The Naked Church by Wayne Jacobsen

The Naked Church

Revised Third Edition
Body Life Publishers, Trade paper, 256 pages, suggested retail: $12.00

By Wayne Jacobsen

Are you confused? Burned out? Disillusioned by your church experience? Discover how intimacy with the Living God and his family can fulfill your deepest hungers.

The words of Jesus area as timely today as they were then... "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

THE NAKED CHURCH is an invitation for believers to forsake superficial Christianity and discover true intimacy with God. This compelling book will challenge you to look beyond the externals of contemporary church life with its glittering buildings, extensive programs, beloved celebrities and political muscle and find a relationship with God that will bring his powerful, life-changing presence into everyday circumstances.

At a time when it's popular to be "spiritual" and easy to be "religious," Wayne Jacobsen sounds the call back to the joy and freedom of a dynamic relationship with the living God.

"This book is an unabashed invitation to stop trying to make God fit into our lives, and make our lives fit God's unearthly scheme." -- Marshall Shelley, Senior Editor, Leadership Journal

Table of Contents

1. The Day the Journey Started

2. Rise Up and Walk

3. The Emperor's New Clothes

4. Aren't You Hungry?

Knowing the Living God - Restoring Relationship

5. Of Course I Love God, I Went Forward Didn't I?

6. Real Salvation

It's Not Too Difficult for You! - Restoring Simplicity

7. When Did It Get So Complicated?

8. Simple Intimacy

Letting God Be God - Restoring Spirituality

9. God in a Box

10. Learning to Depend on God

Keeping Your Eyes on Jesus - Restoring Responsibility

11. O 'Dem Golden Shepherds

12. Firsthand Friendship

Beware the Spirit of the Age - Restoring Perspective

13. Confessions of a Christian Materialist

14. The Righteousness That Comes from Faith

Life in the Father's Family - Restoring The Personal Touch

15. Programmed to Death

16. The New Community

Greater Works Than These - Restoring Spiritual Power

17. Where Has All the Power Gone?

18. Clothed with Power

In the Reality of your Life - Restoring Relevance

19. Stained Glass and White Linen

20. A Real Jesus in an Unreal World

21. Naked No Longer

Preface to the Third Edition

"These are the words of a traveler, for I have not yet arrived at my destination" The Naked Church, 1987

I did not realize how true those words were when I first wrote The Naked Church over a decade ago. My passion to know God and help other do the same has led me through unforeseen twists and turns. I have far more questions today than I thought I had answers then.

At the time I was co-pastoring a growing church in Central California that I had helped to plant. Our vision in beginning that fellowship was to see what body life would look like if it were completely based on intimacy with God, and growing friendships with other believers. The simple question we asked people when people gathered with us was, "Are you loving Jesus more today than you did yesterday, and if not is there anything we can do to help you?"

We vowed to keep Jesus as the only attraction in our life together and never put the efficiency of our programs above our relationship to him and others. We had thirteen great years together. We saw lives change. People came to know Jesus, and others who had been burned-out on religion, came alive again in Christ. We learned together from God's Word and discovered the power and joy of shared leadership, de-centralized worship, house church relationships and intergenerational friendships.

Eventually, however, increased growth and our inability to agree on the best way to handle it, finally exposed that we, too had fallen into the trap of serving our own system. Even though not a person among us would have wanted it to happen, we came to manage God's work with man's best wisdom and ceased to enjoy the simple power of loving him as a people together.

The solutions we sought proved to be divergent. Some people wanted more programs and stronger leaders like other churches had and some of our leaders were more than happy to fulfill those desires. Eventually those of us who sought an intimacy-based body life were forced to give up our dream or to leave. I have never known greater pain than the dishonesty, gossip and betrayal of previously close friends believing they were doing God's bidding. However, in the midst and aftermath of those days, I found that God's grace and love were more real than I had ever imagined.

So, the journey continues. What I have learned since has brought me back to the passions expressed in the first edition of The Naked Church. From the outside looking in, it was easier to see how I had gotten away from some of those passions as our congregation had grown, and how I got caught up in the machinery we thought necessary to maintain it.

In the years since I have learned so much about Father and how he invites us into relationship; about myself and why I am easily lured by empty substitutes; and about the glory of the church the way the Father sees her and the way Jesus relates to her.

This edition cannot incorporate all the lessons learned in these last few years. Future works will serve that task so as to leave this book as intact as possible. Any book is but a snapshot of a specific moment in an author's life. My purpose in reprinting it is to make it available again for the many who have sought copies since it went out of print. I believe it still speaks God's heart for his church, perhaps even more today than when I first wrote it.

In this new edition I have revised the text in a number of places. In some I simply changed a word or two. In others I rewrote entire sections. Where changes have been made I've done so to update information, make it more applicable beyond America's shores, and to make it compatible with the lessons I've learned in recent years and the life I live now in Jesus. No more than 20% of the book has been affected by these changes.

