Reclaiming God's Original Intent for the Church

Rating:
Summary: Bigger Is Not Always Better
Review: Beverly D. Berry
The Rev. Canon Dr. Jerry Smith
PT249fb-Field Base Seminar
27 January 2005

Book Review of Reclaiming God's Original Intent for the Church by Wes Roberts and Glenn Marshall, to be posted on Amazon.com

If you are a Christian pastor, lay leader, or "pew potato" who is tired of hearing that "bigger is better," this book is for you! In a straightforward and engaging style, the authors write about defining the "success" of Christian ministries not in secular terms, but instead measured against Biblical standards-what a novel idea! In order to reflect of the Biblical meaning of "success," we are challenged to examine the Bible carefully to see what the early (i.e. before it became institutionalized) Christian church looked like.
We find God's original intent for His church, the authors tell us, by going back to the "much older ways" of the apostolic period. In an environment which was hostile to Christianity, the early Christians were considered "weirdos"-but these weirdos were "authentically sold out to Jesus." In thirteen short chapters, Roberts and Marshall describe the early Christians who were focused on authenticity, calling, community, trusting God, and being a servant to God's people. The chief concern of the early church, the authors write, was being the people of God-far different from the norms in many Christian churches today where success is measured by how many people attend services and how many dollars are in the annual budget.
Indeed, the authors make it clear that the true meaning of being successful is found in discerning the Lord's will both individually and corporately and then in being obedient to that will. The reader is also challenged by being told that the task God calls His church to is a spiritual battle. This book would make an excellent resource and guide for an adult Christian education class. As a seminarian seeking ordination, I will keep it on my bookshelf for much future use.


Rating:
Summary: Arrogantly Helpful
Review: I affirm and enjoy the idealism that is in this book. You can tell that the authors are passionate concerning the biblical notions of ministry and how Church is to be in our day. I very much appreciated their understanding of Post-Modernism, and their expressions of how we can best minister to those in our current context. And yes, their slams of a "Modern" approach to ministry are indeed warranted. For too long the corporate models for ministry and a Modern approach to ministry (as a career) has existed in the Church, but it surely is not working anymore (indeed, did it ever really work?).

At the same time, I share the concerns that have been raised by some of this page's commentators. I am increasingly irritated with the somewhat naive notions of "The Emergent Church" which both naively and arrogantly claim to have discovered what no one in the Church has ever realized...namely, that community is important (especially the post-Constantinian Church). I loved the point that Jacob made when he wrote, "The authors contrast some magical perfect pre-Nicaea church that never existed, against this tremendously flawed corporate `Christendom' that was birthed by Constantine." The authors are right about the early church's stress on community, but are quite naïve to act as if this did not occur after the wayward emperor. For all of the gifts of the Emergent movement (this book would be hailed by most in that movement), they seem at times to be a bit off in their assumptions about the pre-Emergent church.

I mean, let's be honest. The title of this book is a bit ridiculous. It not so subtly suggests that the Church has gone (almost totally) wrong and we alone have discovered those Scriptural views which would bring the Church back to its biblical and early intents. I have no doubt that God has an original intent for the Church; I'm not so confident that these authors have uncovered something that was lost for 1700 years. In reading this, I was reminded of Immanuel Kant's ridiculously arrogant book title, "A Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics"-in other words, "if you want to talk about God, you have to go through me first!" Likewise here, "these are the foundation stones of true Christianity, we have finally found them!"

Again, those things to which the authors point, I believe, are thoroughly biblical. They do have some trouble in the Church history department, and (perhaps for the sake of brevity) they do too much generalizing. They are perhaps too driven by Post-Modernism, but they strike at some important themes. Just try to ignore (what I would deem to be) some of the arrogant assumptions (Eureka! We have finally found God's will for the Church!), and you can glean some helpful ideas from this book.


Rating:
Summary: This is a Compelling Book
Review: Original Intent will encourage, challenge, and inspire you. If you wrestle with how to serve in a culture where the church is now on the margin of society, this book will lay out for you an approach based upon the much older ways of the apostles. Whatever size ministry you are in, this is a great book for leaders and staff to read to remind them of "first principles" and how to minister in a postmodern world. Get it.

Rating:
Summary: We should do this instead of that for a 180 pages!
Review: Reading Reclaiming God's Original Intent for the Church reminds me of panning for gold in a river; there is allot of useless mud and dirt but every once in awhile you come across a tiny gold nugget. Overall I was incredibly disappointed with this book. I felt like I was simply reading another polemic against The Purpose Driven Church, or two men whine about what they dislike about the "modern" church, instead of really pinpointing what God's intent is.

Three things really aggravated me about this book. The first was the tremendously poor church history that is implored. The authors contrast some magical perfect pre-Nicaea church that never existed, against this tremendously flawed corporate "Christendom" that was birthed by Constantine. Their claim, that if only we can shed modernity and get back to our early-church roots is a complete farce, because it fails to understand that the church throughout the ages, yes even the early-church, was made up of sinners.

Secondly, I was offended by the broad generalizations they made. As a former youth pastor I was insulted by their claim that many youth ministers leave there ministries because they are looking to climb that corporate ladder (118). I don't think the general statements that the authors make in this book are part of God's intent for the church.

