BOOK REVIEW: Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community by Brett McCracken

Brett McCracken may be a new name to some of you but he has been writing books and articles for the Gospel Coalition, where he is the senior editor and director of communications, for some time. This book is, in fact, almost 10 years old.

But that does not make it irrelevant. In fact, what he speaks about has been and will continue to be an issue within the church until Christ comes again -- the local church is a necessary, though not perfect, and often uncomfortable place to be. His premise can be summed up in the following quote from page 34, “When the Christian church is comfortable and cultural, she tends to be weak. When she is uncomfortable and countercultural, she tends to be strong.”

Although I would not agree with all of his perspectives in the book, his overall point is very important for us to hear. For example, his work is strong when he speaks about the church and its relationship to worldly perspectives which should be much different that those of the church. But he is not as strong when he speaks about biblical doctrine or practices within the church and how we are to deal with differences of those varieties among us. (see his discussion of cessationism vs charismatics as an example)

In Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community, McCracken speaks not as a pastor, or a theologian, he isn’t either of those, but as one who understands church and loves its local expression even though it may not be perfect. In the book he explores why the Christian church—especially the local church, the one you go to—is often an uncomfortable place, and why that discomfort is not only inevitable but essential for genuine discipleship. The book challenges contemporary tendencies toward consumerist, preference-driven Christianity which seeks to fulfill calls to be true to ourselves, and calls believers to embrace the church as God’s chosen means of sanctification and mission, even when it is inconvenient or personally unsatisfying. We should not look for our ‘dream church’ but one that is biblically faithful and striving to be all it is supposed to be.

McCracken begins by identifying the pervasive desire for comfort that characterizes modern Western culture. This desire shapes how many Christians approach church life, treating it as a customizable experience rather than a covenantal community. He argues that the gospel itself is inherently “uncomfortable”: it confronts human pride, calls for repentance, and demands allegiance to a crucified Messiah. The church, as the body of that Messiah, will therefore inevitably reflect the same paradox—simultaneously glorious and awkward, holy and broken.

The first, “Uncomfortable Faith,” explores the aspects of Christian belief that are inherently offensive to modern sensibilities. McCracken discusses doctrines such as sin, the authority of Scripture, sexual ethics, and the exclusivity of Christ. He insists that Christians must resist the temptation to smooth over these edges to gain cultural approval. Faithfulness to Christ requires acknowledging that truth itself is often uncomfortable. The discomfort of orthodoxy, however, is not arbitrary—it is the discomfort of being confronted by divine holiness and grace. McCracken’s goal is to reframe discomfort as a mark of authenticity rather than a sign of failure.

The second part, “Uncomfortable Church,” addresses the relational and communal challenges of belonging to an actual congregation. McCracken describes the church as a “messy family,” composed of people who differ across age, class, race, and temperament. True Christian community, he argues, cannot exist without these differences, since they test and train believers in humility, patience, and love. The consumer model of church—where members shop for the most appealing preaching style, music, or demographic fit—undermines the countercultural unity the gospel creates. Instead, believers are called to commit to a local church and to stay, even when relationships are strained or worship feels awkward. This long-term, embodied presence mirrors the covenantal steadfastness of Christ toward His people.

McCracken further emphasizes that discipleship requires discomfort because spiritual growth occurs when believers are stretched beyond their preferences. The church disciplines our instincts, forming us into the likeness of Christ through repetition, liturgy, and shared life. The 'awkward' elements of the church—its imperfect people, its ancient creeds, its moral demands—are not defects to be removed but instruments through which God sanctifies His people. In this way, Uncomfortable serves as both a defense of the institutional church and a pastoral exhortation to embrace her with grace and perseverance.

In sum, Uncomfortable urges readers to see that the awkwardness, friction, and imperfection of the local church are not obstacles to faithfulness but the very context in which faith is lived. Discomfort, for McCracken, is the soil in which the true faith God desires for all of us to possess and live is grown. By embracing the church’s tension between glory and the realities of this fallen world, believers bear witness to a kingdom not of this world and to a Savior whose own path was marked by suffering before glory.

Soli Deo Gloria