My prayer is that it continues to encourage people who have been disillusioned with the deficiencies of Christianity as we have inherited it from previous generations, and to fuel a hunger for people to know the incredible joy of walking in an intimate friendship with the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

Wayne Jacobsen, January 1998

Order The Naked Church from our Book Page

Download Free PDF Version

		The Naked Church Revised Third Edition Body Life Publishers, Trade paper, 256 pages, suggested retail: $12.00 By Wayne Jacobsen Download Free PDF Version Are you confused? Burned out? Disillusioned by your church experience? Discover how intimacy with the Living God and his family can fulfill your deepest hungers. The words of Jesus area as timely today as they were then... "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." THE NAKED CHURCH is an invitation for believers to forsake superficial Christianity and discover true intimacy with God. This compelling book will challenge you to look beyond the externals of contemporary church life with its glittering buildings, extensive programs, beloved celebrities and political muscle and find a relationship with God that will bring his powerful, life-changing presence into everyday circumstances. At a time when it's popular to be "spiritual" and easy to be "religious," Wayne Jacobsen sounds the call back to the joy and freedom of a dynamic relationship with the living God. "This book is an unabashed invitation to stop trying to make God fit into our lives, and make our lives fit God's unearthly scheme." -- Marshall Shelley, Senior Editor, Leadership Journal Table of Contents 1. The Day the Journey Started 2. Rise Up and Walk 3. The Emperor's New Clothes 4. Aren't You Hungry? Knowing the Living God - Restoring Relationship 5. Of Course I Love God, I Went Forward Didn't I? 6. Real Salvation It's Not Too Difficult for You! - Restoring Simplicity 7. When Did It Get So Complicated? 8. Simple Intimacy Letting God Be God - Restoring Spirituality 9. God in a Box 10. Learning to Depend on God Keeping Your Eyes on Jesus - Restoring Responsibility 11. O 'Dem Golden Shepherds 12. Firsthand Friendship Beware the Spirit of the Age - Restoring Perspective 13. Confessions of a Christian Materialist 14. The Righteousness That Comes from Faith Life in the Father's Family - Restoring The Personal Touch 15. Programmed to Death 16. The New Community Greater Works Than These - Restoring Spiritual Power 17. Where Has All the Power Gone? 18. Clothed with Power In the Reality of your Life - Restoring Relevance 19. Stained Glass and White Linen 20. A Real Jesus in an Unreal World 21. Naked No Longer *Preface to the Third Edition* "These are the words of a traveler, for I have not yet arrived at my destination" The Naked Church, 1987 I did not realize how true those words were when I first wrote The Naked Church over a decade ago. My passion to know God and help other do the same has led me through unforeseen twists and turns. I have far more questions today than I thought I had answers then. At the time I was co-pastoring a growing church in Central California that I had helped to plant. Our vision in beginning that fellowship was to see what body life would look like if it were completely based on intimacy with God, and growing friendships with other believers. The simple question we asked people when people gathered with us was, "Are you loving Jesus more today than you did yesterday, and if not is there anything we can do to help you?" We vowed to keep Jesus as the only attraction in our life together and never put the efficiency of our programs above our relationship to him and others. We had thirteen great years together. We saw lives change. People came to know Jesus, and others who had been burned-out on religion, came alive again in Christ. We learned together from God's Word and discovered the power and joy of shared leadership, de-centralized worship, house church relationships and intergenerational friendships. Eventually, however, increased growth and our inability to agree on the best way to handle it, finally exposed that we, too had fallen into the trap of serving our own system. Even though not a person among us would have wanted it to happen, we came to manage God's work with man's best wisdom and ceased to enjoy the simple power of loving him as a people together. The solutions we sought proved to be divergent. Some people wanted more programs and stronger leaders like other churches had and some of our leaders were more than happy to fulfill those desires. Eventually those of us who sought an intimacy-based body life were forced to give up our dream or to leave. I have never known greater pain than the dishonesty, gossip and betrayal of previously close friends believing they were doing God's bidding. However, in the midst and aftermath of those days, I found that God's grace and love were more real than I had ever imagined. So, the journey continues. What I have learned since has brought me back to the passions expressed in the first edition of The Naked Church. From the outside looking in, it was easier to see how I had gotten away from some of those passions as our congregation had grown, and how I got caught up in the machinery we thought necessary to maintain it. In the years since I have learned so much about Father and how he invites us into relationship; about myself and why I am easily lured by empty substitutes; and about the glory of the church the way the Father sees her and the way Jesus relates to her. This edition cannot incorporate all the lessons learned in these last few years. Future works will serve that task so as to leave this book as intact as possible. Any book is but a snapshot of a specific moment in an author's life. My purpose in reprinting it is to make it available again for the many who have sought copies since it went out of print. I believe it still speaks God's heart for his church, perhaps even more today than when I first wrote it. In this new edition I have revised the text in a number of places. In some I simply changed a word or two. In others I rewrote entire sections. Where changes have been made I've done so to update information, make it more applicable beyond America's shores, and to make it compatible with the lessons I've learned in recent years and the life I live now in Jesus. No more than 20% of the book has been affected by these changes. My prayer is that it continues to encourage people who have been disillusioned with the deficiencies of Christianity as we have inherited it from previous generations, and to fuel a hunger for people to know the incredible joy of walking in an intimate friendship with the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Wayne Jacobsen, January 1998 *Order The Naked Church* from our Book Page Download Free PDF Version**