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The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline
When the world speaks of "love," it often means unconditional acceptance. Many churches have adopted this mind-set in their practice of membership and discipline-if they have not done away with such structures entirely. "Yet God's love and God's gospel are different than what the world expects," writes Jonathan Leeman. They're centered in his character, which draws a clear boundary between what is holy and what is not. It's this line that the local church should represent in its member practices, because the careful exercise of such authority "is God's means for guarding the gospel, marking off a people, and thereby defining his love for the world."
So how should churches receive and dismiss members? How should Christians view their submission to the church? Are there dangers in such submission? The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love responds with biblical, theological, and practical guidance-from both corporate and individual perspectives. It's a resource that will help pastors and their congregations upend worldly conceptions and recover a biblical understanding and practice of church authority.
So how should churches receive and dismiss members? How should Christians view their submission to the church? Are there dangers in such submission? The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love responds with biblical, theological, and practical guidance-from both corporate and individual perspectives. It's a resource that will help pastors and their congregations upend worldly conceptions and recover a biblical understanding and practice of church authority.
384 pages, Paperback
First published December 22, 2009
43 people are currently reading
473 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Leeman
82 books156 followersJONATHAN LEEMAN is the editorial director of 9Marks, which involves him in editing the 9Marks series of books as well as the 9Marks Journal. He has written a number of books on the church, including Reverberation, and he teaches theology at several seminaries. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in a suburb of Washington, DC and serves as an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington. You can learn more about him and his writing at www.9Marks.org.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
October 11, 2011
What a book this was. I really can’t say enough about Leeman’s book. The book itself is surprising. When one picks up a book subtitled “Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline” one might expect a tract or a booklet, but instead one is met with a book over 350 pages long. What in the world could be so complicated about church membership and doctrine so as to require 350 pages? What sort of intricate minutiae must Leeman get into to fill 350 pages?
But that isn’t at all the sort of task Leeman has in mind. The book is practical, but Leeman is much more concerned about setting right our understanding of God’s love and what the love means for his people as he is about dealing with the procedures of a church discipline issue.
While the content itself is fantastic, Leeman’s writing is so good it is almost worth the read. He has a sort of neo-puritanical style where he lays out the main question and answer at the front of the chapter and then helpfully provides the shorthand steps of the argument at intervals along the way. It makes for a very well paced and tight read. Further, Leeman has broad literary and historical knowledge and he incorporates them both masterfully.
Leeman’s book is the standard – not just the standard on a practical theology of church discipline, but the standard to which practical theological writers should aspire.
But that isn’t at all the sort of task Leeman has in mind. The book is practical, but Leeman is much more concerned about setting right our understanding of God’s love and what the love means for his people as he is about dealing with the procedures of a church discipline issue.
While the content itself is fantastic, Leeman’s writing is so good it is almost worth the read. He has a sort of neo-puritanical style where he lays out the main question and answer at the front of the chapter and then helpfully provides the shorthand steps of the argument at intervals along the way. It makes for a very well paced and tight read. Further, Leeman has broad literary and historical knowledge and he incorporates them both masterfully.
Leeman’s book is the standard – not just the standard on a practical theology of church discipline, but the standard to which practical theological writers should aspire.
August 28, 2011
Love is our response to value, and human value derives from God, so our love for others is not meant to be unconditional in the sense that we let others do whatever they want with no church discipline for sin.
February 21, 2021
A very helpful read. It is broad and sweeping, it thoroughly and insightfully deals with what love is and what that means for church polity and practice. It is a challenging read. I started it over 7 years ago and set it aside and a couple months ago I got back into it.
July 22, 2025
This book is probably the best book I've ever read so far on the topic of the church.
At the same time, it's been one of the most challenging books that I've read so far, partly because of the complexity (or mess) of the topic of the church but also because of the
sophistication of the arguments that Leeman makes within it.
I've always been more of the kind of guy who'd say that church is just the place we goes to on sunday simply because we're Christian. I go to church simply cause that's what I've always been doing. Because what else am I meant
to do with my sunday? Church is simply the place that I turn up to on Sunday for sermons, meet a couple of my friends and then proceed to get on with the rest of my week. Not so, argues Leeman, church is much, much more!
First of all, he argues, as a 21st century Christian, you're already looking at church wrong! You've already got so much cultural baggage with a mindset on how church should really be about meeting your needs and making you feel welcome...and we've become so commitment-phobic that any mention of having to regularly turn up somewhere scares us...
To sum it all up, our view of love has become painfully shallow and cheap, and that reflects how we view church (and treat the people in church)...
Throughout the book, Leeman first redefines love for us, before defining church. I'll write more on it in future posts, but an important part that stood out to me was that love must be
in the context of the local church. Not the online church of john piper or timothy keller (good as
their sermons might be), but the physical, flesh and blood folks right next to you! It's the local church that Paul writes to, and it's these people
in particular that we're called to know, love and serve. Yes, they're sinful and yes, the church will never be perfect. In fact you'll probably at some point hurt them or be hurt by them.
