The Least, the Last and the Lost

by Mez McConnell

This book is the product of over 20 years of thought and thousands of hours of research. This book is for any and every Christian who has an interest in the poor and the oppressed.

At heart, this is a book about how to love God better by loving the least, the last and the lost.

Genres: Christian

530 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t even know what to say about this book.
It has been and will be on my mind a lot.

[Rebekah Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think I can think about ministry in the same way again after reading Mez’s book, serious change and movement is needed now for the least, the last and the lost. “Come and migrate to the spiritual wastelands of the UK and work long hours, in difficult circumstances, with some beautiful glimpses of gospel light, with many discouragements and little financial reward. And then die here. Nameless and forgotten by all but Him who we serve: King Jesus”.

[Ben Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having grown up going to school in Liverpool, this book made me weep as I learnt that the area I spent most of my childhood is in the top 3 most deprived areas in the UK and one of the most unreached with the gospel.

The scale of the need in the working class areas of the UK is staggering and desperate. It certainly is forcing me to ask 'If not me, then who?'

“Come and migrate to the spiritual wastelands of the UK and work long hours, in difficult circumstances, with some beautiful glimpses of gospel light, with many discouragements and little financial reward. And then die here. Nameless and forgotten by all but Him who we serve: King Jesus”.

[Katie Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too long for the amount it's saying, and much of it very sweeping/unsubstantiated except by "this is my experience/opinion as someone of this background working in this context". That being said, that in itself is very useful, in the same way a long conversation with someone knowledgeable and passionate (and willing to say difficult things!) about the topic would be. I found it challenging but also slightly alienating, especially as McConnell is explicitly trying to attack tokenistic or small-scale service, so really the only way he thinks you can make a change (except by giving money) is to give your whole life, for the rest of your life. But he's probably right, and he probably needs to say it, I just felt a bit helpless by the end.

[Bex Purdue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do not read this book if you don’t want your middle class “christian” lifestyle and approach to ministry to be challenged.

[Thomas Creedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It isn’t perfect - could’ve been shorter and had a fair few unsubstantiated side-swipes, but the core message of this vital book is bang on the nail. Mez - and friends - build a careful, cumulative, biblically informed and reality-aware picture to show the church a big problem. Recommended for church leaders and those thinking about ministry.

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly helpful and well thought through understanding of poverty, and provides a challenging critique of conservative evangelicalism's approach to reaching and discipling people who have grown up and live in areas very different to middle class culture. Mez, and his guest authors, have provided many practical ways to counter the growing trend towards city-centre and student focussed churches, neglecting huge areas of the population as a result - the most challenging being to sacrifice the idols we cling to and come and die in these 'hard' places.

One let down of the book is that it perhaps hammers it's point a little too much and becomes repetitive.

[K8 U · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been looking for a book about class in the UK and how it relates to evangelism and discipleship. This book was very enlightening. Sometimes it was uncomfortable, embarrassing even, as I began to see my own naivety and prejudice. In some ways it’s easier to feel burdened about the spiritual and physical needs of the poor across the world than those on our doorstep. But it also answered a lot of my questions, about class and about evangelical Christianity in the UK. It really challenged my assumptions about what true mercy and justice, as God would have us practice it, might look like. Mez McConnell doesn’t mince his words about middle-class apathy toward the unreached poor of our nation, or about the failure of what most churches think of as ‘mercy ministry’. However, nor does he sugar coat the hard graft and heartache of reaching the least, last and lost in the UK. It is helpful I think that (since he’s going to be writing to a primarily middle class readership) that he has contributions from a whole range of voices. I particularly appreciated how the book addressed the vital role for female pastoral workers in these contexts and had contributions from one such worker.
I hope I can act on many of the challenges and not just find it ‘interesting’ and move on. I’m especially thinking of how this impacts how I raise my own children - do I genuinely aspire more for them to have a good education, a good job, social mobility and material comfort more than I desire for them to lead lives of self-sacrifice in obedience to Christ’s command to take the gospel to all, especially ‘the least of these’?

[Aaron Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

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This is probably the best book I’ve read in the last several years. Doug Logan, Mez McConnell, and others speak compellingly to the importance of church planting in hard places, particularly within an urban context. Drawing from their own ministerial experience, they emphasize how to plant churches—not merely launch churches or parachute church planting into the inner city.

The book addresses how mercy ministries that lack a strong conviction toward gospel preaching and movement beyond mere relief can actually hinder the mission, often creating cycles of dependency rather than discipleship. It also challenges the prevailing church-planting model that prioritizes only financially sustainable areas, effectively leaving the least, the last, and the lost in darkness—outsourcing their care to mercy ministries that frequently lack a clear plan for disciple-making.

This book provides a roadmap for planting churches in the hardest and roughest neighborhoods of our cities, while demonstrating that this work is not optional but flows naturally from regeneration by faith in the gospel. It is a needed corrective and a compelling call to faithful, gospel-centered presence where it is most costly and most needed.

Finally, thanks to Doug Logan and the men from NEU church planting (who are in the book) who had dinner with me a couple months ago and pastored my heart in this area and many others.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

“What is your church’s vision for the least, the last and the lost where you are? Which church will take the light of the gospel to the darkest corners of your town, city or village if you don’t? Let me tell you who does have a vision for these communities.
Satan.
He loves hanging out in these communities. He loves to see prosperity heretics moving in. He loves a mad charismatic with little grasp of the gospel. He really likes the Spiritualists. He has a real soft spot for all the Witches’ covens and tarot card readers…”
(p.470)

The author does not pull very many punches, but, then, he’s not very middle class.
A passionate cry for the middle class British Christian to take seriously the spiritual needs of deprived areas of the UK. This is a book that I will be returning to. There’s a lot more to say about it. More importantly, there’s a lot more to pray about it and do about it.

[Alastair Gooderham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mez looks at the state of the church in the UK in terms of reaching the deprived and working class, the least, the lost and the last of the title. It’s a huge undertaking but we’ll written with challenges to the church throughout. Would be well worth elders, pastors and leadership teams reading and praying through.

[David Meiklejohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mez takes no prisoners as he examines the state of British schemes, and the church’s efforts to lend aid to them. The problems are many but the main thrust is that the schemes need local churches, working within, staffed by locals and supported by wealthier churches. Mez’s challenge is what are you doing to help?

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

No book is perfect, but some are more needful than others. This is one. Mez and those who contribute are undoubtedly correct in the vast majority of what they say here. Needful reading and a call to action long overdue.

One thing is for sure, you can't just ignore it.

[Andrew Roycroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review here: https://thinkingpastorally.com/2022/0...

[Jay King · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all who desire to care for the poor.