Erin Lane's Lessons in Belonging: From a Church-Going Commitment Phobe is the book I've been waiting to read. If you read this book you'll get a sense that many of the younger
generation feel disillusioned and a sense of fear about going to
traditional churches today. As Erin is in her late twenties, she speaks
for a generation that is looking for belonging within the context of
healthy community. Often times churches do not provide this kind of
community or belonging. That makes Lessons in Belonging one of the most significant books for pastors and church leaders to read this year.Lane is right to insist -- and often -- that disillusionment, while painful, is a good thing for those who are looking for rootedness, for belonging. That's because disillusionment allows us to experience heartbreak over the state of the Church. If we become broken open we will live with more compassion, love, imagination, grace and risk. This could be just what the Church in the twenty-first century needs as things are changing in our culture a lot.
And it's the search for belonging in which Lane so openly engages that leaves me hopeful. Lane helps to articulate some important questions the young are asking. And these questions, in my experience, are not the questions those inside the Church are asking. So these questions are essential: Do we really believe that we each have gifts worth offering one another? Do we really believe that vulnerability is a risk we’re called to take? Do we agree that there’s value in inviting strangers into our midst? Do we really agree that we should treat one another charitably? Do we really agree that earnestness is more important than rightness?
Lane knows that belonging is a lifetime work. But it's also a gift. This paradox of belonging that is both a gift we receive and work in which we engage is so incredibly intertwined in the text. This could liberate our imaginations tremendously. This is the foundation of all healthy community in everyday life.
Meaning, purpose, identity -- all those flow out of living together, belonging to one another, that is life in the Church. That makes Lessons in Belonging essential reading for everyone -- both in and out of the Church -- who longs for living interdependently.
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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, as part of the Speakeasy book review program, in exchange for my honest review here.