Michael Williams
How to Read the Bible Through the Jesus Lens: A Guide to Christ-Focused Reading of Scripture
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012. Pp. 267. Paperback. $18.99. ISBN 9780310331650.

As part of The Jesus Lens Blog Tour this week for Zondervan, I agreed to take a close look at the chapter on Genesis in Professor Michael Williams’ recent work, How to Read the Bible Through the Jesus Lens. A review copy was provided, but the comments below are my own critique without any persuasion for a positive review.

We often don’t realize that we enjoy a great benefit today. That benefit is the revelation of God that has come through Jesus Christ. Compared to what ancient Israel had the opportunity to understand, we now enjoy a knowledge of God that has been shaped through the completion of Christ’s work of salvation. What Dr. Williams has done has rightly presented the  Scriptures through a Christ-focused reading. In light of the revelation we now have since God sent his son, it is illuminating to look at Scripture through a proper lens.

Like the picture on a puzzle box helps us to assemble the puzzle, Williams says that his purpose is to “help believers make out the picture on the box” (9). Reading the Bible in this way presents the Scripture as it was intended, to reveal his “grand redemptive program that centers on his own son” (9). This book is designed to be an accessible commentary on the Bible that focuses on the main theme and examines how that theme focuses on Jesus Christ. Here is what Williams’ work says about the book of Genesis.

In Genesis Williams finds the theme, God separates out one through whom he would bless all nations. Just as God separates light from darkness (1:4) and waters from the dry ground (1:9-10), God also separates the faithful line of Seth from Adam and Eve’s children (5:3-32) and ultimately the line of Abraham (12:1-3) through whom God blesses every nation. In Genesis God’s good creation has been “mortally damaged by sin” (14). God repeatedly speaks of his purpose to provide a way that humanity could again experience God’s divine blessings. Through wars, famines, and even the failures of humanity, God has committed to separate a line of humanity that will bring salvation to the world.

Williams then demonstrates the Jesus lens by way of how he is the fulfillment of this work of salvation as a descendant of the line of Abraham. Williams refers to the writings of Apostle Paul who confirms this blessing (Gal 3:7-8). The chapter moves toward the contemporary implications of this theme of separation. Similarly, the disciples of Christ have been separated out by God to receive not only reconciliation with God, but to also “pass on that blessing to others” (15).

The chapter is concluded with a section called the Hook, for reflections and questions. “In what ways has God equipped you to be a blessing” (16)? What can you do to make yourself a clearer message of the good news of Jesus Christ to those around you” (16)? When we’ve understood this theme in Genesis, Williams contends that we will recognize our responsibility as those separated for the purpose of living out this “communication of divine blessing” (16).

At the end of the book, Williams includes a table with each book of the Bible, its main theme, the Christ-focus, implications, and the Hook. The table provides a handy, high-level overview of Williams’ unifying themes.

It is difficult to write a concise work on the entire Bible because one must make decisions as to what is included in the volume. The theme Williams decides to highlight in his work on Genesis is certainly a fair theme to choose. He does well in adhering to the theme and showing how Jesus informs us about this theme.

One could make an argument that Genesis is important for other reasons, such as that of its introduction to covenant or Moses as mediator foreshadowing the work of Christ. However, Williams does introduce these themes at a very high level through his theme of separation. As a book intended to provide a high view of the message of Scripture, I think Williams accomplishes this.

Williams has taken on a difficult task and has succeeded in creating a helpful overview from Genesis to Revelation on the work of Jesus Christ in the whole of Scripture. Williams has paid astute attention to unity, but also choosing themes that matter. This book is a unique and helpful contribution to Biblical Studies. I recommend Williams’ work and appreciate his goal to edify the body and illuminate the Scriptures through the lens of Christ.

See what others have had to say on the Genesis chapter in this tour:

Disciple Dojo – Genesis

G. A. Dietrich – The Pentateuch

The Ruthless Monk - Genesis

Book Review Blog Tour

Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter with Joel A. Lindsey
For the City: Proclaiming and Living Out the Gospel
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010. Pp. 180. Paperback. $18.99. ISBN: 9780310330073.

I received a review copy of For the City courtesy of Zondervan for the tour. There was no requirement or persuasion for a positive review. Amazon also carries the book.

This book is written well. The styles of both authors blend together smoothly. In the Foreword, the aim of their writing is plain. They know that the church is about God and sometimes leadership worries more about what the congregation thinks. They challenge anyone seeking to live, share, or promote the gospel to keep in mind that “no one is keeping score” (12). It is “not about getting it perfectly right.” This resonates with my own understanding and experience in my research as a student and minister. Perfection has never been the aim, but rather faith seeking understanding. The authors reiterate this later in the book as well.

In the Preface, the authors share what they believe church is all about. What ultimately makes a great church? One in which “Jesus Christ is found in word and deed” (13).

