraction needs to be the gospel… Gospel-is no longer do you ned to live in fear. I have won the battle. You are free. The Christian Gospel is an announcement about the victory Christ has accomplished.
not the music, not the coffee shop, not the programs, but the gospel. I also disagreed with him on who the church is for. The church is for the believer and the believer is called to be sent out engaging others in the gospel so that they too can desire to be a part of a body of believers. The church that I attend addresses the believer and the seeker and before communion stresses that it is for the believer. Does that mean that church is not welcoming…no..The church should welcome all those that come to their door. To those that know they are sick and even those that do not. It is only when we see our need that we move toward the gospel.

Here are some quotes that spoke to the heart of the Gospel and to the mission of sending out.


Pursuing width without depth creates audiences instead of churches, but pursuing depth without width fails to take the urgency of the Great commission seriously.

Gospel-is no longer do you need to live in fear. I have won the battle. You are free. The Christian Gospel is an announcement about the victory Christ has accomplished.

God will build his kingdom when I let go of mine.

Do we see the gospel 24/7 or do we run rabbit trails? Do we believe that we have full access to God and all of his blessing…do we believe in the grace of God. In Christ, I can give up all that I have because in Christ I have all that I need. What I have, I have because Christ gave up everything for me that I no longer live for ourselves but should lay down our lives and resources for others as he laid down for us. As I pray, I will measure your compassion by the cross and your power of the resurrection\


It Is not through our success that God saves the world, but through our sacrifice. He calls us first to an altar, not a platform.

A mindset of sending out for the body believers is a life of sacrifice. Is it easy? No is worth it- yes. In sending out, we must be reminded that we need the gospel as much as the souls we want to reach. Gaining by Losing is less of me and more of Christ.


A complimentary review copy was provided to me by Cross Focused Reviews (A Service of Cross Focused Media, LLC). I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fired me up!!!

[Steve Nation · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book has taken over Tim Keller's Centre Church as my favourite book on church. Simply put, it's the most Christ-centred, gospel-driven book on church I've read. It's similar to Centre Church in that it is about both the gathering of God's people to grow in Christ and the scattering of God's people to promote the gospel of Christ. But I found the generosity of J.D. Greear's book to be so profound, so encouraging, so Christ's kingdom building rather than personal or denominational kingdom building. It's honest, not seeking to be the last word on church, but a picture of one church seeking to be humble, faithful, generous to others, actively partnering with and learning from others, sacrificial whilst joyful... I've highlighted so much in this book, written notes everywhere, and have started buying more copies to give to friends. Can't recommend it more.

[Josh Koskinen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book about how to position yourself as a leader that is developing and sending other leaders out and as a church that values SENDING PEOPLE and giving as a kingdom tithing principle.

[Kyrillos Helmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is with two-fold joy to announce that I finished this book. Firstly because this is officially my half way mark book towards my 2023 Reading Challenge. And secondly because this was actually a very good book. James David Greear speaks very well about the need to proclaim the Gospel and the Biblical convictions behind why the church that he pastors, The Summit Church, is keen on sending. He highlights a lot of the risks that the people of God took on behalf of the name of Jesus Christ and His faithfulness in rewarding them. Very good book for a solid foundation on missions!

[Tim Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most inspiring and helpful church book I’ve read in a long time!

