What if I Don't Feel Like Going to Church by Gunner Gundersen: A Book Review

I’ve quickly become a big fan of the 9Marks Church Questions series. This series is growing with handy little books that are full of truth focusing on a single question many church members may have. They are perfect to hand out to people and require little time commitment to read. Don’t let that fool you though. They are packed with biblical truth that will really help those to whom they are addressed.

Gunner Gunderson has written the newest release titled, What if I Don’t Feel Like Going to Church? He starts the book off with a bang: "The most important time to be at church is when you don’t feel like it." He’s holding nothing back.

Gunderson goes on to remind us that our feelings shouldn’t dictate our choices. This is true in all of life. It is especially true regarding obeying God’s commands. It’s something Christians need to remember all the time.

He examines reasons or excuses we may give for not going to church. After, he looks at what the church is and reminds us that the church is a family and that healthy families stick together. He reminds us a covenant is involved as a church member and that those exist for the hard times, not the good ones.

Gunderson highlights the importance of presence in the book. The church has to be present to be the church. They have to gather. He examines multiple aspects of this presence, but especially reminds us that it is an imperfect presence. The church is filled with imperfect people. We are a people who are being sanctified, but not yet glorified. We are a people who must practice forgiveness just as we have been forgiven. 

I found What if I Don’t Feel Like Going to Church? to be an incredibly helpful book. The things Gunderson highlights were good reminders for me and I think they’ll be very useful for those unfamiliar with these concepts. I would be happy to put this book in the hands of anyone struggling with desiring to come to church.

You can pick up your copy of What if I Don’t Feel Like Going to Church? on Amazon. (affiliate)

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Crossway in exchange for a fair and honest review.