Total Church chapter 2

Why Community? The opening sentence contains the phrase, "Christ wants to create a people, not merely isolated individuals who believe in him", is a powerful concept. The reason Christ wants a people is because no one of us can fully display His glory or His worth to society. Since that is true, then one of the most vital character traits to develop for His glory, is unselfishness. Recognizing that reality and embracing that determination as an act of worship is imperative to the Christian community. It has been said that God so loved the world that He gave His son to the cross, but Jesus so loved the church (his bride) that he stayed on the cross (Eph. 5:25). Also, the quote of John Stott on page 39 is so very true, "The church lies at the very center of the eternal purpose of God." I also highlighted all of page 40 and most of page 41. "An identity that I construct for myself is far removed from an identity I receive by grace." "You can no more have a relationless person than you can have a childless mother or a parentless son." "If the church is the body of Christ, then we should not live as disembodied Christians." If my identity is wrapped up in my community then the pressing question for all of us is, where or with whom do I belong? Where or with whom is my identity best defined? The authors describe "Koinonia" on page 43 and say that the term is linked to "common", "sharing", and "participation". I believe the word also is used to describe "partnership" especially business partnership. The idea of connectedness with a risk or potential profit is inferred. We have a stake in each others lives which is why Paul can urge us in Phil. 2 that we should care as much about what happens to our fellow believers as we do for our own selves. Paul actually implies we should carry as much vision for the success of our fellow believers as we do for ourselves. I also like the thought from page 44 that Paul looked at his ministry to the Thessalonians as an investment in his own future. It reminds me of the teaching by Randy Alcorn about storing up an eternal retirement investment in heaven by sending it ahead. When we minister into others we are making eternal deposits in heaven, which is a clear teaching of Jesus in Matthew. I like the idea of accountability on pages 45 and 46 although I admit that while they deny heavy handed shepherding, it did make me a little uncomfortable. The whole thought on Christian Community is Central to Christian Mission beginning on page 47 is excellent. On page 50 is the pivotal point, "Sell the vision by modeling the vision." It is always vital to repeat over and over the intentions of our community vision, but nothing speaks louder than actions.

Total Church chapter 1

The writers do a good job of tying together the scriptures from John 14 and also John 5. The focus of Jesus promise of doing greater works has been very confusing for many Christians. I deeply appreciated the authors focus on exalting the miracle of salvation above the temporal issue of healing or even raising the dead. As I have stated many times every person Jesus ever healed is dead today and even those he raised from the dead eventually died from something. The eternal is so much weightier than any supernatural event. The eternal is all and forever supernatural (other than natural) while the temporal only has occasional glimpses of the supernatural. Oh that our hearts hungered and exalted as much over one soul who finds Jesus as we would be to witness a physical miracle. Page 24 paragraph 1 "The greater work is to bring people to eternal life through our proclamation of the gospel." We have an opportunity to do something that Jesus never did! He could proclaim the coming redemption, but we can proclaim the redemption that has come. On the bottom of page 27 they make a statement concerning faith that I found myself reflecting through, I am not sure yet whether I completely agree with the idea of a different kind of faith that comes from witnessing miracles or whether it is simply a shallow faith versus a deeper more enduring faith that is founded in His words. I really wrestle with the charismatic obsession with seeing miracles. Is it because our faith is even shallower than a miracle witnessing faith and if it is true that an even deeper faith comes from believing His words alone, then where are we? The Pharisees demanded miracles in order to believe, are we no better? As the authors continue their thought to page 28 the challenge really hits home. After all, isn't relationship with Jesus what we really aspire to? If faith only founded on miraculous persuasions leaves us without a foundation of trust with Christ then where are we? Faith in the sign is not the same as faith in the person of Christ.
On page 24, under the heading "God Rules Through His Word", the authors state, "Christianity is word-centered because God rules through His gospel word." The authors then go on to give a brief history of the rejection of God's ruling word. On the bottom of page 26, the last sentence of the last paragraph, I appreciate the summary of God's judgment of Israel, "God's word sets in motion events that cannot be altered." Yet even after Israel's rejection of God and the resulting judgment, God has not given up on His plan for mercy to triumph over death. I am moved by the authors understanding and value of the message of the gospel. By beginning with this emphasis my mind is set as ease so that their declarations later in the book for radical change in doing church, do not send me into a defensive mode.
The next major point in the chapter is on page 28, "God Extends His Rule Through His Word". The opening sentence in this section is, "Christianity is mission-centered because God extends His rule through his gospel word." The message we have been given automatically implies mission responsibility, besides the command of Matthew 28:19. The authors' comparison of word-centered versus spirit-centered is handled well. I am not sure I completely agree with the issue of revelation as they dealt with it, but I think I understand their intention to exalt our focus on revelation through His word versus equating subjective revelation to the level of His revealed words.
I would love to see us actually take the exercise that they describe on page 33 and do it in our community groups. The bullet points raise good issues in our hearts and certainly I would love for us to see ourselves truly as missionaries on our jobs and in our neighborhoods. This also includes the bullet points on page 35. I also marked all of the first paragraph on page 35 and the first sentence on page 36 which starts with the quote at the bottom of page 35 is very challenging and I think pivotal, "Jesus has a train and release strategy, while overall we have a convert and retain strategy." Paul entrusted brand new churches with brand new converts into the Lord's care when he went out planting. In Acts on his first journey they go and come back and then decide to return in what was probably more than a year later to see how the churches are doing. It might be that the conversions were deeper and more life changing, but that would be a sad commentary on today's church. It seems likely that there was a trust in the Lord to finish what He and not man had begun that perhaps we lack faith in today. I like the idea of train and release over convert and retain. Both quotes on page 36 are challenging. And lastly, on page 37 the last paragraph also challenges my heart deeply and a real amen rises in my spirit.
I really want to hear from you all concerning this chapter. It lays the foundation for most of the rest of the book. Let me know what you think.

