Book Review: Gaining by Losing

Gaining by Losing: Why the Future belongs to Churches that Send by J. D. Greear is a wake up call for the church – because the church is asleep. The following is startling:

According to a recent Lifeway Research study, in the next seven years 55,000 churches in the United States will close their doors, and the number of those who attend a church on the weekend in the United States will drop from 17 percent to 14 percent. Only 20 percent of churches in the US are growing, and only 1 percent are growing by reaching lost people. So 95 percent of the church growth we celebrate merely shuffles existing Christians around.

So churches aren’t just asleep, but when awake busy doing the wrong things. The enemy doesn’t care which ditch we’re in – as long as we’re in a ditch.

For Greear, the problem is a result of both a lack of concern for Kingdom growth and a lack of gospel discipleship. The solution: “Churches that want to penetrate their world with the gospel think less about the Sunday morning bang and more about equipping their members to blast a hole in the mountain of lostness” and “the future of Christianity belongs to churches that send.” Why?

1. Increasingly, in a “post-Christian” society, unbelievers will simply not make their way into our churches, no matter how “attractive” we make them.
2. Multiplication beats out addition, every time.
3. The presence of God accompanies those who send.
4. Jesus’ promises of “greatness” in the church are always related to sending.

Gaining by Losing seeks to get the church out of the ditch and back on the right path. Following a candid testimony of how Greear’s heart was changed concerning Kingdom growth (chapter 2), he then gives the 10 things (plumb lines) the church he leads did to bring the focus back to center.

1. Chapter 3 lays the foundation – the gospel. “Everything in the Christian life grows out of the gospel” (p. 59).
2. Chapter 4 shatters the “myth” of calling – ‘Everyone is called… the question is no longer whether we are called, only where and how” (p. 70).
3. Chapter 5 challenges the church to be missional, to be the church during the week and not just on the weekend, to be the church in the world rather than trying to attract the world to the church.
4. Chapter 6 shows the importance of good leadership. Good leadership is not a personality that the church grows around but leaders reproducing leaders.
5. Chapter 7 is about living Christ in our world, to make Christ visible. “When local churches equip their people to embody the gospel in the streets, they make movements of and otherwise invisible Christ visible to their community” (p. 119).
6. Chapter 8 is a reminder to the church of how to measure success – are they making disciples.
7. Chapter 9 is simple enough, PASTORS! Every pastor is a missions pastor.
8. Chapter 10 covers the mandate for the church to be multi-ethnic.
9. Chapter 11 sets forth the “risk” that comes with being a sending church.55
10. And chapter 12 – never give up.

I highly recommend Gaining by Losing. Pastors will be challenged – I know, I am one! Members will be challenged – I know, I have them! And may sending be our purpose for worship, discipleship, and fellowship.

I received a copy of this book free of charge from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.