DeYoung and Kluck on the Church

Kevin DeYoung and Tim Kluck, authors of Why We're Not Emergent (one of my all-time favorite books), have a new book called Why We Love the Church - In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion. I really love that subtitle by the way.

DeYoung and Kluck wrote a piece as part of the Guest Voices feature at the Washington Post. Here's a sample from that:

Here's what Bono, Oprah, and the guru speakers on PBS won't tell you: Jesus believed in organized religion and he founded an institution. Of course, Jesus had no patience for religious hacks and self-righteous wannabes, but he was still Jewish. And as Jew, he read the Holy Book, worshiped in the synagogue, and kept Torah. He did not start a movement of latte-drinking disciples who excelled in spiritual conversations. He founded the church (Matt. 16:18) and commissioned the apostles to proclaim the good news that Israel's Messiah had come and the sins of the world could be forgiven through his death on the cross (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:14-36)...

...We've been in the church our whole lives and are not blind to its failings. Churches can be boring, hypocritical, hurtful, and inept. The church is full of sinners. Which is kind of the point. Christians are worse than you think. Our Savior is better than you imagine.

Check out the rest of the article, and go buy their new book. I can't wait to read this one.