Lantern Road book review - Total Church

Total Church blog

5/17/2010

Our intention for this blog is to dialogue through different books that we find to be especially pertinent to the purposes of Lantern Road Fellowship. We want to focus on reviewing this book and we also want to stay on topic and not comment ahead of where we are presently reading.

Let me start by saying that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book so far. We are studying together through the book Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. My intention is to read one chapter a week and then we can dialogue together the things that we are most interested in talking through. For the sake of beginning this dialogue I want to cover just the forward and the introduction this week.

The Forward

The first thing that caught my attention was the name of the place where these men minister. “The Crowded House” intrigues me because I am not sure if they got the name from a scriptural thought or if it is a motivating hope of their hearts. I like how inclusive it sounds. The first statement that I marked in the forward was from the first sentence, “You can tell a lot about people by their friends.” With the ongoing point about Jesus own reputation for friendships. It certainly is true that for most Christians there aren’t many unchurched friends on the must invite to my party list. Another sentence that was used to describe the author’s ministry was in the 3^rd paragraph. It says, “They are trying to be a different kind of church with a sort of easy-to-see, easy-to-understand, come-and-join-us feel.” At first that doesn’t seem like enough, but as I read their philosophy of ministry I became more at ease with the idea, because at the same time their philosophy seems to be anything but “easy” Christianity. Lastly, in the forward I liked the quote from Lesslie Newbigin, “that the local congregation is the “hermeneutic of the gospel” if you want to know what Jesus looked like, look at the church.” Something about that statement is fundamental to pure and holy motivation in church strategy. There is a sense of the fear of the Lord on that statement.

The Introduction

In the introduction I was challenged by Steve’s story on page 15, the first 2 paragraphs concerning the impenetrable wall between the church and the world. His 2 issues are very relevant to the heart of the problem. First, is his concern with the primary and almost exclusive way that the gospel is presented and secondly, the reality that community is too good to be hidden away from society.

Also, in the intro they present the 2 key principles that their own church is built on and the book is about. Beginning on page 15 they state, the way that they “do church”, which is gospel and community. They state it as “fidelity to the core content of the gospel and fidelity to the primary context of a believing community”. They go on to state that, “What we do is always defined by the gospel, and the context is always our belonging in the church.” I really like the effort to honor the gospel and to realize that it alone has the power to save. I also like the definition of gospel-centered, first, being Word centered and also being mission centered. Both hinging on the reality that the most fundamental and basic definition of gospel is a message of good news which is Jesus death, burial and resurrection and also that because of the nature of the gospel is entails the essential of taking the message somewhere.

I do think that they make an initial leap, although it is one I think is right, in emphasizing that the best term church (ecclesia) was used to mean “a gathering with a defined purpose” in Greek usage. An individual cannot be the church; he can belong to the church but he cannot in himself be the church. He can even represent the church but he cannot be the church. Also, by reason, when we believe the gospel we are baptized by one Spirit into the Body of Christ (I Cor. 12) and when we are baptized in water we are also identifying with Christ but also being baptized into the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4).

On pages 16 and 17 I think they concisely define the current concern with traditional and emergent church. It may be oversimplified but it seems accurate. I also underlined pretty much everything on point 2 on page 18. I’d love to hear from all of you on that point especially.

Lastly, in the intro I liked the humility on page 19 and 20 where they state who they are. Not having arrived but not being afraid to state ideals and to attempt to reach for them. I also like their definition of being a network of missionary congregations. They state that this mandate means that they “grow by planting new congregations rather than acquiring bigger premises.” This has become a growing passion in my own heart to the point that I find myself wrestling with indignation about wasting funds on property instead of people.

Please feel free to express your heart on these things and remember that next week we will be covering chapter 1. Blessings