ADORNED: How to grow a biblically beautiful
church. An exegesis of Titus 2
By Justin O. Huffman
Day One. 92 pages. £6.00
ISBN 978 1 846 256 165
We are living in a day when pragmatism often informs the order of the church, as opposed to the Scriptures. Well-meaning people are governed more by emotion than the truth, once for all delivered to the saints. The church is too often shaped by worldly desires as opposed to the Bible, putting all the emphasis on programmes and structure rather than true knowledge and experience of Christ.
We therefore need accessible books which unpack, for the layman and not just pastors, the Bible’s teaching on what an ordered and healthy church is. This book serves as a step in the right direction.
Prototype for health
Justin dismisses modern ideologies of the so-called marks that ‘prove’ a church is healthy and alive. From Titus 2 he unpacks the often overlooked, yet biblical, criteria for a healthy church and for Christian living. Here Titus 2 can serve as a prototype.
The drumbeat of the book is that only sound doctrine produces healthy Christians and healthy churches. But how many churches evidence this belief in their practice? He urges us to see that, if the church loses sight of correct doctrine, it will inevitably damage us.
However, Justin clearly emphasises that sound doctrine alone is not enough to create and sustain healthy churches. He expresses the importance of sound doctrine lived out and demonstrated. Simply put, we need more than the form of godliness, but the power of godliness.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to pastors to distribute within their churches so that they can be further helped to understand what lies at the heart of godliness and a healthy church.
