The Loveliest Place by Dustin Benge

I grew up in a time where it was cool to hate on the church. “I love Jesus, but not the church.” Maybe you’ve heard a statement like that. Maybe you’re like me and you’ve actually said a statement like that. I’m thankful that the Lord helps us grow in wisdom and sanctification. One cannot love Jesus and hold disdain for his bride. It is true that no church is perfect and that every church is messy, which is why I’m thankful for this new book by Dustin Benge.

The Loveliest Place will help you love not just the global church, but your local church. Benge writes in a way that will challenge the misgivings we hold toward our local churches. He will help us gain greater appreciation. He will point us toward an attitude of grace, which is what we should have been filling our churches with all along because we are the people on earth who are the recipients of such grace.

Benge rightly redirects our focus from place to people. He says, “to capture her beauty and loveliness, the church must be defined not by what we do but by who we are.” He later says, “The church is not a Trinitarian afterthought in response to man’s fall in the garden—quite the contrary. The church is the focused domain where all God’s presence, promises, and purposes are unveiled and eternally realized. Just these statements alone should help us to see the church differently. The church is not the hospital for sick people. Rather, it is God’s embassy here on earth. How sweet is that?

When it comes to the church, Benge will examine every facet in The Loveliest Place. “This book has one aim: to set before you a thoroughly biblical portrait of the church that derives its life from the sweet fellowship of the Father, Son, and Spirit, creating a community of love, worship, fellowship, and mission, all animated by the gospel and empowered by the word of God.” The church is not often spoken of in this way and I would argue we need this book and need to rebuild a healthy ecclesiology.

Benge will look at the offices in the church, the mission of the church, and the experience of the church. This book is a worthy read for every Christian—quite possibly even a necessary read. May we all see the church as Benge has so beautifully painted it. “In essence, the church in the world is the beauty of Christ in the world.”

You can pick up your copy of The Loveliest Place at Crossway or on Amazon. (affiliate)

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