But these are the people that Jesus died to create, a people who redefine love for the world.
So this Sunday(and actually every sunday), be prepared to love like no other and to be loved like no other at a local church near you!
At the same time, it's been one of the most challenging books that I've read so far, partly because of the complexity (or mess) of the topic of the church but also because of the
sophistication of the arguments that Leeman makes within it.
I've always been more of the kind of guy who'd say that church is just the place we goes to on sunday simply because we're Christian. I go to church simply cause that's what I've always been doing. Because what else am I meant
to do with my sunday? Church is simply the place that I turn up to on Sunday for sermons, meet a couple of my friends and then proceed to get on with the rest of my week. Not so, argues Leeman, church is much, much more!
First of all, he argues, as a 21st century Christian, you're already looking at church wrong! You've already got so much cultural baggage with a mindset on how church should really be about meeting your needs and making you feel welcome...and we've become so commitment-phobic that any mention of having to regularly turn up somewhere scares us...
To sum it all up, our view of love has become painfully shallow and cheap, and that reflects how we view church (and treat the people in church)...
Throughout the book, Leeman first redefines love for us, before defining church. I'll write more on it in future posts, but an important part that stood out to me was that love must be
in the context of the local church. Not the online church of john piper or timothy keller (good as
their sermons might be), but the physical, flesh and blood folks right next to you! It's the local church that Paul writes to, and it's these people
in particular that we're called to know, love and serve. Yes, they're sinful and yes, the church will never be perfect. In fact you'll probably at some point hurt them or be hurt by them.
But these are the people that Jesus died to create, a people who redefine love for the world.
So this Sunday(and actually every sunday), be prepared to love like no other and to be loved like no other at a local church near you!
October 20, 2023
Have you ever wondered how the church and church membership fit into the Christian life? Is church membership even a biblical concept?
This book answers every question you might have about what the church is and what it isn't, and what it means to be a member of Christ's church. But in fact, these questions don't go far enough. In order to understand church membership and discipline, we must first understand what biblical love is.
This book will rock your understanding of membership in the church because it forces you to consider it in light of God's love displayed here on earth. It will crystallize all the myriad ideas and vague notions you might have had about the church's role in the Christian's life. It will force you to grasp that God is not looking for merely individual Christians doing whatever they please, but to forge a people who will love one another as Christ loves his church.
The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love goes right to the top of the lists of books that have had a profound impact on my theology and thinking. 5/5 stars.
This book answers every question you might have about what the church is and what it isn't, and what it means to be a member of Christ's church. But in fact, these questions don't go far enough. In order to understand church membership and discipline, we must first understand what biblical love is.
This book will rock your understanding of membership in the church because it forces you to consider it in light of God's love displayed here on earth. It will crystallize all the myriad ideas and vague notions you might have had about the church's role in the Christian's life. It will force you to grasp that God is not looking for merely individual Christians doing whatever they please, but to forge a people who will love one another as Christ loves his church.
The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love goes right to the top of the lists of books that have had a profound impact on my theology and thinking. 5/5 stars.
October 4, 2017
Jonathan Leeman has written a good book here. It is thoughtful, deep, well nuanced. He explores church membership and ecclesiology from the perspective of a theology of a law-first interpretation of love. The argument seems to be if God is loving and sin is despicable, then people who join the church need to be loved in a way that leads them away from sin. And if they choose to fight the church's discipline then they need not be members of that church anymore.
I struggled with my star rating, as theologically I disagree strongly with this interpretation of God's love. But the book deserves three stars because Leeman is true to his theology and he has written a strong, well-written, well considered book.
This is a particularly good read for law-first pastors, but there is value here for progressive pastors as our theology must be challenged by scripture and different theological understandings of God.
I struggled with my star rating, as theologically I disagree strongly with this interpretation of God's love. But the book deserves three stars because Leeman is true to his theology and he has written a strong, well-written, well considered book.
This is a particularly good read for law-first pastors, but there is value here for progressive pastors as our theology must be challenged by scripture and different theological understandings of God.
September 5, 2017
O livro é muito bom apresentando de maneira bem sólida o conceito de membresia e como a disciplina faz parte da membresia cristã. Só me incomodou o tanto com o autor tenta concluir que o melhor governo de igreja é o congregacionalismo, sendo que em minha opinião as conclusões dele parecem sempre cair para o lado do presbiterianismo. O autor tenta promover demais o governo dele e esquece que no começo do livro ele diz que essa não era uma questão relevante para os fins do livro. Achei um pouco embolado o conceito de autoridade e como o amor de Deus retorna para ele mesmo, essas partes me apresentaram um pouco de redundância e repetições. Fora isso, é um excelente livro, vale muito a pena a leitura!
