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Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community (Re:Lit) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Tim Chester, Steve Timmis
Publisher: Crossway Books
List Price: $15.99
Buy New: $10.87
You Save: $5.12 (32%)
New (23) Used (4) from $10.01
Rating:  3 reviews
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 1433502089
Dewey Decimal Number: 262.0017
EAN: 9781433502088
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Product Description
Two pastors outline and apply a pair of overarching biblical principles that call the current body of Christ to a deep restructuring of its life and mission. “Church is not a meeting you attend or a place you enter,” write pastors Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. “It’s an identity that is ours in Christ. An identity that shapes the whole of life so that life and mission become ‘total church.’” With that as their premise, they emphasize two overarching principles to govern the practice of church and mission: being gospel-centered and being community-centered. When these principles take precedence, say the authors, the truth of the Word is upheld, the mission of the gospel is carried out, and the priority of relationships is practiced in radical ways. The church becomes not just another commitment to juggle but a 24/7 lifestyle where programs, big events, and teaching from one person take a backseat to sharing lives, reaching out, and learning about God together. In Total Church, Chester and Timmis first outline the biblical case for making gospel and community central and then apply this dual focus to evangelism, social involvement, church planting, world missions, discipleship, pastoral care, spirituality, theology, apologetics, youth and children’s work. As this insightful book calls the body of Christ to rethink its perspective and practice of church, it charts a middle path between the emerging church movement and conservative evangelicalism that all believers will find helpful.
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| Customer Reviews:
Totally great October 30, 2008
This was a wonderful read from beginning to end. It is a sound theological book and a very practical one. I believe it ought to be read by every pastor and church member alike. It pictures what the church ought to be not only in this generation but in all generations.
One of the best books I've read in a long time October 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Total Church is one of the best books I've read in a long time and may be THE best books I've read on church. As the subtitle suggests, the authors argue that church is to be radically reshaped around gospel and community. They argue for three things:
"Christian practice must be (1) gospel-centered in the sense of being word-centered, (2) gospel-centered in the sense of being mission-centered, and (3) community-centered." (p. 16)
The authors immediately nail their colors to the mast, distinguishing their perspective from both conservative evangelicals and the emerging church. With emerging church, they agree that conservatives are often bad at community. But with conservatives, they agree that the emerging church is sometimes soft on truth. This book proposes an alternative to both, churches that are both gospel-centered (with both a word-centered focus and a missional focus) and community-centered.
"Rigorously applying these principles has the potential to lead to some fundamental and thoroughgoing changes in the way we do church," warn the authors (p. 18). This is no entrenched defense of traditional church structures or practices. I found the book stimulating, eye-opening, paradigm-shifting, and sometimes personally-threatening.
Total Church is divided into two parts.
I. Part one is on "Gospel and Community in Principle" and argues for each in turn. Chapter one, "Why Gospel?" discusses both word and mission. "Christianity must be word-centered," the authors argue, because "God rules through his gospel word" (p. 24) and "mission-centered because God extends his rule through his gospel word" (p. 28). These assertions are fleshed out with close, but non-technical, attention to the text of Scripture, and real-life stories that show how the principles work out in practice. In fact, two of the strengths of this book are the pervasive use of Scripture and the multiple stories and examples of application. Chapter 2, "Why Community?" argues that "The Christian community is central to Christian Identity" (p. 39) and "Christian mission" (p. 47).
II. Part Two of the book focuses on "Gospel and Community in Practice," by applying the principles of part one (being word-centered, mission-centered, and community-centered) to the following areas:
*Evangelism (chapter 3)
*Social Involvement (4)
*Church Planting (5)
*World Mission (6)
*Discipleship and Training (7)
*Pastoral Care (8)
*Spirituality (9)
*Theology (10)
*Apologetics (11)
*Children and Young People (12)
*Success (13)
There are too many helpful insights from these chapters to share in a brief review. But here are some examples from the chapter on evangelism. The authors argue that there are "three strands of evangelism" (1) building relationships, (2) introducing people to community, and (3) sharing the gospel (p. 60-61). Their approach is holistic, relational, and driven by genuine concern for both the gospel and people. You won't find gimmicks or techniques here. In their words, "most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality" (p. 63).
Evangelism is to be a community project, which means that "our different gifts and personalities can complement one another. Some people are good at building relationships with new people. Some are socialites - the ones who will organize a trip or an activity. Some people are great at hospitality. Some are good at initiating gospel conversations. Some are good at confronting heart issues" (p. 62). A team approach combines the various gifts, which helps counter the guilt and despondency so many people feel when thinking about evangelism. "By making evangelism a community project, [we] take seriously the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit . . . Everyone has a part to play - the new Christian, the introvert, the extrovert, the eloquent, the stuttering, the intelligent, the awkward. I may be the one who has begun to build a relationship with my neighbor, but in introducing him to community, it is someone else who shares the gospel with him. That is not only legitimate - it is positively thrilling!" (p. 62).
As you can see, this approach focuses on all three priorities: the word, mission, and community. This is how the authors approach each of the eleven topics listed above.
I can hardly recommend this book highly enough. I will be sharing it with my staff, elders, and other church leaders (I'm a pastor). I'll also be talking about this book with friends, exploring how to apply it in our congregational life, and referencing it often. If you want a fresh approach to church and mission that doesn't lose sight of the gospel and isn't just a plug-n-play program, get this book. You'll be glad you did.
Read this book September 21, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
There are many people today who are talking about the major shifts that are occurring in culture and in the church in the West. Many are speaking of the return to a mission-centered approach to the Christian life. The problem is that many (myself included) tend to get bogged down in the talking and thinking phase.
Tim Chester and Steve Timmis live in the UK, which, culturally speaking, is further down the road of secularization than we are in America, but not by much. It's therefore very helpful to learn from them, as they have had more time to work out the implications of what this means for church life. What they've found is that we need to retool our conceptions of what it means to be the church, and once again learn to live deeply as the body of Christ in our local communities.
In Total Church Chester and Timmis propose that the two core components of church life are the gospel and community. They winsomely and compellingly show that the major responsibilities of the church, i.e. evangelism, discipleship, mercy ministry, pastoral care, etc. are all meant to be accomplished in community, specifically communities of Christians that commit themselves to living under the gospel together. So, for example, in the case of pastoral care--when a person is struggling with fear or anxiety the first place they should go is not to a professional, but to their community, where they can be reminded of the truth that they are secure in Christ and can find their rest in him. Or in the case of evangelism--rather than formulaic, lone-ranger evangelism, the life of the community of Christ itself is to be a demonstration of the power of the gospel to change lives, in such a way that neighbors and friends a) wonder why we love each other so much, b) realize that Christianity may not be so freaky after all, and c) ask questions of us to which the only reasonable answer is "Christ."
Chester and Timmis' articulation of how the gospel can and should shape our life together has changed me, for the good. That's why I strongly encourage you to read this book yourself. Let it change how you see your life and the life of the church. And then let it shape how you live...
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