[Braden Coates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very convicting, and perspective shifting. Does a great job of making the case as to why all believers are called into ministry, and not just those to do so full time. Adds fuel back to the fire of the great commission. Only give it 4 stars because especially towards the end it may be pointed more towards actual church leaders. With that said, anyone would benefit greatly from the heart of this book.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a seemingly innate desire built into born-again believers to want to see their churches healthy, vibrant, and faithful to the Gospel. And, if we are truly all of those things, then we will subsequently become a Great Commission honoring church as well. A church that doesn’t have a Pastor committed to teaching, preaching, and living the Gospel is a dead church, because, for the most part, a spiritually dead Pastor (which should be an oxymoron but isn’t) begets dead Christians which equals a dead church. However, having a Pastor who eats, breathes, and lives the Gospel leads to a healthy church that is desirous to share the Good News with the world. Therefore, it is only natural to come to the conclusion that a healthy Pastor plus a healthy church equals a “going” people. Pastor and Author J.D. Greear, in his book, Gaining by Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches That Send, is definitely one of those healthy Pastors who is pastoring a healthy church. His church, The Summit Church in Raleigh NC, has practically lived out everything that J.D. discusses in this book. J.D., and his elders, have done a fantastic job of keeping the Gospel the main thing for years, and his congregation therefore has a passion to “go and make disciples of all nations”. How can we, if we are not already doing it, be a “going” church (both locally and globally)?

Pros:
• I loved the fact that Greear’s back caused me to do a lot of introspection. Am I really honoring the Great Commission both personally and corporately? Or, have I gotten so me-focused, that I have lost my love to passionately share the Gospel with the world by personally helping to plant churches, sending missionaries, etc.?
• I was reminded of just how powerful the Spirit of God is when He transforms lives through the proclamation of the Gospel. In Chapter One, Greear is passionate in his reminder to readers that, “Even Jesus’ preaching and miracles, by themselves, were not sufficient to produce enduring disciples.” (p. 36). Our dependence should not be in our own power to draw crowds, eloquent preaching, or money, but it should be fully placed in the Spirit of God to radically transform the lives of wicked men and bring them from darkness to light. The moment we get caught up in trying to live out the Great Commission in our own power is the moment we are setting ourselves up for failure.
• The need to be patient and disciplined as it pertains to the transformation and subsequent spiritual growth experienced by those we have preached the Gospel too: “We need, like Jesus, the discipline to devote our energy into those things that will have the greatest, long-term impact on the world, even if it means having to wait years—maybe a lifetime—to experience return on our investment.” (p. 36)

Cons:
• In my opinion, there were some very vague hermeneutics employed to prove a point that Greear wanted to make, but the text itself, in its proper context, did not warrant such a usage. For instance, at the very beginning of the book, Greear uses John 12:24 to support the fact that churches are given “spiritual seeds” (p. 16) and, “How many of the seeds God has blessed you with are you planting into kingdom fields—fields that have great potential but yet may contribute little to the ‘bottom line’ of your congregation”. (p. 16) Now, the historical interpretation of this text is very Christ-centered, and is focused on Jesus’ death and the fruit that death will subsequently bring, and has nothing to do with the “spiritual seeds” that churches possess. I understand what Greear was trying to get at, but this text in John 12 has nothing to do with a churches “spiritual seed”.
• As has been noted by other reviewers, this book felt like a really big guilt trip into doing church the way that Summit does it, or risk not being blessed by God. If you want to be a growing and going church, then do exactly what The Summit does and God will bless you. I got the same sort of feeling when I read David Platt’s book, Radical, and I was one of the very few people I know who was overly critical of that book and the way that Platt proof-texted and guilted people into adopting his method of doing church.
All-in-all, Gaining by Losing, is not a horrible book, but Greear has written much better books in the past. It is not one that I think I will find myself going back to in order to consult it for being a Great Commission church, but I don’t think I wasted my time by reading it.

I received this book for free from Zondervan through Cross Focused Reviews for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Zach Barnhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working in ministry, especially church planting, can be a very difficult process. One of the hardest parts about church planting is that while planting a always seems like doing things to “gain” and “establish” a church, the reality is that oftentimes the church’s real growth starts taking place when it sends, and thus loses, some of its key people and resources for the sake of the spread of the gospel. That’s the premises of J.D. Greear’s book.

