Total Church: A review by: Kyle Johnston

You don't need to be in a church long to hear myriad voices calling for a change to the way things are done. Whether it's modern/traditional music, longer/shorter sermons, greater authenticity or 'spiritual experiences' - we often hear people, and ourselves, saying that things should change. But what? And by what should things be measured? What should be our guiding principles? To this discussion Tim Chester and Steve Timmis add their voices through their book, Total Church. The premise of the book is simple, Chester and Timmis plead for two key principles: the Gospel and Community.

Firstly, they say, we have the Gospel as our content. The Gospel is a word so the church must be word-centred. The Gospel is also a missionary word - a word to be proclaimed - so the church must be mission-centred. 'You cannot be committed to the Gospel without being committed to proclaiming that Gospel.' (p32)

Secondly, they urge us to recognize the Gospel community as our context. As Christians, we should share our lives with each other, as well as offering unbelievers a place of belonging. 'Church is not another ball for me to juggle, but that which defines who I am and gives Christlike shape to my life.' (p43)

With the pillars of Gospel and Community theologically established (part 1), they spend the rest of the book (part 2) discussing how these two principles give shape to all of church life, practice and methodology covering areas from evangelism to apologetics to pastoral care and more.

This book is excellent, and I highly recommend it for a few reasons. Firstly, in seeking a more relational and missional approach to church, it is easy to lose the priority of the Gospel. These guys are strong on the Gospel, but equally strong on the necessity of the Gospel community being on mission. Secondly, they show that 'church' is an identity we have been graciously given in Christ - church is not a meeting you attend, or a building. We tend to have a very individualistic approach to church and life - this book rightly critiques our selfishness and calls us to live out our faith in the context of Christian community. Thirdly, the chapter on social involvement is extremely relevant and insightful, particularly for white middle-class South Africans, as it challenges us to realize that we cannot truly help the abstract 'poor' outside of having a genuine relationship with specific people. Fourthly, the chapter on church planting is worth special mention as they urge us to see both the necessity and normality of churches planting churches. They say:

At present church planting carries a certain mystique. Church planters are portrayed as a unique kind of rugged pioneer. But we need to create a culture in which transplanting is normal. Every local church should be aiming to transplant and raise up church planters. (pp.94-5)

I could go on, but for these reasons and more it is well worth the buy! On a more critical level, the reader gets the impression that the authors sometimes overstate their case - particularly regarding preaching.

However, all in all, an excellent book, insightful, provocative and extremely important. If you are going to read one book on the church this year, make sure that this is it! The challenge for us is: will we put it into practice? So read it with a trusted friend, and challenge each other to apply its message to your life.