July 26, 2025
A monster of a book in many ways. It’s definitely long, often dense, yet also highly readable and ruthlessly clear. Jonathan Leeman’s systematic theology of church membership and church discipline is structured like a Puritain treatise, and I came away wanting to take his arguments seriously and to ponder their implications. I cannot imagine everyone will be persuaded by all of his conclusions, but his overall vision for the church, and life within the local church especially, are compelling.
November 27, 2017
Assumes his reader to take the opposite stance to his argument - which can be tiring if you're fairly moderate or in agreement to his general theology.
His writing can also be a little repetitive, and I am convinced that the book could be half as short and be more effective as a result.
Otherwise, he makes good points with some argumentative fallacies here and there but nothing major.
His writing can also be a little repetitive, and I am convinced that the book could be half as short and be more effective as a result.
Otherwise, he makes good points with some argumentative fallacies here and there but nothing major.
December 31, 2019
Leeman defines love as "the lover’s affirmation of and affection for the beloved and the beloved’s good in the Holy."
This is a book that explains this, argues for it and applies it to what that necessarily looks like in a local church.
Very helpful step by step summary of the book's argument in the back.
This is a book that explains this, argues for it and applies it to what that necessarily looks like in a local church.
Very helpful step by step summary of the book's argument in the back.
January 5, 2025
Excellent. This book reshaped my understanding on authority, love and its ultimate form & expression in the Lord. From this, church membership & discipline are practices of the church that effectively communicate the distinctive love of Christ. Church Discipline needs to be recovered in the local church.
October 2, 2018
In this work, Leeman helpfully explains what church membership is, and how it works. This book is quite detailed, and rather dense, but a useful explanation of the inner workings of how the gospel should be lived out in the church.
February 28, 2019
I think this is a good argument for church membership, healthy relationships with others believes and non especially if you are struggling with the idea/church culture as it is presented in our society. It a a dense read though.
July 1, 2019
Todo cristão precisa conhecer e viver as verdades bíblicas escritas nesse livro...
“Unir-se a uma igreja vai muito além de acrescentar o nosso nome ao rol de membros.” Jonathan Leeman
E todo cristão deve estar ligado a uma igreja local.
“Unir-se a uma igreja vai muito além de acrescentar o nosso nome ao rol de membros.” Jonathan Leeman
E todo cristão deve estar ligado a uma igreja local.
March 10, 2017
Good Stuff. Leeman articulates well meaningful church discipline and membership.
August 18, 2010
One of the fastest ways to get Christians squirming these days is to bring up the subject of church discipline. The Bible is clear that Christians are to exercise authority and discipline over one another, but everything in our culture tells us that we have no right to do so. How can I — a sinner myself — presume to tell another sinner what to do about his sin? Isn’t this unloving? How do we address such a difficult topic?
Jonathan Leeman certainly chose a weighty subject for his first book, but he handles the subject extraordinarily well. Rather than begin with a list of practical applications (where most discipline discussions begin and often abruptly end), Leeman takes aim at the very foundation of the church, and the purpose of church membership and discipline. These two things, he says, “define God’s love for the world.”
More than anything else, then, this is a book about God’s love. After all, if the church is to model God’s love to the world (a point on which Christians of all theological persuasions are agreed), we must first have a biblical definition of God’s love upon which to build our doctrines of the church.
Leeman begins by looking at some “cultural baggage” which has caused many people to have wrong and unbiblical perceptions of God’s love. These contemporary issues includes individualism, consumerism, commitment phobia, and skepticism. Each of these have contributed to a general confusion about what love itself is, which in turn has affected our ideas about what churches should be. For instance, the belief that love must include no judgment results, among other things, in churches which are designed to make people feel relaxed and comfortable, not judged.
In the next section of the book — at 195 pages, nearly a book in itself — the author systematically defines God’s love, and the implications in the life of the church. First, he describes why God’s love offends our modern sensibilities, and the connection between our understanding of his love and church membership. He then goes on to discuss the nature of authority, and the delegated roles of authority and submission within the church. These are almost alien concepts in most churches, but Scripture is clear that God has given authority to some, and the responsibility to submit to that authority (even as those in authority submit to Christ) to others.
The final section fleshes out the true purpose of membership and discipline in the church: to define love for the world by marking off God’s people from the world and holding them up on display. Here Leeman finally gets to the nitty-gritty. How should a church responsibly affirm, oversee, and remove members? What does it mean to submit to a local church?
The practical answers given in this section will truly offend many, but they are tried and proven over centuries in the life of countless local churches. It is particularly difficult to reconcile God’s revealed plan of the authority of the local church when we see how often this authority has been abused, often with grave consequences for believers and nonbelievers alike. However, the abuse of authority — while never excused — does not negate the fact that this authority does exist, and has been plainly prescribed for us in God’s Word.
It should be noted that Leeman’s ecclesiology is unapologetically Baptist, but what he says will appeal to conservative Protestants of other denominations as well. The Baptist distinctives do not come into play too often in this book, and even when they do, one could easily take what Leeman says about baptism and the Lord’s Supper and apply it to, say, a Presbyterian understanding of the sacraments with little trouble.