The book is split into two parts; part one is about why we send, and the difficulties in sending. Part two lists out ten keys, or “plumb lines” to becoming a sending church. Greear spends a lot of time talking about the importance of mission. More important than the principles of how to send people as a church is the principles of why we send those people. Greear sums up his position on the importance of mission with a quote from Charles Spurgeon in part one: “Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor” (34). He then, using Scripture, anecdotes, and illustration, paints the picture of how a church can learn to send effectively using his ten plumb lines, the bulk of the book. I’ll spend a few moments highlighting the things I took away and liked, and other things I didn’t.

What I Liked
Gospel-Centered.

Greear started off his plumb lines in the most important way. “The gospel is not just the diving board; it is the pool.” If a church doesn’t start here, the entire course of mission is thrown off, like a broken compass leading us the wrong way. “Believing the gospel,” Greear writes, “leads to becoming like the gospel” (66). There are implications for this line of thinking. When we start to dive into the pool of the gospel, we begin to understand Greear’s second and third plumb lines better, that everyone is called, and that our ecclesiology should be good mix of “missional” and “attractional.” Even despite a church devoted to how we send, I appreciated Greear’s emphasis on how the church is a place for believers to gather and be equipped for the mission of Monday-Saturday. Here’s an excerpt:

Get this: Of the 40 miracles recorded in Acts, 39 happenoutside the church walls. That’s 97.5 percent! You can safely conclude from this that the main place God wants to manifest his power is outside the church (94–95).

Practical.

There are plenty of books on the missional movement, but oftentimes these become a bunch of circular, unanswered arguments, relying on visionary language and lofty concepts without digging into “how.” What I appreciated about Gaining by Losing is how authentic and real it feels. Greear’s use of real stories and experiences of his ministry and Summit Church help us get a true picture of how we put these ideas into practice. There are multiple places in the book where Greear stops to list out steps church leadership can take to adopt these plumb lines in their own congregation. This is a helpful step for those who have little direction or counsel to turn to. Another really practical component of this book is the appendices in the back of the book, with detailed steps in developing international missions and domestic church planting strategies. I found these appendices to be some of the most helpful and applicable parts of the entire book!

Unafraid.

One of my favorite sections of the book is in chapter eight, a chapter that illustrates the primacy of discipleship. Greear spends a lot of time explaining why every Christian is born to reproduce, and then answers key and common objections against this idea. Greear does not shy away from Christians and churches who try to compartmentalize missions (see next chapter: “Your Church Doesn’t Need a Missions Pastor”). An unashamed approach to the gospel and thus to missions is important for evangelicals to get around.

Here’s some of my favorite one-liners:

“Love on display is our most convincing apologetic” (128).

“Every spiritual gift serves the larger purposes of making disciples. The gifts are varied, but the mission is the same” (141).

“It is not through our success that God saves the world, but through oursacrifice. He calls us first to an altar, not a platform” (20).

What I Didn’t Like
Faulty Exegesis.

There were a few places where I felt Scripture may have been misinterpreted or misapplied. In the introduction, one of Greear’s foundational verses for the book is John 12:24, and talks about how the seed that dies in the verse is ultimately a picture of what churches do and how they operate. To me, however, this verse is specifically and explicitly about the seed of Christ and His substitutionary atonement. Although I don’t necessarily disagree with the principle Greear is outlining, I don’t think this is the text to base it off of.

There are a couple of other places where I am questioning the interpretations of Biblical texts. From Luke 15 and the story of the Good Shepherd, Greear explains that numbers are important because of the one sheep that left the flock. To me, this isn’t a defense of numbers, but quite the opposite — the underemphasis on numbers (there were 99 sheep there after all) for the sake of only one. I also didn’t make the connections of how we should be attractional according to the passages of Exodus 19:5–6 and 1 Peter 2:9–11; 3:15. I felt that these texts were much more about us going that us drawing.

I’ll be clear here: I felt like “faulty exegesis” was definitely the exception and not the norm in this book; these were a couple of the main areas that stuck out to me, but overall I felt like Greear did a great job with basing his ideas off of proper Biblical interpretation.

