Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community (RE: Lit)

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It's a hit!

Quite simply, this is one of the best books I have ever read on the philosophy of how to do church. The work is well-written by Tim Chester and St... (show more)

Quite simply, this is one of the best books I have ever read on the philosophy of how to do church. The work is well-written by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, co-founders of the Crowded House in Sheffield, UK, and is not infused with ecclesiastical wordiness but rooted in a solid understanding of the Bible and the practical outworkings that flow from God's Word.

The foundation that Chester and Timmis build for understand how to do church comes from the principles of gospel and community. Gospel being the true spoken Word of God about our Savior and community being those who have been changed/affected by that Word. Of course, from these two foundational principles comes the rest of Christian living and "church work" hopefully.

The biggest thing that I really enjoyed about this book is that the authors didn't postulate a new theory of church ministry. They openly regard different cultures and how diverse styles of ministry may operate within these contexts.

The book looks at evangelism, largely through relationships but also boldly preaching the gospel. It also talks, powerfully, about social involvement- an area often left out of evangelical churches. The authors speak persuasively on how the church should be helping the poor and disenfranchised in our societies. They don't totally trash para church organizations but ask why the local church itself cannot do the work that parachurch organizations do.

Other topics include: church planting, missions, young people and children, pastoral care, discipleship, spirituality, etc.

The authors talk about theology and that the church should be the primary teacher of this discipline. They also state with conviction that theology should always be rooted in a love of God and practical application in life. Their chapter on apologetics is similar and features a pre-suppositional approach to defending the faith recognizing that the problem of unbelief (or anything that someone chooses to believe in) is a matter of the heart and not intellectual.

I wholeheartedly commend this book...not just to church leaders but to everyone who cares about the local church. After all, as the authors state, we are all ministers if we believe in Christ and long to see His kingdom grow. (show less)

 

 

by Dave Lester

No, it's a flop!

I'm going to stop reading ecclesiology books for a while. This book may be quite good on its own. It emphasizes the importance of intimate gospel... (show more)

I'm going to stop reading ecclesiology books for a while. This book may be quite good on its own. It emphasizes the importance of intimate gospel communtiies, with a strong focus on Biblical fidelity and authentic relationships, which is good, but not anything that isn't in all of the other ecclesiology I've read in the last two years. The level of commitment to small communities is remarkably high, so there is value in that, but I don't know if I'm ready to really apply it to my life and my church.

Chester and Timmis make some pretty controversial statements in this book. For example, there's a passage about preaching that essentially says, "Look, we're not saying sermons are bad, we're just saying they're not in the Bible and they don't work and the only one who learns is the preacher." Which doesn't seem to me like an accurate reading of Acts. Also, there is an assumption in the book that people who go to college are inherently unable to connect with uneducated people. The authors may have something there, but I have a variety of friends with different educational backgrounds, and I don't think that the problem is as large in the United States as it is in the U.K. (the authors' location), but in all fairness, the authors have a fascinating discussion of how classism is the U.K.'s equivalent to slavery and the resulting racism in the U.S.

Overall, this is a generally solid book. It is clear in its points, and the authors generally have legitimate Biblical support for their proposals (I disagree with some of their interpretations and applications, but I think they reach them fairly). It is not significantly better than any other book that recommends treating small groups as the focus of a church, though, and I would not necessarily recommend this book over another. (show less)

 

 

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  I found Total Church to be a wonderful and challenging book. There are some aspects of theology that I would disagree with Chester and Timmis. But that might be the reason I've been so challenged to contemplate how this book should impact my life.

  I really respect the belief that the church is at its core Gospel Centered and Community Centered. (Although I do wish they would have found a better way to word that because you really can't have two centers.) What I took out of this book is tha... (show more)

  I found Total Church to be a wonderful and challenging book. There are some aspects of theology that I would disagree with Chester and Timmis. But that might be the reason I've been so challenged to contemplate how this book should impact my life.

  I really respect the belief that the church is at its core Gospel Centered and Community Centered. (Although I do wish they would have found a better way to word that because you really can't have two centers.) What I took out of this book is that with everything that we do in the church or in our lives (which are really the same thing if you are to follow Jesus) should be considered with respect to missionality, truth in the Word and how it relates to the community of God. I appreciate the movement away from the individualistic mindset of modern evangelistic church toward a theology of community.

  I'm not sure I would connect this theology as tightly with Calvinism as they do. They do this implicitly, not in any direct statement. More by quoting Calvin as the authority in key arguments. In the end, it seems to me to be closer to a heritage of the anabaptist. I'd suggest contemplating this alongside Stanley Grenz Theology and the Community of God. (show less)

   

   

  by Steve Johnson on Aug 21, 2009 at 05:07PM

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  The Crowded House model is perhaps best summarized as a cross between Emergent and Reformed perspectives. The principals are solid - mainly that the Gospel is best proclaimed and lived out in community, and that the church in context of that community should be the defining center of a regenerated Christian's life and identity.

  The book itself though was a little redundant in my mind, and could have been just as effective with about 100 less pages. At times I felt like the authors were j... (show more)

  The Crowded House model is perhaps best summarized as a cross between Emergent and Reformed perspectives. The principals are solid - mainly that the Gospel is best proclaimed and lived out in community, and that the church in context of that community should be the defining center of a regenerated Christian's life and identity.

  The book itself though was a little redundant in my mind, and could have been just as effective with about 100 less pages. At times I felt like the authors were just applying the same philosophy with very similar examples to different chapter headings. Read the first two chapters and you've got the crux of the book in hand. (show less)

   

   

  by Chip Robinson on Jul 20, 2009 at 12:56PM

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