As with any “IX Marks” publication, the merits of this book are many. It is worth the purchase price just for the outline in the appendices! The middle section by itself would be one of the best books ever written on the nature of God’s love. It takes a difficult and often dry area of theology and presents it in a clear and engaging way. Its size will be a deterrent for many, but please, please, PLEASE don’t let it scare you! This is a book worth spending some serious time with. I highly encourage any Christian to dig into it, but consider it an absolute must-read for any pastor or elder.
Jonathan Leeman certainly chose a weighty subject for his first book, but he handles the subject extraordinarily well. Rather than begin with a list of practical applications (where most discipline discussions begin and often abruptly end), Leeman takes aim at the very foundation of the church, and the purpose of church membership and discipline. These two things, he says, “define God’s love for the world.”
More than anything else, then, this is a book about God’s love. After all, if the church is to model God’s love to the world (a point on which Christians of all theological persuasions are agreed), we must first have a biblical definition of God’s love upon which to build our doctrines of the church.
Leeman begins by looking at some “cultural baggage” which has caused many people to have wrong and unbiblical perceptions of God’s love. These contemporary issues includes individualism, consumerism, commitment phobia, and skepticism. Each of these have contributed to a general confusion about what love itself is, which in turn has affected our ideas about what churches should be. For instance, the belief that love must include no judgment results, among other things, in churches which are designed to make people feel relaxed and comfortable, not judged.
In the next section of the book — at 195 pages, nearly a book in itself — the author systematically defines God’s love, and the implications in the life of the church. First, he describes why God’s love offends our modern sensibilities, and the connection between our understanding of his love and church membership. He then goes on to discuss the nature of authority, and the delegated roles of authority and submission within the church. These are almost alien concepts in most churches, but Scripture is clear that God has given authority to some, and the responsibility to submit to that authority (even as those in authority submit to Christ) to others.
The final section fleshes out the true purpose of membership and discipline in the church: to define love for the world by marking off God’s people from the world and holding them up on display. Here Leeman finally gets to the nitty-gritty. How should a church responsibly affirm, oversee, and remove members? What does it mean to submit to a local church?
The practical answers given in this section will truly offend many, but they are tried and proven over centuries in the life of countless local churches. It is particularly difficult to reconcile God’s revealed plan of the authority of the local church when we see how often this authority has been abused, often with grave consequences for believers and nonbelievers alike. However, the abuse of authority — while never excused — does not negate the fact that this authority does exist, and has been plainly prescribed for us in God’s Word.
It should be noted that Leeman’s ecclesiology is unapologetically Baptist, but what he says will appeal to conservative Protestants of other denominations as well. The Baptist distinctives do not come into play too often in this book, and even when they do, one could easily take what Leeman says about baptism and the Lord’s Supper and apply it to, say, a Presbyterian understanding of the sacraments with little trouble.
As with any “IX Marks” publication, the merits of this book are many. It is worth the purchase price just for the outline in the appendices! The middle section by itself would be one of the best books ever written on the nature of God’s love. It takes a difficult and often dry area of theology and presents it in a clear and engaging way. Its size will be a deterrent for many, but please, please, PLEASE don’t let it scare you! This is a book worth spending some serious time with. I highly encourage any Christian to dig into it, but consider it an absolute must-read for any pastor or elder.
Read
November 15, 2020There are few areas of theology that interest me as much as ecclesiology, the doctrine of the church, and this is the best book in that category I have encountered. I am not trying to exaggerate or overstate my case by saying that anyone who is responsible for shaping the structure and governance of their church (so, especially any pastors, ministers, or elders) should consider making this book required reading. Most books are not worth the time to read carefully, cover-to-cover, with a pen in hand, but this is not a book to skim. Trust me, I’ve tried.
You can pan some gold if you simply use it as a reference on your shelf to pick out a few pages here or there, but Leeman could have a successful career as a prosecuting attorney with rigor in his argument from cover to cover. It’s hard to imagine parting ways with him if you agree with the foundations he establishes in the first chapters.
The book presents the doctrines of church membership and discipline against our popular, and according to Leeman, idolatrous conceptions of love. Chapter 1 deconstructs the false love that prevails in Western minds, which has no authority or demands. Then chapter 2 presents a different and biblical definition of love that originates in God and is expressed through godly people. Chapter 3 examines our typical assumptions about authority, and shows how a distinctly gospel-shaped authority plays out in the church.
Chapter 4 might be the most important if you need to pick where to focus careful reading. With the philosophical and theological foundations of love and authority in place, here Leeman carefully and exegetically portrays the specific contours and aims of loving authority as given to local churches as an extension of the Lord Jesus himself. One of the key ideas upon which Leeman rests his case is that all authority in heaven and earth belongs to Jesus Christ, and he has particularly authorizes his church through local assemblies to exercise that authority. The church’s authority is derivative and given a specific “charter.” That authority is to recognize, affirm, mark-off, and exercise oversight over those who get to represent Jesus on earth. Leeman employs a central metaphor, that autonomous local churches function as embassies of Jesus’ eschatological kingdom.