Impractical.

I know I just said this book was practical, and though it was, in a sense it also wasn’t very practical. Greear’s continued reliance on anecdotes from his own church is certainly encouraging, but can be very difficult to relate to. These stories are taking place in a congregation of over 8,000 people, and in our current congregation of 170, there were times I was struggling to figure out how to apply certain things in this book to our own church body. For example, in chapter eleven, a chapter that discusses risk-taking in ministry, Greear begins to outline the numbered goals their congregation has for planting churches. This was definitely encouraging, but I struggled to figure out how our church could set such a goal right now. There are multiple places where Greear’s retelling of what Summit Church does do not translate to smaller, younger congregations.

Language.

Although I enjoy and learned from this book through and through, there were a few parts where I felt like the language was funneling me into some confusion, or even disagreement with conclusions. Most of them I feel are matters of language. Here’s a couple statements I found myself putting question marks beside:

“The good news is that making disciples is fairly easy” (137).

“Diversity is not just about the music…at the same time, diversity is about the music” (170).

“Get comfortable with being scared. We have a Master who not only has commanded us to risk, but also promised us that as we do so, led by his Spirit, he will multiply our investments in the harvest of his kingdom” (188).

There is a potential danger, in my view, to miss the difficulty and sometimes the failures that happen in these processes. Oftentimes, disciple-making isn’teasy, especially for laypeople. And where has God promised to “multiply our investments” every time?

Should you read this book? Definitely. Although I don’t agree with all of Greear’s conclusions, if you are serving in church leadership, or want a better understanding of why and how churches should be sending-focused, this book will absolutely be a helpful resource to you. It is a gospel-centered, compassionate, and bold call to make our churches fulfill the Great Commission faithfully. Summit Church is able to do what it does in large part because of the leadership that has helped communicate these principles in a big way to the church body.

When we’re ready to part ways with key leaders and key resources, we’re ready to watch God work. Not always in a big, flashy way, but surely in a special way. This book is encouraging, equipping, and motivating. Be ready to be challenged by this book to pursue a sending mindset in your life and church!

Stars: 3.5/5.0

Note: I received this book for free through Cross Focused Reviews. I was not required to give a positive review and all opinions are my own

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book! It was challenging and informative. It was one of those books I debated about reading because I was uncomfortable with maybe being called to missions and because maybe "it didn't apply to me." Boy was I wrong! This book is for the layperson and the clergy (which honestly, there should be no difference but that is how all of us see it unfortunately). I have been blessed for a long time by J.D. Greear's preaching and to finally read a book by him blessed me just as much.

The main argument from this book is that a healthy church is a church that is constantly outwardly focused. A church focused on evangelism and church planting. If you have quality people don't keep them to yourself send them. So how does Greear make his case for this? By dispelling myths about sending out your people. And sadly these are myths that many if not all of us succumb to. This book is well written and I can imagine Geear saying each word in his grumbly hoarse voice. Each page oozes scripture and is solidly gospel focused.

Highest Recommendation

[Gwendolyn Kwong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be actively recommending this book to my Christian friends. Such a clear, organized, practical, justified, and inspiring read. This has certainly changed my view on church and has given me tangible ways to challenge myself to step out in faith.

[Josh Roland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super helpful book on the importance of leadership development and the heart behind sending missionaries and church planters. Will reference this book quite a bit in the future.

[Alexander Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great work on what it looks like to be a sending, multiplying church. I am very convinced by the multiplying church movement - planting churches that plant churches is the future of church growth.

[Ian Minielly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the Greear books I have read, I enjoyed this one more than the others. Greear explains his theory of ministry at The Summit and how he has changed over the years. I think he is trying to show his audience he is humble by admitting he used to think one way and now thinks another, but it doesn't come off that way. Greear is highly successful. He pastors a large and booming church and Gaining By Losing almost sounds like a humble brag that the church is growing while they keep sending out their best and most motivated and they have a lot of students attending from the local colleges and they do not give much, if anything.