The first part of this book (62 pages) is drawing and engaging. I couldn’t put it down. Patrick and Carter share their experiences starting out life and early ministry. Though the stories are concise, they do not leave out the experiences we all have with those less-than-great choices we’ve made. Both authors share in a way that is heartfelt and humorous.

Carter shares the differences between models of doing Church that are IN the city, AGAINST the city, OF the city, or FOR the city. In the latter perspective, the church’s focus is seeking shalom for the city in which they live; utilizing all resources, gifts, time, and money. Patrick shares how bringing church to those who felt more spiritual than religious garnered criticism from all sides but yet brought the gospel in an effective way to those who desired the truth.

The next section has the meat of both their experience and model for ministry. An important discussion is centered on contextualization. This is maintaining a balance of sharing a culturally relevant gospel, but staying clear of a gospel of relativism or sectariansim. It is one that communicates the gospel in a way the local culture can understand without watering it down to appease or seclude the church by extremely conservative views. I loved the comment that the internal problem with all of us is “the heart’s worship of anything other than God” (79).

Something else very helpful was their discussion of community. “The perfect model that meets our longing for relationship…is found by looking vertically” (86). I have been studying about the imago dei concept recently and was refreshed by the authors’ perspective. They share that God created us for relationship. Foremost, a relationship with him, and secondly, and also important, a relationship with others. The example they use is that after Adam was created, God gave him a helper equal with him. It was not good for Adam to be alone. He was incomplete. They advised not to “go it alone” or separate from the culture (99): two important take aways from this very good chapter.

No missional or church-planting book would be complete without a chapter dedicated to equipping leaders to go out and minister, and outlining the different ways they have experienced meeting the needs of the community. This was good information and practical advise. But the section that followed was empowering. The idea is of suffering.

How would we have responded to some of the horrific ways in which early Christians suffered? Some were strewn up on poles and burned as torches for Emperor Nero’s pleasure. They were made examples of for those who would dare to go against the emperor. But yet another part of suffering is the hurtful experiences and twists in the lives of those coming in the church doors. Jesus is our model for suffering well and if we will follow him it means denying self (143). The authors included examples of godly suffering and how the church lovingly and sacrificially responded.

True to form, both authors again allow the reader to peer into their hearts when they share failures and expose sin they were struggling with. Great leaders have discovered this: being real and open leads to followers who are real and open. As difficult as this is to do, sharing such stories motivates others to overcome areas in their own lives and trust that their leaders are actually human. They mess up like the rest of us! Who would have thought? There is credibility that comes out of sharing one’s struggles because those who listen can resonate and feel more comfortable exposing their own.

The book concludes with some remarks about Jonah. He too was called into a difficult place and a ministry he otherwise would have thought was never going to succeed. But he ultimately went where God called him, however imperfectly, and was more successful than he thought possible because there was a move of God. It wasn’t about Jonah.

I recommend this book. It is not only for church planters or leaders. It is written well, thoughtful, and helpful on many levels. I will leave you with one quote from the end:

“A church for its city is willing to dream big and take scary risks because the God who began a good work in and through the church is the God who will use the church to bless cities, nations, and the entire world” (177).

In this section of the book, Ferguson outlines innovation and makes a great statement, “crisis in the birthplace of innovation” (p. 204). Ferguson shares great examples of how “innovation is the least risky rather than the most risky course” (p. 206). I don’t want to share too much because the story shared is a great one. Basically, when budgets were tight, they decided to expand into where they believed God was leading them rather than take an alternatively conservative route. The result was that the move gave birth to God’s purposes for the church. They experienced growth.

Verge church that include the elements the authors have been sharing will be lead by those who will sacrifice all in order to have missional impact on the the community and on the world. They will “trade their lives…for missional impact” (p. 209). The questions asks here is if our church is no longer part of the community, will it be missed? It’s not that those leaders will only move with certainty, but will move with curiosity; innovating along the road to affect the community for Christ. Ferguson has shared more depth to the importance of the need of this kind of paradigm or focus in his book, AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church. The book certainly left a mark on my outlook on ministry. I highly recommend it.

Another tenancy of a verge church leaders will be their desire to follow God with a “yes” and discover the “how” later. I laughed when I read this comment because it is exactly how we follow God through faith. We move with Him and we trust. We then witness, once we’ve started walking with Him, amazing moves of God. He shows up in the most unexpected and wonderful ways.

In the chapters that follow the introductory material to this innovation section, examples are given as to what outreaches are being undertaken to do church with a missional attitude. One such example is a church that meets at a pub. In order to attract people, they even created a tagline “Two Beer Service Every Sunday” (p. 227).

There is some truth when Ferguson shares that “we allow the professionals and a few of the very gifted amateurs to participate in the mission, and the rest have to stay on the outskirts of missional engagement” (p. 235). The church can certainly stand some improvement on this point. It may not always work to have everyone be part of all activities, but much work can be done here. I think utilizing the talents of others, and there is a lot more talent in the church than we realize, builds strong disciples and relationships.