Chapter 5 argues that the relationship between the church’s authority and its members forms a covenant-like bond. There is a submission and rule that is more than a contract, because it is a commitment involving all of life.
Chapter 6 contains the most practical application of the book, especially as it deals with the bookends of membership/discipline. Readers interested in best practices for how to embody the kind of loving authority articulated in chapters 1-5 will find this chapter invaluable. This would be the most important chapter for those already convinced by the necessity of church membership and discipline, but interested in how to practice it. Chapter 7 provides very helpful and important qualifiers for how this loving authority should look in more daily life, between the bookends (chapter 6). Here Leeman contrasts authority with authoritarianism, and defines a distinctly Christian concept of freedom and liberty.
If you are a pastor, elder, or ministry leader, or aspire to be one, read this book.
You can pan some gold if you simply use it as a reference on your shelf to pick out a few pages here or there, but Leeman could have a successful career as a prosecuting attorney with rigor in his argument from cover to cover. It’s hard to imagine parting ways with him if you agree with the foundations he establishes in the first chapters.
The book presents the doctrines of church membership and discipline against our popular, and according to Leeman, idolatrous conceptions of love. Chapter 1 deconstructs the false love that prevails in Western minds, which has no authority or demands. Then chapter 2 presents a different and biblical definition of love that originates in God and is expressed through godly people. Chapter 3 examines our typical assumptions about authority, and shows how a distinctly gospel-shaped authority plays out in the church.
Chapter 4 might be the most important if you need to pick where to focus careful reading. With the philosophical and theological foundations of love and authority in place, here Leeman carefully and exegetically portrays the specific contours and aims of loving authority as given to local churches as an extension of the Lord Jesus himself. One of the key ideas upon which Leeman rests his case is that all authority in heaven and earth belongs to Jesus Christ, and he has particularly authorizes his church through local assemblies to exercise that authority. The church’s authority is derivative and given a specific “charter.” That authority is to recognize, affirm, mark-off, and exercise oversight over those who get to represent Jesus on earth. Leeman employs a central metaphor, that autonomous local churches function as embassies of Jesus’ eschatological kingdom.
Chapter 5 argues that the relationship between the church’s authority and its members forms a covenant-like bond. There is a submission and rule that is more than a contract, because it is a commitment involving all of life.
Chapter 6 contains the most practical application of the book, especially as it deals with the bookends of membership/discipline. Readers interested in best practices for how to embody the kind of loving authority articulated in chapters 1-5 will find this chapter invaluable. This would be the most important chapter for those already convinced by the necessity of church membership and discipline, but interested in how to practice it. Chapter 7 provides very helpful and important qualifiers for how this loving authority should look in more daily life, between the bookends (chapter 6). Here Leeman contrasts authority with authoritarianism, and defines a distinctly Christian concept of freedom and liberty.
If you are a pastor, elder, or ministry leader, or aspire to be one, read this book.
February 25, 2016
I picked this book up after reading Leeman's shorter primers on Church Membership and Church Discipline, specifically as resources in preparation for a class on Church Discipline that I was preparing to teach. I found this book to be several things at the same time: profound, thorough, thoughtful...and honestly, a bit tedious.
Leeman proves himself to be a gifted and intelligent theologian, Bible teacher, and philosopher at the same time - which are all things that I naturally gravitate towards. In that, I appreciated his thorough handling of tough topics in a very deep, profound and even practical manner. Rethinking and redefining God's love is an ingenious and essential starting part and theme that undergirds his entire approach/argument. This important doctrine informs the entire doctrine of the church - what we are about, how we bring glory to God, and how we live with one another.
The thoroughness of the book is shown in the outline. (If you choose not to invest the time into slogging through the entire book, he thankfully provides the entire outline in concise form as an appendix. Unfortunately, much of what is presented in outline form necessitates deeper explanation, so this is definitely a helpful launching point for digging deeper into your own areas of interest or focus.) Yet, this outline brings some tedium to the book - much like reading Aquinas or Edwards - as Leeman does not hesitate to go down deep and explore every single question until the life has been completely sucked out of it. This is not a light or quick read. It's intended for thoughtful study...and, I think, conversation. I intend to recommend it to the other Elders at the church where I serve as a book to read and discuss over a 6 or 9 month period.
This is a scholarly and thoughtful work, yet the ideas presented are so profound and practical, that it is also a necessary work for anyone who leads or cares about Christ's church. I am thankful that IX Marks also published Leeman's (much) shorter works on Membership & Discipline, for those who do not have the time or inclination to give the time to this work.
Leeman proves himself to be a gifted and intelligent theologian, Bible teacher, and philosopher at the same time - which are all things that I naturally gravitate towards. In that, I appreciated his thorough handling of tough topics in a very deep, profound and even practical manner. Rethinking and redefining God's love is an ingenious and essential starting part and theme that undergirds his entire approach/argument. This important doctrine informs the entire doctrine of the church - what we are about, how we bring glory to God, and how we live with one another.