I think The Summit model and goal to plant 1,000 churches is great. I applaud them for doing it and I appreciate the success they are having. I have never been anywhere near as successful, so please do not consider my criticism as coming from someone who thinks he can and is doing it better. I most definitely am not and my efforts on a daily basis are probably equal to Greear's, but the results are much less dynamic!

Greear includes some good stories. He tells them well and I might use some in a sermon someday. The problem with Greear and the cohort of people who write these Christian theory books is they are doing it from mountain tops while the rest of us are in valleys and they get paid a ton of money and seem clueless to the reality of most churches and people in the US and the world.

I applaud what they do and I applaud their salvations and baptisms, but The Summit is not akin to many churches and the rest of us are just scrambling to get through each week while growing our church members through discipleship as best we can with our limited means. This book somehow fell in my lap, I certainly did not pay money for it, and I will give it away to someone else. I suspect in the not too distant future many of these Christian books will be forgotten and thrown on the dust heap of time as emblematic of a period of extreme wealth and limited poverty and even dimmer perspective

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

We recently took our staff through this book and it created all kinds of important conversations about how we're doing church and how we should be doing church.

Here are some of my favorite takeaways...

"Our God is a sending God."

"Many people are bored in church. They are afflicted with a nagging sense that they ought to be doing something — that there is some meaningful mission they are supposed to be a part of"

"The word 'missionary' is never used in the Bible, however, not even once. That's because all of God's people are sent; all of God's people are commanded to go. There is no 'special class' of sent ones."

"What keeps us from proficiency in sending, you see, is not a lack of competency, but a lack of conviction..."

"What your organization does best grows out of what it loves most."

"Whatever you're good at, do it well for the glory of God, and do it somewhere strategic for the mission of God."

"Each disciple of Jesus must do an assessment of his or her life and ask how it can most profitably be used for the Great Commission."

"When it comes to calling, we don't need a voice; we have a verse."

"You are either a missionary or a mission field. There is no third option."

"People respond more readily to a call when they feel that they have a particular role to play."

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the 80s and 90s were dominated by “the seeker sensitive” movement JD Greer makes the case for a sender sensitive church. His argument in a nutshell is that the future belongs to churches that send. Where the seeker sensitive movement was notorious for creating a generation of religious consumers, JD Greer calls new generation of churches to measure their success by their sending capacity—their ability to serve their neighborhoods, schools, cities, plant new churches, and ultimately reach the nations. If you are looking for a different metric or score card for church success (one with more biblical backing), and inspiring stories of how one mega church has done it look no further.

My only concern is that some of the stories have the mega church pastor origin story vibe, which will concern those of us who have watched too many of these success stories end badly, but with that in mind I found this to be a good reminder of what churches should aspire to and a healthy recalibration around the great commission holistically understood.

[Andy Huette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best ministry-related books I've read in a long time. With engaging illustrations and insight, Greear casts a vision for the church that is counter-cultural (sending out your best resources, people, and energy rather than hoarding it internally), yet doable. Some of the ministry books out there that are counter-cultural and edgy are idealistic and not doable. Greear has his feet planted in the realities of church life amidst real people and yet his church is doing it: They are continually developing leaders to send them on mission in their city, to plant churches, and to take the gospel to the nations. I'm a huge fan of this book as a philosophy of ministry. I think it will be useful for our elders to read and to discuss together and also for a church planting team to read and discuss to have a common vision.

