Christ’s Call to Reform the Church

Christ’s Call to Reform the Church: Timeless Demands From the Lord to His People, by John MacArthur – a book review. The book is published by Moody Publishers & Master’s Seminary Press (Hardback 199 pages).

Over the last couple of years or so I’ve been consistently re-visiting Christ’s Seven Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation. I’ve partly done this as a personal wake-up call. However I’ve also been wondering what Jesus would write to the current western church. What would He say to us, individually, right now?

I started looking around for a study series based on these letters, but with a modern application. Nothing grabbed my attention until I came across “Christ’s Call to Reform the Church” by MacArthur. This is what I was looking for. This book is timely – it directly addresses alarming trend in the church today, and with a personal application based on the Seven Letters.

The Introduction of the book sets the pace for what is to come. MacArthur has been singled out by one or two polemicists as bowing to the Marxist Gospel. Much of this criticism is due to guilt by associations and “links” to The Gospel Coalition. However, his stance on the so-called Social Justice Gospel is very clear from the beginning:

In the book of Revelation, Jesus wrote seven letters to cities in Asia Minor. He didn’t write them to city hall; He wrote them to the church….He didn’t advise His people to leverage political power to institute morality, or to protest the rule of immoral men…The church today – and particularly the church in America – needs to understand that God has not called His people out of the world simply to wage a culture war with the world…The push for cultural morality or even social justice is a dangerous distraction from the work of the church.

And this:

Political and social justice efforts are, at best, short-term, external solutions for society’s moral ills, and they do nothing to address the personal, internal, dominant matter of sinful hearts that hate God (see Rom. 8:7), and can be rescued from eternal death only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

A note of clarification: MacArthur is not saying we shouldn’t ever get involved within our spheres of influence. The world has historically benefited from Christianity. He’s saying cultural engagement is not the primary role of the church.

The first two chapters give us a quick summary of the Reformation and how Christ works in His church. But they also contain warnings. The sober-stirring title of one sub-heading is Judgment for the Household of God! For example, see Rev 3:19.

The central body of the book (the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches) begins with a description of the awesome Christ John saw on Patmos. Then MacArthur skillfully analyses each letter from its historical perspective, while applying these observations to the reader, and to the church at large today. What I like about MacArthur’ is his surgeon-like precision at getting to the heart of sin; and by letting these letters speak for themselves. There is no sugar coating here.

The final chapter summarizes the problems we all need to address today – seeker friendly churches, emphasis on self, Social justice etc. MacArthur reminds us of the Five Solas of the Reformation:

Sola Scriptura (Scripture only)

Sola Fide (Faith only)

Sola Gratia (Grace only)

Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God only)

Solus Christus (Christ only)

Over the years I’ve collected quite a few books in my library. To be honest, some I’ll read only once. Others, I’ll go back to eventually. Then there are the ones I’ve labeled Desert Island books. These are precious to me and never far from my reach. “Christ’s Call to Reform the Church” belongs to this latter group. Every Christian should read it, especially in these times where Christ has been locked out of so many churches.

Book Contents

Introduction

1) Calling the Church to Repent

2) The Lord’s Work in His Church

3) The Loveless Church: Ephesus

4) The Persecuted Church: Smyrna

5) The Compromising Church: Pergamum

6) The Corrupt Church: Thyatira

7) The Dead Church: Sardis

8) The Faithful Church: Philadelphia

9) The Lukewarm Church Laodicea

10) The Need for a New Reformation

Acknowledgements

Notes

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