Customer Reviews

The Body: Being Light in Darkness

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I read this book based on a recommendation and am really glad that I did. In this book, Chuck Colson takes a very detailed look at the Christian Church (The Body). He discusses its history, purpose, and current state. Based on a lot or research and interviews, the authors gave me a lot to think about and really opened my eyes to what the Chrisitan Church is all about.

Overall, I was particularly impressed with three points that the author discusses: unity (tolerance) within the Body of Christ, active faith, and regular church attendance. First, I think that Chuck Colson "calls it like it is" when he describes the petty arguments that have decided Christianity for years. It is a shame that many who call Jesus lord, cannot get along with other denominations. While we squabble over doctrine, more people become lost, and miss the greatest gift that God has to offer. The books call for unity is well founded and supported.

Secondly, Mr. Colson challenges today's church and its members to display the kind of active faith that marked Jesus during his time on earth and the early church. I totally agree with him that if the Church is to fulfill its purpose, Christians need to "get plugged in". Make a difference and bring light into the darkness that surrounds us everyday. This call to action really challenged me to rethink my role in society as a Christian, and how I can help further God's kingdom.

Thirdly, this book gives the best explanation of why regular church attendance is required that I have read. The authors point out that the Church is God's chosen instrument to spread his Gospel, save the lost, and further His Kingdom. As stated in the book "Christianity is about more than just you and your relationship with God". I have fallen into this trap, and heard this argument from many Christians. This book helped remind me that I have a much greater responsiblity than just my own salvation.

Lastly, this book does an excellent job of weaving in numerous stories to put a human face on the concepts he discusses. Despite the heavy subjects that it covers, it is actually a pretty easy read. I enjoyed this style, and learned a tremendous amount of things about Christianity that I did not know before reading this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a detailed analysis of the Christian Church. If you have ever had questions (or heard comments) about why it is important to attend a church, how can the Church be more effective in today's society, what has worked in the past, and what will work in the future, then you should read this book.

I came upon Charles Colson's book The Body by accident. I have never considered myself much of a theologian, but I was a person who was content with my Christianity. After reading this amazing book, I have seen the true purpose of Christianity in the world, and I know just how poor of an example of Jesus I actually am. This book will open the eyes of anyone who is longing for the answer of "am I doing everything that Christ wants of me?" The Body is riveting reading, and you will be completely convicted by it. I highly recommend this work for anyone who is seeking the true nature of "church" and "Christianity"

Colson has written an excellent challenge to Christians to be of one mind and realize that all true Christians are on the same team.

The book consists of about 450 pages, 28 chapters and 3 main sections:

1. What is the Church?

2. The Church vs. The World.

3. The Church in the World.

The book is an excellent challenge written in a style like only Colson can. One particularly thought-provoking chapter focused on why Christians have had such little impact on society.

Read, enjoy, and be prepared to think and be challenged!

A wonderful book that explores where the American church has failed its mission but also shows what it can be.