[Sophie Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely will reread...
In the month or so that I spent reading this, God did so much in my heart and completely changed the trajectory of my life. Rather than viewing mission work as something to be done "over there," it's suddenly become something to do here and now, this very moment! I've been motivated (or guilt-tripped) into being active in my community and making change myself, empowered by the Holy Spirit and doing whatever He leads me to. And I'll tell you a secret, for months I've prayed for change to come at my school, and for there to be a revival in the student body---however, I never realized that I was holding back and cowering in my comfort zone! As soon as I read this, specifically chapter 8, my soul was set aflame for the Lord, and He's led me to do so much for Him in the past two weeks!
Super duper highly recommend for all Christians, this will wake you up!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

So THIS is where all those leadership catchphrases came from that I heard around the church offices between 2016-2021!

A well-written book that gets to the point: developing and raising up leaders internally is essential for the great commission.

It wasn't as insightful or impressive to me as it may have been back when it first came out, but I accredit that to the pastors I know and worked with who read this and then did what they could to implement these ideas then.

The type of suburban US pastor humor in here compells me to dock it stars, though. I'm just tired of reading/hearing jokes about their good-looking wives or "shares story from their past and tells child or audience to not repeat this" kind of writing. In my opinion, it's simply unnecessary for a leadership book, but I think that's part of how things were written in the mid-2010s.

[Chase Riebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greear does not reinvent the wheel with Gaining by Losing, but the concepts within the book present a welcome wake-up call to the churches and church members who may have forgotten its simple truths. Greear communicates the simple fact that churches are to be missional, and, to do that, it means churches will lose some of the people they have spent most of their time and enegry discipling and building up. Also, if a church is sharing the Gospel rightly, it will lead to the mobilization of the church who hears.

While not necessarily revolutionary, Greear presents some thought-provoking quandaries for the Christian to think or rethink regarding their response, reaction, and purpose upon hearing and believing the Gospel.

[Silas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gaining By Losing encapsulates one of the core essences of the Gospel: generosity is always worth it.

Whether we’re talking about a single believer giving freely of their time and resources, a pastor giving freely their mentorship and time for leadership development, or a church sending their missionaries near and far to disciple and plant churches, it is THE POINT of being a believer.

This book is a perfectly concise index of examples, insight, and direction for any believer, but especially church leaders or those who plan to do missions/plant churches. For real though, everyone can get something from this book.

[Morgan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book is “Why the future belongs to churches who send.” Now that I’ve read the book, I believe it. Greear confronts head-on the ruts and issues we see in our American churches today. Often, we lose sight of the purpose of the church: making disciples. The Summit Church models this as well or better than any church I know of. To make disciples, you have to reach the lost. To reach the lost, the gospel has to be carried by disciples. Our goal should be to do this by any means necessary. J.D. Greear tells pastors how in this great book.

[Travis Heystek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I generally try to avoid giving books five stars. If every book is a five star then no book is really worth reading...but this is a must read for every pastor.

At times I found myself terrified, angry, dejected, guilty, and excited all at the same time. The movement of the church is reliant on a continual process of reaching and sending and this book can supply guidance to many pastors and boards as they seek to strategize how to do that in their context.

[Paul Herriott · Rating 4 out of 5]

J.D. Greear does an excellent job of balancing this book with examples from his own church, with scripture and examples that all churches can attempt to emulate. He invites others to boldly join the movement of churches around the world by sending the best out from the church to plant more churches around the nation and the world. A quick and simple read, that is has good step by step and bullet points to make it easy to follow and share.

[James Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. I don't remember disagreeing on a single point and I often was very challenged by it. The church needs to grow in being more missional to flourish and to provide a picture to its members of what the Christian life is about. Just as heaven will not be sitting on a cloud playing the harp for all of eternity, the present Christian life is not about being comfortable and obtaining worldly happiness and peace, but obtaining joy and peace that come by sacrifice for His Kingdom.

[Katie Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a great read! I found it well thought out, a nice balance of personal stories and biblical backing, and written with the attitude of humility.

I think this book highlighted a lot of things the American church needs to grow in but did so in a way that wasn’t just yelling at us for what we are doing wrong but sharing a vision for more! I loved how he opened and closed with the importance of the gospel and how that influences our sending attitude!