What makes a church “good”? Is it the Sunday School program? Is it outreach? post service fellowship? In Matthew Richard’s new book, Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? 7 False Churches readers will follow the Campbells as they visit and see how eight different churches stack up and what makes a great church: Christ. Each congregation offers something that the Campbells enjoy. But Richard answers this burning question: Do all these churches stand with what a real church should be?
“When we gather around objects, ideas, or things we fear, love, and trust (rather than around the Lord, who calls us to fear, love, and trust in Him), we can suddenly find ourselves in a gathering where Christ is not present at all,” Richard writes. “This is what happens when churches substitute the foundation of the church with something else entirely—something that seems good, a gathering that feels good, an environment that invites us to belong to something other than Christ. . . .
“By the end of this book, we will see which church is left standing, in essence asking, “Will the Real Church Please Stand Up?”
Each chapter includes small callouts to help explain the different features of the Campbells’ experiences and what Christians can keep an eye out for in their own church hunting. Additionally, a study guide is included at the end of each chapter and a leader guide is found at the end of the book to help readers join together and discuss their current or past church experiences.
“Matthew Richard candidly, yet with a pastoral heart, points us to our only hope: Christ’s gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation,” says Rev. Brady Finnern, president of the LCMS Minnesota North District. “What a joy to know we have a faithful resource for all the baptized to discern how to find a faithful Christian congregation.”
Visit cph.org/realchurch for more information about the book. Contact Erica Sontag to schedule an interview with the author.
Praise for Will the Real Church Please Stand Up?
Satan would love nothing more than to lure God’s people from the truth of Jesus Christ and eternal salvation right within the walls of the visible church. John writes, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Dr. Richard does a masterful job of revealing the spirits in many false churches in a delightful, readable style, while always keeping the eyes of the reader fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
—Rev. Dr. James Baneck, executive director, LCMS Pastoral Education
Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard has done it again! He carefully paints a realistic picture of the twenty-first-century American church, where a “church shopping” family hears messages focused on things like the beauty of the buildings, social connections, serving the community, and self-improvement. What makes the Christian Church different? Christ and Him crucified. Matthew Richard candidly, yet with a pastoral heart, points us to our only hope: Christ’s gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. What a joy to know we have a faithful resource for all the baptized to discern how to find a faithful Christian congregation.
—Rev. Brady Finnern, president, LCMS Minnesota North District
Popular estimation would have us believe that congregations are more or less interchangeable. However, even a casual observer can see the many distinctions between Christian congregations. Which differences matter? Which do not? And above all, what should unite a church and what should it be oriented toward? Pastor Richard’s thorough and easy-to-read analysis helps the reader navigate the complex reality of the contemporary church scene by showing how Christ is the foundation and goal of all things in our lives together in Christian congregations.
—Rev. Christopher Brademeyer, pastor, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Oakes, North Dakota
“What should I look for in a church?” Today, pluralism has rendered this practical and pressing question hopelessly complicated by ever-multiplying answers and options. Or is it so complicated? Matthew Richard gets to the bottom of things without compromising the depth of insight or fidelity to the Scriptures. His latest book is an accessible read for anyone looking for a new church home or for any Christian who wants to identify the criteria that make for the true church.
—Caleb Hoverson, seminarian, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana
With piercing insight, Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard presents seven archetypal pseudo-churches that are unified and built around things other than Christ. While operating as a trustworthy, practical guide as to which types of churches to avoid, this book also sounds a clarion warning to true churches of what to guard against so as not to have their lampstands removed. Although you may find some of these false churches painfully familiar, hopefully you have finally found a home in the true church.
—Andrew Allis, BA, philosophy and theology, Boston College; MDiv, Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Springfield, Missouri; ThM, Presbyterian Church in America, Covenant Theological Seminary, Creve Coeur, Missouri
This book is an eye-opening look at why churches can seem so different in form and function. Why are some churches so formal while others have coffee shops right in the building? Why do some encourage children to be separate from the adults? Why do some have praise bands and some have organs? Why do some celebrate the Lord’s Supper every week and some twice a year? Why do some encourage outreach and mission work while others focus on their own small groups and church activities? In this book, Pastor Richard helps the reader understand that not any one of these things makes a real church. Rather, a real church’s primary focus is gathering its congregation around Christ’s Word and Sacrament.
—Erin Hagemeister, parishioner, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Minot, North Dakota
About the Author
Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard is pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Minot, North Dakota. He is married to Serenity, and they have three children. Besides being a busy dad, he also enjoys amateur carpentry and knife collecting and is a whiskey and tae kwon do enthusiast.
