 ChurchNext  The Presbyterian Layman Volume 33, Number 4, Posted August 4, 2000
Books about the Church are flying off publishers’ presses left, right and center, which, I suspect, means they are flying out of bookstores as well. Why such ravenous interest? At least in part, I believe, because all points along the theological continuum recognize that changes in and around the Church are taking place in ways and at speeds unparalleled since at least the Reformation, and perhaps since the Roman Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 313. Although some authors are more inclined than others to claim the prophet’s mantle, none (at least none I’ve read) has been so bold as to suggest exactly where the Church is heading or how best to get there. However, three recent books, written from various points along the evangelical spectrum, offer significant insights to Christians who by faith are seeking to understand and negotiate the changes swirling in and around the Church. Storm centers ChurchNext: Quantum Changes in How We Do Ministry by Eddie Gibbs (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000) attempts “to identify some of the major storm centers through which churches have to navigate,” including its mission, its structures, leadership emergence and mentoring, worship, spirituality and evangelism. Looking to the Church’s past as a guide to its future, Gibbs, professor of church growth at the School of World Missions, Fuller Theological Seminary, says, “The church in the postmodern era must be prepared to witness with vulnerability and humility from the margins of society, much as it did in the first two centuries of its existence.” Gibbs offers well grounded, practical suggestions for doing so. In The Essence of The Church: A Community Created by the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), Craig Van Gelder incorporates “insights gained from years spent as a parachurch campus worker, a graduate student, a church consultant, an ordained minister, and a seminary professor.” He observes that “When we encounter the church, we move into spiritual territory that occupies earthly terrain” and emphasizes that the theological nature of the Church must determine its ministry and organization. Van Gelder highlights the work of the Holy Spirit as “that person of the Trinity sent to carry out God’s redemptive purposes in the world,” noting, “The Bible’s focus is not on individual Christians but on the formation of a new type of community, a new humanity that is indwelt by the Spirit.” And in The Continuing Conversion of the Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), Darrell L. Guder, professor of evangelism and church growth at Columbia Theological Seminary, explores the theology of evangelism “within the context of the mission of the church as God’s sent people.” His thoughtful work is a welcome reminder that the Church consists of those who have been called so that they may be sent to proclaim the good news. While it is fascinating to consider the future of Church, it is faithfulness that God requires of us as we are the Church here and now. Robert P. Mills |
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