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Total Church
By Derrick | April 30, 2008
I’m finishing a book that was recently recommended to me, Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. These guys are with The Crowded House , a network of mostly house churches that emphasizes “ordinary life with gospel intentionality.” Later I’ll provide a full review of the book, but today I wanted to give a brief introduction to it, so read the rest of this post to get a feel for the basic point of the book. I would be happy to loan my copy to any of our church members who want to read it.
The premise of the book is established in the Introduction (p. 16):
This book argues there are two key principles that should shape the way we ‘do church’: gospel and community. Christians are called to a dual fidelity: fidelity to the core content of the gospel and fidelity to the primary context of a believing community. Whether we are thinking about evangelism, social involvement, pastoral care, apologetics, discipleship or teaching, the content is consistently the Christian gospel and the context is consistently the Christian community.
The next two chapters are an apologetic for why the gospel and community are the twin pillars for structuring the “way we ‘do church’”. Here is a quote from the chapter on community (p. 37):
We are not saved individually and then choose to join the church as if it were some club or support group. Christ died for his people and we are saved when by faith we become part of the people for whom Christ died. The story of the Bible is the story of God fulfilling the promise: ‘I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God’ (Exodus 6:7; Revelation 21:3). If the gospel is to be at the heart of church life and mission, it is equally true that the church is to be at the heart of gospel life and mission.
Do you agree with these statements? If they are true, what are the implications? How does this get fleshed out in real terms in the church (this is the question that the bulk of the book deals with, but I want to give you all first crack at it before I give away the authors’ answers)?
Topics: Books, Ecclesiology |
One Response to “Total Church”
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May 1st, 2008 at 9:09 am
Hey, nice introduction to the book. I look forward to the full review. Maybe you could be a guest blogger on the Next Gen Blog. (if your review is any good)