The thoroughness of the book is shown in the outline. (If you choose not to invest the time into slogging through the entire book, he thankfully provides the entire outline in concise form as an appendix. Unfortunately, much of what is presented in outline form necessitates deeper explanation, so this is definitely a helpful launching point for digging deeper into your own areas of interest or focus.) Yet, this outline brings some tedium to the book - much like reading Aquinas or Edwards - as Leeman does not hesitate to go down deep and explore every single question until the life has been completely sucked out of it. This is not a light or quick read. It's intended for thoughtful study...and, I think, conversation. I intend to recommend it to the other Elders at the church where I serve as a book to read and discuss over a 6 or 9 month period.
This is a scholarly and thoughtful work, yet the ideas presented are so profound and practical, that it is also a necessary work for anyone who leads or cares about Christ's church. I am thankful that IX Marks also published Leeman's (much) shorter works on Membership & Discipline, for those who do not have the time or inclination to give the time to this work.
March 31, 2018
This book is one of the best I've read this year. Long, deep and challenging, but wonderfully enlightening and convicting. For some reason, the title sounds a bit obscure, but it could almost be subtitled Basic Christian Life Together for how very key and important its teaching is. I grew in my understanding of how integral my church family is to my very life and breath as a Christian, and how my submission to Christ is tied to my submission to His church. This book will tell you that you are not your own, and if you learn from it rightly, you will find that is a place of freedom and comfort, greater than the independence and isolation our culture provides.
"We're not left to swim upstream all by ourselves."
"As Christians join together to be formed by the same preaching, prayers of confession, songs of praise, and gospel pictures of baptism and the Lord's Supper, they are given a common language or currency for negotiating daily life. When the temptations, tragedies, or triumphs of the week come, they have this shared language or currency to encourage and challenge one another through it all. It's here, throughout the week, that Sunday's ministry of the Word echoes back and forth between one life and another....If we allow hour after hour of media (radio, movies, television, Internet) to form us through the week but resist any more than an hour of church on Sunday, will it not be the media that provides us all with a common language and currency? When we discover on Sunday after the sermon that someone saw the same move last night as we did, is it more natural to talk about the movie of the sermon?"
"We count them more significant than ourselves by binding our identity to theirs and giving them all the honor we want for ourselves - the honor of Christ. We stake our joy and sorrow in their progress in the faith, since love always hopes, always trusts, always perseveres. As we love like this, we define Christ's love for the world"
"We're not left to swim upstream all by ourselves."
"As Christians join together to be formed by the same preaching, prayers of confession, songs of praise, and gospel pictures of baptism and the Lord's Supper, they are given a common language or currency for negotiating daily life. When the temptations, tragedies, or triumphs of the week come, they have this shared language or currency to encourage and challenge one another through it all. It's here, throughout the week, that Sunday's ministry of the Word echoes back and forth between one life and another....If we allow hour after hour of media (radio, movies, television, Internet) to form us through the week but resist any more than an hour of church on Sunday, will it not be the media that provides us all with a common language and currency? When we discover on Sunday after the sermon that someone saw the same move last night as we did, is it more natural to talk about the movie of the sermon?"
"We count them more significant than ourselves by binding our identity to theirs and giving them all the honor we want for ourselves - the honor of Christ. We stake our joy and sorrow in their progress in the faith, since love always hopes, always trusts, always perseveres. As we love like this, we define Christ's love for the world"
October 19, 2016
As a student of theology that leans more toward biblical theology, no wonder I felt that I did not like this book as much as I thought I would - Leeman states he is attempting to lay out a systematic theology! So perhaps the more systematic scholars would find this a more enjoyable read.
Brevity is not one of Leeman's strength. This book makes Dever's original 9marks book look pint sized! As I read through the pages, often I would be wondering to myself, why couldn't he just write more concisely; how I wish I did not have to wade through so much murky water just to find that gem or two? This is a pity because there were plenty of nuggets of wisdom for reflection between the pages, but you'd need to get through quite a fair bit to find them.
I've yet to encounter a book that exceeded 300 pages that I found still managed to capture my attention, and this was no different (the sole book that did was Stott's The Incomparable Christ - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...). But alas! Leeman mercifully includes a summary of the main substantives of the book in the Appendix. Perhaps one could start from there, see which topic interests you and then dive into deep depths of the chapter.
If he, like Dever, would shrink this immense amount of research into a shorter book, that would probably make for a 5 star masterpiece (Dever shrank his 300+ page long book into a 130 page book titled "What Is a Healthy Church? - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...)" While the sister volumes in the 9marks series titled Church Discipline and Church Membership may fit the bill, I cannot really tell much from the amazon previews what they really are like. Ideally it would be great if they were merged into shorter one combined title given the numerous overlaps between the two topics.
