One thing I love about Megan Hill’s writing is that it always leaves me hopeful. A Place to Belong was no exception. It stirred my love, gratitude, and hope for the church. And this hope wasn’t placed in the Church’s faithfulness or the Church’s ability to change the world, it was built upon a much sturdier foundation: God’s faithfulness and God’s ability to use deeply flawed local churches to accomplish his mission.
If you are discouraged about the Church (on a local, national, or global level), read this book. If you love the Church, read this book. If you don’t get the point of the Church, read this book. Here are 10 favorite quotes:
What God loves, we must love. (23)
As we walk in love for the local church, our love models the love of God himself. There was nothing lovely in us that caused God to love us, so we don’t wait for God’s people to seem attractive in order to love them. If God in his sovereign good pleasure has set his love on these people from eternity past, uniting them to his Son and gathering them into his church, then it is our privilege to love them too. (24)
With a single thundering voice we will praise God for our single glorious testimony: We were ransomed by the blood of the Lamb. (41)
In our churches today, we should see ourselves as one generation of corporate worshipers with an unbroken heritage extending all the way back to the sixth day of creation. God’s people have always been—and will always be—those who worship together. (49)
When, Sunday after Sunday, your elders stand in the pulpit and preach the word of God to you, this is because—and only because—the Lord Jesus has had compassion on you. (66)
This truth should give you confidence: your particular gifts have a valuable, God-appointed place. It should also humble you: your particular gifts are simply one part of the body, and you desperately need other people with their particular gifts (see Rom. 12:3). Finally, this truth should increase your love for the local church: the gifts in the body are exactly what God knows your congregation needs. (80)
The body must become a perfect match for Christ the head. At times, we look at our frequent failings and those of our fellow saints and wonder whether Christ’s goals for this body are not overly optimistic. But—thanks be to God!—Christ is not the powerless head of a terminally ill body. Christ is the triumphant mediator, the one in whom all the fullness of God dwells (Col. 1:19). By his death and resurrection he unites himself to his body, never to be separated from it. And with all the fullness that dwells in him, he fills his church (Eph. 1:22-23). Christ will make his whole body holy just as he is holy. (97)
Belonging to Christ’s family reorients our allegiance, our affection, and our actions—not just on Sunday morning, but every hour of every day. (106)
The church’s disciple-making mission is an all-hands-on-deck congregational task with each member contributing to the world. (115)
Soon, the ordinary congregations to which we belong will be glorified, and it is right for us to eagerly anticipate that day. But in that day, your church will be no more precious to Christ than it is today. The church in eternity will appear more lovely, but it will not be more loved. (140)