AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The Blessed Church by Robert Morris

I can imagine many people rolling their eyes at Robert Morris’ The Blessed Church.  I can imagine them saying, “Another book by a megachurch pastor telling me why my church isn’t growing and how I should do more things like his church.”  Well, most of those people won’t end up reading the book they’re deriding, but just the same they’re both right and wrong about Robert and his book.

This IS another book by a megachurch pastor telling you how to have a “better” church.  And he does talk a lot about church growth.  However, what he talks about the most is seeking God’s vision, and working on making your church healthy, because “healthy things grow.”  He tells the story of how he planted Gateway Church and what their key values are.  He dedicates chapters to their theology of worship, community (small groups), preaching, etc.  But he also includes some more surprising key values; like the chapter on the importance of creating a culture of rest.

I like it when authors narrate their own books, but in this case I think it was practically a necessity that Robert himself do the narration.  He claims multiple times throughout the work that he isn’t trying to be boastful or arrogant about the tremendous success of Gateway Church.  I would be less likely to believe him if I didn’t get to hear the earnestness of his voice firsthand.

His hermeneutic gets a little strained at times.  He holds Moses up multiple times as the quintessential pastor.  While Moses is indeed an amazing leadership role model, Robert pushes the comparisons too far and draws from the narratives some things that simply aren’t there.

The highlight of the book is the section on healthy church government.  I’m not sure I agree completely with Gateway’s leadership structure, but Robert does an outstanding job articulating the “whys” behind the “hows.”  Too many churches don’t take this area seriously enough.  I also found it very convicting whenever Robert talked about seeking God both long and hard during decision making and sermon preparation.  How often do we neglect this vital practice?

This book is written with senior pastors in mind, but it is all in all a very challenging read for anyone who is in a church leadership position.

Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the Christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.  More information can be found about this and other Christian audiobooks at christianaudio.com.