Brevity is not one of Leeman's strength. This book makes Dever's original 9marks book look pint sized! As I read through the pages, often I would be wondering to myself, why couldn't he just write more concisely; how I wish I did not have to wade through so much murky water just to find that gem or two? This is a pity because there were plenty of nuggets of wisdom for reflection between the pages, but you'd need to get through quite a fair bit to find them.
I've yet to encounter a book that exceeded 300 pages that I found still managed to capture my attention, and this was no different (the sole book that did was Stott's The Incomparable Christ - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...). But alas! Leeman mercifully includes a summary of the main substantives of the book in the Appendix. Perhaps one could start from there, see which topic interests you and then dive into deep depths of the chapter.
If he, like Dever, would shrink this immense amount of research into a shorter book, that would probably make for a 5 star masterpiece (Dever shrank his 300+ page long book into a 130 page book titled "What Is a Healthy Church? - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...)" While the sister volumes in the 9marks series titled Church Discipline and Church Membership may fit the bill, I cannot really tell much from the amazon previews what they really are like. Ideally it would be great if they were merged into shorter one combined title given the numerous overlaps between the two topics.
August 3, 2010
I'd give this 4 1/2 stars, except goodreads doesn't have that option.
Basically, all of his thoughts on love are right on (both what our culture gets wrong, and what the Bible gets right). His arguments about the church are fine as well, and written generally enough that most Christians would agree, even those as cantankerous/apathetic as I can be about issues like church government.
I particularly appreciated his point that in the modern world, love has come to be self-centered and focused on what others can do for or give to us, instead of being focused on how we can serve and care for and (particularly offensive to Americans) obey those with whom God has placed us into a relationship.
The down-sides of this book are about what you'd expect. It is fairly long, and written in a style more consistent with pastoring than with Englishing. For example, on page 153, he discusses the how in a fallen world, authority very often abuses love: "Usher love into the same room as authority and love will often find itself battered and thrashed, like a person in a cage with an ill-tempered gorilla." Pastorally, the point is conveyed well and you know exactly what he's saying. The wretched language just has to be endured, because clarity is more important than eloquence in this particular style of writing. Fortunately, unlike some writers in this vein, this author is much more restrained in his use of tortured examples, and generally the book reads easily and well.
Recommended for those who want to know more about the theology of life in the church.
Basically, all of his thoughts on love are right on (both what our culture gets wrong, and what the Bible gets right). His arguments about the church are fine as well, and written generally enough that most Christians would agree, even those as cantankerous/apathetic as I can be about issues like church government.
I particularly appreciated his point that in the modern world, love has come to be self-centered and focused on what others can do for or give to us, instead of being focused on how we can serve and care for and (particularly offensive to Americans) obey those with whom God has placed us into a relationship.
The down-sides of this book are about what you'd expect. It is fairly long, and written in a style more consistent with pastoring than with Englishing. For example, on page 153, he discusses the how in a fallen world, authority very often abuses love: "Usher love into the same room as authority and love will often find itself battered and thrashed, like a person in a cage with an ill-tempered gorilla." Pastorally, the point is conveyed well and you know exactly what he's saying. The wretched language just has to be endured, because clarity is more important than eloquence in this particular style of writing. Fortunately, unlike some writers in this vein, this author is much more restrained in his use of tortured examples, and generally the book reads easily and well.
Recommended for those who want to know more about the theology of life in the church.
February 24, 2010
Let me give four reasons why I loved this book:
1 - Its the best book on the love of God since Carson’s The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God. That may sound like a ridiculous statement about a book on church membership and discipline, but I don’t think its misguided. Leeman grounds the love of God in a biblical understanding of the Gospel and how Christians should function together as the body of Christ. The love of God is not an etherial concept, but a subject of deep consequence for Christians and how they care for one another.
2 - Leeman allows the Bible to speak on its own terms. Rather than allowing culture or felt needs to inform the issue of God’s love or the church’s life together, Leeman defines them in the context of the redemptive history of Scripture. This ground is rarely broken in discussions on membership and discipline.
3 - Leeman answers all the difficult questions. Those, like Leeman, who argue for the Christ-given authority in the Church to regulate membership and discipline its members are faced with many accusations of neglecting the love of Christ in favor of authoritative, loveless exclusivism. Leeman doesn’t evade the difficult issues, nor does he neglect the love of Christ. His answers are lucid and clear.
The Gospel is offensive to our culture and Leeman doesn’t take the offense out of it. He argues, convincingly, that we must not take the offense out of Church membership and discipline either, for the sake of the Gospel.
1 - Its the best book on the love of God since Carson’s The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God. That may sound like a ridiculous statement about a book on church membership and discipline, but I don’t think its misguided. Leeman grounds the love of God in a biblical understanding of the Gospel and how Christians should function together as the body of Christ. The love of God is not an etherial concept, but a subject of deep consequence for Christians and how they care for one another.