I've read most of Chuck Colson's books, often recommend them to students, and I consider The Body: Being Light in Darkness, with Ellen Santilla Vaughn (Dallas: Word Publishing, c. 1992), one of his best. He's concerned not with specific Christian churches but with the Church of Jesus Christ, and he demands that the Church be the Church!
So he divides this treatise into three sections: 1) What is the Church?; 2) The Church versus the World; 3) The Church in the World. The Church in America faces an "identity crisis," Colson thinks. Though nearly half the people in this nation "attend" church services, few of them seem deeply transformed in the process. "The hard truth is," he says, "that we have substituted an institutionalized religion for the life-changing dynamic of a living faith" (p. 31). At the heart of the problem lies the understandable desire to "succeed," to amass impressive statistics, to count in a calculating culture. In the midst of such endeavors, the Gospel slips away. For example, the fastest growing church in the world today is found in Japan. It's called the "Perfect Liberty Church," which declares: "we are all children of God who find The Way to eternal peace and welfare by freely exercising our individuality" (p. 39).
Now that's the kind of a church lots of us could get into! If only we could believe it's true! You do your thing and I'll do my thing and we'll all move happily heavenward! In our "narcissistic," consumer culture, churches easily swell their crowds by appealing to "felt needs" (the desire to be happy) of individuals. Standing as a symbol for this, Denver's Full Gospel Chapel recently changed its name to the "Happy Church," a strategy which needs no other defense than the fact that it "draws people," the pastor says.
Marla Maples, glued to Donald Trump's side (and later pregnant with his child) once chatted with reporters about her religious beliefs. A bit piously, she insisted she believed in the Bible, but added, "you can't always take [it] literally and be happy" (p. 124). So, by all means, be happy! Reacting to such incidents, Colson says: "as alien and archaic as the idea may seem, the task of the church is not to make men and women happy, it is to make them holy" (p. 46). That's a stiff dose of distasteful medicine, I suppose, but it's probably what we need to hear and heed! Certainly we in the "holiness" tradition should be emboldened by Colson's concern (especially since he usually takes a Reformed theological stance).
One of the book's heroes, Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish monk who founded a Franciscan center which attracted hundreds of followers in the 1930's, then later sacrificed his life to save another man's in Auschwitz, challenged his brothers thusly: "'I insist that you become saints, and great saints! Does that surprise you? But remember, my children, that holiness is not a luxury, but a simple duty. It is Jesus who told us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. So do not think it is such a difficult thing'" (p. 320). The way to do that is, Kolbe declared, quite simple: totally yield your will to God's will.
The church seems to be most healthy, in Colson's judgment, when believers like Kolbe must struggle to survive, where people often pay a heavy price for their faith. He provides up-to-date illustrations of this: in Romania, Timisoara's Hungarian Reformed Church played a central role in challenging and ultimately overthrowing the tyrant Ceausescu; in Czechoslovakia, playwright Vaclav Havel spent years in prison before being elevated to the leader's role in a liberated land; centuries earlier, launching the Reformation, Martin Luther dared stand up for his convictions.
Not all of the heroes are far away in time and space, however. In the United States, Colson praises Joe Gibbs, coach of the Washington Redskins, who in word and deed makes it clear how central Jesus is to all he does. Four days after winning the Super Bowl in 1992, Colson called Gibbs to see if one of the Redskin players could speak for a Prison Fellowship meeting. Gibbs himself volunteered! Five hundred prisoners enthusiastically greeted Gibbs. And he told them this: "'A lot of people in the world would probably look at me and say: "Man, if I could just coach in the Super Bowl, I'd be happy and fulfilled . . . ." But I'm here to tell you, it takes something else in your life besides money, position, football, power, and fame. The vacuum in each of our lives can only be filled through a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Otherwise, I'm telling you, we'll spend the rest of our lives in a meaningless existence. I've seen it in football players' eyes, and I've seen in it men who are on their deathbed. There's nothing else that will fill that vacuum'" (p. 377). Quite a testimony! That's Colson's notion of being salt in our society, making it clear where we stand as Christians. Here, as in other lands, whether or not believers suffer overt persecution, wherever the Church is the Church, people like Gibbs take seriously Jesus' call for self-sacrifice (not self-fulfillment) and live out the Gospel, whatever it costs.
This is a fine book! It contains lots of stories, appropriate for use in sermons and lectures. It focuses on a truly significant issue, the health of Christ's Body, the Church. It's rooted in Colson's considerable personal contacts and remembrances of the corridors of power, as well as a familiarity with the basic theological truths central to Christianity

colson's books are always challenging and inspirational. the body is no different. usually, i find stories and anecdotes superfluous. however, colson cleverly combines his stories with hard-hitting commentary. this book is an insightful commentary on the chruch's misdirection that provides useful suggestions and emboldenment necessary to reverse the downward spiral.

A well written critique of the evangelical church in America today. Harsh where necessary but always in a loving tone, Colson and Vaughn have both pinpointed where the church has failed by not doing her job but also what we collectively can do to "be light in the darkness"

This is THE book on the role of church in our world. It has dramtic stories of what the faithful can do in living their faith combined with thoughtful insight from a great author. I stumbled across the book and I have not felt the same since. A must read.

Book was in great shape and arrived promptly.