The other book I’m reading right now is the latest from 9Marks ministries, by Jonathan Leeman,The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love: Reintroducing the Doctrine of Church Membership and Discipline. Just like the book by James Davison Hunter I recommended on Saturday, I recommend this one full-throatedly — even if this is not a complete review by any means.
If Hunter’s book is a game-changer for your view of church, culture, and politics, this book is the game-changer that, frankly, I wish I had written. Leeman’s book is unbelievably-careful to begin at the beginning or the idea of “church” and end at your front door, challenging you to be what God wants you to be among the other people called out to be the church together.
Both of these books deserve a chapter-by-chapter treatment in order to fully and fairly review them — and there’s no way I’m going to get that done this week. However, you could get a leg up on that endeavor by buying either one and starting to read them for your own edification.
There is not a more important issue for Evangelicals today than the topic(s) covered by this book by Leeman, and from a different approach angle by Hunter. I look forward to leveraging both of them with you in the future here.
April 5th, 2010 | 8:35 am | #1
I’m about two thirds the way through this and quite FRANKly, I’ve found his arguments unconvincing. Hopefully the rest will show that he is not trying to make a main thing out of something that’s not a plain thing. I do look forward to your further assessment though.
April 5th, 2010 | 8:58 am | #2
Jack –
An interesting comment. have you been using the outline in the back of the book to follow that argument? What would you say is the part which leaves you unconvinced?
April 5th, 2010 | 9:51 am | #3
I’m reading an electronic version with no Table of Contents, so was not aware that there was an outline at the end of the book. I will give you an example of one of the things that gives me pause though. He talks about the local church or THE pastor being a proxy for Christ. To me, a proxy is someone who speaks for someone who is missing. Is Christ missing or did He say that He would be with us until the end of the age?
April 5th, 2010 | 1:13 pm | #4
That’s an interesting way to view the issue, but I think you’re missing something: how is Christ present? By what means? Does God ordains means by which he is represented?
This is a difficult issue which many people dismiss, but God isn’t an accidental presence among his people or in this world.
April 5th, 2010 | 2:52 pm | #5
Yes, I think I know what you mean. I guess what I’m not convinced about is how far he takes the issue of formal church membership and covenants. I think it is intuitive that you be with God’s people and active in a local church that takes discipleship and discipline seriously. But in the same way that the Pharisees’ took the law beyond where it was meant to go, I see this as a step toward churchianity by taking things that are not plainly there and trying to convince people that it is essential doctrine. After all, House Beautiful sat atop Hill Difficulty at the side of the Path. It was not on the Path or the Path. But, like you said I could be missing something and if so I will continue the search.
April 5th, 2010 | 4:08 pm | #6
The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love: Reintroducing the Doctrine of Church Membership and Discipline.
This recent news article titled: “Do-it-yourself groups in Bay Area form alternatives to institutional churches” observes another trend: (Excerpt)
“When Darian Ahler leaves for church, he walks from his bedroom to his living room.
The congregation – San Francisco hipsters in their 20s and 30s – comes to him. No one delivers a sermon. No one sings. The group brainstorms together on what they can do to honor Jesus, besides just pray to him.
“These days, religion is intellectual masturbation. It’s not experimental enough,” said Mark Scandrette, the founder of the group, called ReImagine, and author of the book “Soul Graffiti.”
“We look at what Jesus taught,” Scandrette said, “then we try to develop an experiment that helps us learn that.”
The group is one of a growing number of do-it-yourself Christian communities forming in the Bay Area, looking for alternatives to institutional churches and what its members see as their passive rituals. As other Christians attend church Sunday, ReImagine members will celebrate Easter by heading to the beach.
“The modern version of worship, of sitting on a bench and being read to, is on the way out. It’s boring everybody, including the pastors,” said Matthew Fox, an Oakland pastor and author of several books on spirituality. “People are hungry and thirsty for something to touch their hearts and souls.”
Researchers at the Ventura-based Barna Group, which studies trends in religious beliefs and practices, have seen alternative Christian groups rise in popularity. About 6 percent of adults surveyed last year said they met regularly with a self-governed Christian group, and 33 percent said they had attended a worship service outside of a conventional church in the previous month.”
April 5th, 2010 | 6:27 pm | #7
Great question JackW. I’m completely with Frank on this one but I do think you bring up one of the defining issues on this matter. I’m PCA and the way our Book of Church Order speaks of this is to say that Christ is the King and Head of the Church but he exercises his authority in the church through “the ministry of men.” By “men” he means the officers of the church. Would it help if we distinguished between the office and the individual who occupies the office. In other words I can understand the reticence to submit oneself to a particular individual who governs the church by force of his “vision” or personality or charisma or whatever. Where leadership is built on such things it is dangerous to the leaders and those led. The leader can fall in love with his “vision” and his ability to make unique contributions to the church. The followers can fall in love with the charisma and personality of the man. But if we understand that the officers as officers are the “proxy for Christ,” then the individual is hidden behind the office. An officer then is one who is a steward of the means of grace which Christ has given the church. He is charged with the ministration of the Word and sacraments, so that it is Christ who is governing the church by means of His word and sacraments and the minister is then “hidden” in a sense behind those things.
I also don’t see how one can practice any kind of discipline without some kind of formalization of membership and it seems to me that members will have to acknowledge and submit to some form of God ordained human authority. Otherwise, anyone’s opinion is as good as anyone else’s as to what Christ requires and all of us can just do what is right in our own eyes, which in my own limited experience is pretty much what most people do anyway.
Frank, if you are still there, am I tracking with you on this?
April 5th, 2010 | 9:10 pm | #8
Jolly –
If we strip away all the Presbyterian presbyterianishness, yes.
:-)
April 5th, 2010 | 10:05 pm | #9
He he . . .
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