2 - Leeman allows the Bible to speak on its own terms. Rather than allowing culture or felt needs to inform the issue of God’s love or the church’s life together, Leeman defines them in the context of the redemptive history of Scripture. This ground is rarely broken in discussions on membership and discipline.
3 - Leeman answers all the difficult questions. Those, like Leeman, who argue for the Christ-given authority in the Church to regulate membership and discipline its members are faced with many accusations of neglecting the love of Christ in favor of authoritative, loveless exclusivism. Leeman doesn’t evade the difficult issues, nor does he neglect the love of Christ. His answers are lucid and clear.
The Gospel is offensive to our culture and Leeman doesn’t take the offense out of it. He argues, convincingly, that we must not take the offense out of Church membership and discipline either, for the sake of the Gospel.
January 14, 2013
I was given a copy of this book while attending a IXMarks conference and was really expecting more from it. Leeman does a good job of looking at the theme and idea of love in the Bible and then demonstrating how it differs from contemporary cultural expressions and definitions and how the present-day Church has gravitated toward the latter. This is helpful. Leeman has a lot of good things to say about Church discipline and the the Church's responsibility to call people to be different from the world...even when that means exercising discipline. That said, the Baptistic "pure church" ecclesiology of the book proves to be problematic and that's where Leeman loses me. Yes, I'm an Anglican. My ecclesiology is different. I understand that there will be tares growing alongside the wheat and that come the Last Day, the vine will require pruning of dead wood. Jesus warns us that such pruning, such uprooting of the tares, and such sifting of wheat and chaff is not our responsibility...it's his. I'm with Leeman when it comes for the need to exercise discipline in the Church and to expect and call for holiness, but when it comes to "membership" in the Church he and I are simply on different pages.
July 25, 2011
Leeman provides a very comprehensive and helpful overview of the doctrine of church discipline and church membership and how they represent the "operation of God's love." The local church is God's chosen manifestation of his glory in this age. The foundation of his premise is based on a building block argument from Matt 16, 18, and finally 28. He argues that the "bind and loose" responsibility to separate a people for God is given exclusively to the church (Matt 16, 18). We are then exhorted to take that message to all nations, teaching, baptizing and binding new disciples (Matt 28). This binding is a very meaningful covenant that represents an agreement to submit to the leadership of the church in return for affirming the profession and discipling the believer. A heavy read but Leeman is an intellectual powerhouse that provides a very convincing case for taking membership much more seriously.
July 11, 2013
I would actually rate this a 2.5 stars. It's a little lengthy for what it is, but he has some really great moments in it. The basic premise is that the Gospel shapes the practices and structure of the church. He spends a lot of time defining how our consumer-individulistic culture has shaped our expectations of church, but that as believers we should be committed to a local church. The surprising of offense of God's love is that ultimately God's love is centered on himself but not man, and that he is giving himself to man that man might enjoy him. Yet because man's not the center of God's existence, he is not obliged to love all men the same - that is why there is those who are inside the church and those that are outside. That is why the church has membership and discipline - it identifies who's out and who's in.
September 20, 2012
A very insightful and biblical study into church membership and discipleship. This book covers one of the most needed, and unfortunately most forgotten, principles that drives believers towards holiness. That principle being God's love for Himself. From there we are able to see our roles in loving fellow believers. Please read if you want to know what love really is. In truth, there is nothing "new" in this book, rather old truths painted in a beautiful and refreshing light.
March 9, 2015
An excellent read. This book blew away my expectations. Leeman encompasses the much needed topic of church membership and discipline in biblical love and authority. He not only makes a convincing case for why these structures are necessary, but beneficial for any true Christian. I also greatly benefited from his pastoral perspicuity on how these principles shaped church life and practice in the last two chapters.
April 21, 2015
This is a great book. Leeman does a very good job arguing biblically and theologically for the importance of the local church, and specifically for the need for church membership and discipline. He employs both logic and biblical theology.
I enjoyed this book, but it isn't an easy read. It is long and requires time and effort. But, it also helpfully frames and speaks into an important conversation that will have a profound impact in making a church more biblical if followed.
I enjoyed this book, but it isn't an easy read. It is long and requires time and effort. But, it also helpfully frames and speaks into an important conversation that will have a profound impact in making a church more biblical if followed.
February 28, 2020
Many of you who have read this would probably disagree on this review and keep in mind this is coming from a layman: Practically speaking I think Leeman could have said everything he needed to in 3-4 chapters and made this a much easier read! From a laymen's perspective, this was very wordy.
Theologically he hit on the lack of understanding in ref. to true biblical love and authority in the church (he does a great job of unpacking that).
Theologically he hit on the lack of understanding in ref. to true biblical love and authority in the church (he does a great job of unpacking that).
January 4, 2011
This book was not a light read, but a well-reasoned defense of church membership and discipline. The author's first chapter on love is excellent. "We have made love into an idol that serves us, and so redefined love into something that never imposes judgments, conditions, or binding attachments.". This is a great book, and one that all church members would do well to read and heed.
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