Finally, the chapter entitled "It's About Listening-Not Just Preaching" was awful. The authors are correct to say in counseling and evangelism Christians spend way to much time talking instead of listening. However, they have gotten good counseling confused with good preaching. As a matter of fact I would argue that one of the reasons the church has become so irrelevant is that there are very few gifted preachers in this country. Romans 10:17 say "faith comes from hearing the message." I would contend that preaching is central when it comes to reclaiming God's original intent for the church.

I will say that I did appreciate their point: that the role of pastor is about a calling and not a career. I believe there is something to learn from the church of Antioch; that sent people of proven maturity and effectiveness to new areas. I would claim one of God's original intents for the Church is to send young pastors to our modern day Antioch parishes (large and stable churches). And dispatching our pastors of proven maturity and effectiveness to unchurched areas, instead of vice versa.

This book is a quick and easy read; however it does not come close to effectively reclaiming God's original intent for the church!


Rating:
Summary: Great idea that never followed through
Review: Roberts and Marshall began their text with the wonderful intention of looking to Christianity's roots to determine how church should be carried out now. Their descriptions of early practice and the focused yet free nature of the early church were riveting and compelling. Unfortunately, they never seemed to get off the ground. They were both critical of making formulas for church success, and in this case seemed to eschew all practical advice for more esoteric and inconclusive musings.
If you are looking for an interesting book to present an opposing worldview to normalcy in Chistianity this is a great book, but if you are looking for application look elsewhere or be prepared to do the work yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Good Conversation Starter for Congregations
Review: Roberts and Marshall have provided the post-modern church a fantastic conversation starter. The issues they bring to light are current and problematic for our congregations. Particularly helpful is the suggestion that we, as Christians in a society that does not value Christian values, refuse to measure success utilizing market place standards and instead develop Biblical standards, thus allowing small congregations to realize their potential for ministry. Unfortunately, conversation starter is all they have provided. We need to be very careful not to turn our conversations into two position issues. There are many proper ways of doing church, not simply two (p22), and perhaps the pieces from several puzzles indeed will work together. After all, they are not our pieces, their God's.

Rating:
Summary: OK, Yea.....But?
Review: The book is fairly good, but I kept waiting for the aha moment at some point that would set it apart as something more than stating what should be fairly obvious to any pastor not fresh out of seminary. I suppose if you think that the church is about only numerical growth at the expense of theological truth and authentic loving relationships, then you might find something that is not obvious. I kept reading and saying, OK, yea, but am I missing something? Large churches are not bad, but small churches are OK too seems to be the main theme. The chapter titles are good, but I think are obvious, and unfortunately the chapters do not do much more than restate them without providing the deeper edge needed to make it more than a good intro for those who have lost their way.

Rating:
Summary: Encouragement to Return to Basics
Review: The need for publication of "Reclaiming God's Original Intent for the Church" seems to emphasise the penchant humans have for making things more complicated then they need be. Through this work, Roberts and Marshall have attempted to return the focus of Christian church leaders and pastors to the basics of the Gospel by stressing the importance of making disciples rather than striving for increased numbers or programs that build a false sense of success or security. Their intended audience is those church leaders who have been disenchanted with the promises of church growth formulas or new and better programs who need to hear this clarion call to once again return to the simple Gospel. They call leaders to put into practice the essentials of developing character, serving, listening, loving, creating community and following the leading of the Holy Spirit in their churches in order to grow into the unique community of faith that enfleshes and authenticates the Gospel.

I found this material refreshing in its simplicity and foundational in its importance. The authors have returned to biblical principles and encouraged readers concerning the necessity of applying such timeless wisdom in our postmodern culture. It's a book which inspires but also helps us take a look at some of the not so pleasing aspects of our churches today. It will engender enthusiasm and give positive direction to any who have committed themselves to Christian service and will lead to good fruit in the lives of those who accept its challenge to reclaim God's original intent.

Rating:
Summary: inspiring
Review: This book does a good job of showing the differences between 2 christian viewpoints on how to "do church". While they obviously favor one view over the other, the authors give a mostly accurate depiction of what really should take place in a christian community. For a short, easy read, I recommend this book.

I was happy to hear the true message of Jesus ring throughout the pages of this book. Self denial, sacrifice and suffering are three "s's" you don't hear very often in the typical church setting. Yet these authors have shed light onto the message of Christ and His intent for His people, living under His reign in His place.

The authors also did a good job of describing some admirable qualities of a true pastor. They fly in the face of the professional business CEO of a company model. Servanthood, committment to people and trust in the Lord despite circumstances are 3 in particular that were effectively drawn out.

Overall, this book inspired me to continually strive after the narrow path Jesus calls us on as disciples, as leaders and as dumb sheep that must follow the Shepherd. Though the book does not dive deeply into most of the issues, it is a good start to a recovery of what the Church should be.

Rating:
Summary: compelling, refreshing, encouraging
Review: Wes and Glenn put words to so many thoughts I've had about living this thing I call a Christian life. This book is intended for pastors and Christian leaders, but I'd recommend it to anybody who is serious about following Jesus.