A process to create such an out-of-the-box culture is demonstrated at the close of this section. It is a helpful model and one that lends itself to organized effort, not whimsy implementation of how to involve the whole body of the believers. It was inspiring to think about creative and innovative organizing of the church and its outreach into the community.

Investigate
Design
Experiment
Adjust

The final section on move explains the formula multiplication church church planting + people on mission in every sphere = apostolic movement. New churches tend to exhibit more conversions than do established churches. The need for multiplying church plants is a great one; not to mention the declining numbers (p. 252). For people who won’t come to church, mission in every sphere becomes important if we are to reach them.

The authors go on to discuss how the church needs to move for sacramental and more traditional forms into this missional paradigm. So depending on your view, this section may or may not be helpful. If I interpret their paradigm proposal with more of a blend in mind, I believe what they are presenting is incredibly helpful to challenge the church to think differently.

I do recommend this book. The material is engaging and yields inspiring thought to what the authors propose as a new model for church. There are many helpful and biblical elements. If you were to choose one resource from the Exponential Series, this is a great choice. If you enjoy the topic covered in a section, you can order those books for further detail.

Thanks for reading. Blessing, Saints!

The Apostolic Genius paradigm is explained more in detail in Hirsch’s earlier work, The Fogotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church. But a good summary of its components lies in this Shift section of the book. It includes the six elements I listed in my introduction entry. There is a quote that stuck out to me: ” Monday is as spiritually important as Sunday” (p. 123). This was really helpful. The church is to live out being the church all week long and everywhere the saints go.

The six elements are all found in successful, great movements of God. Even some movements that have been successful that were not Christian, in fact some anti-Christian in principle, have included these elements. However, the main element those did not have was the Jesus is Lord component. The authors use this to show the dependability of the model they are describing.

Hirsch also refers to this list of elements that make up the Apostolic Genius model as mDNA. That is in order to describe it as a biological, living movement such as that of a living organism, but still distinguishing it from that genetic code term.

There is a helpful discussion in this section about moving from paradigm to ethos to praxis. The authors compare it to Dallas Willard’s model, VIM (Vision, Intention, Method). This section did very well in describing the movement the authors are talking about the change in paradigm for the church. They intend to move the church into living as an organized community in Christ and for Christ.

I realized here why I may have been thinking that more of a blending is necessary than abandoning the ”institutional” church. It stems from  a charismatic deliverance church I attended early in my discipleship. Many of the elements described; Jesus being the focal point always, training and growing in discipleship, we intentionally engaged culture, had a focus to missional actions such as prison ministry, and living as a community of believers. The element, however, not present was the organic multiplication. And I agree that that is important and would be a fair critique of many ministries.

I enjoyed this section a lot and the opportunity to see the mind of the authors. This would be extremely helpful for those in leadership positions.

Next we visit the section on how to innovate. Blessings, Saints.

Hirsch writes that it is the job of the leadership to inspire vision in the people of any organization. The task and the challenge of this theological responsibility is to be consistent with the church Jesus built (p. 54-55). For the authors, this use of the past-tense shows their theology that is confirmed elsewhere in the book. It is argued that the model we should use is the model intended by Jesus – the missional activity of the apostles. In terms of evangelizing and re-imagining church as we are often used to perceiving it, I agree with that sentiment that the allowance of creativity is important. The outworking or outreach of Christ’s church should go beyond the walls fo the building and into the community. In terms of abandoning organized church as we know it,  I don’t agree that the authors are correct. If that is what they are saying.

It was quite clear going into this section that the perspective is that of a liberation theology. Quotes from Karl Marx are even used and it is said that he was right. For those who may not be familiar, these paradigms look at any oppression or imbalance as a sign of sin. Those who have power or wealth, for example, are the oppressors. However, what happened in the Soviet Union as this was implemented was not what was expected. The achievement of adequate resources did not result in the elimination of people’s tendency to seek their own satisfaction. In essence, the redistribution of wealth did not result in the elimination of sin. Now I don’t believe the authors are as radical. It does, however, show the great care that is needed for radical changes.

Re-imagining church is a welcoming idea. I do enjoy this and agree that there is a true need for this in our current ways of doing church. The missional activity of the authors are innovated ways of creating community and meeting the needs of the people of God while affecting the world by being salt and light within it. Hirsch then goes into detail about how a few innovators spark a new movement. Once others catch the fever to the tune of around 16% of the body, new paradigms arise, one rises to the surface as the best, and a transfer is made to that new paradigm.

New imagination in the way we carry out the doing of church is a helpful critique. This is good, if not for the insistence of the authors that organized church as we know it must be completely scrapped. Hirsch calls it a stronghold. Whatever the future innovation, it should be founded on a mature theology. If it is not, it will lead to the same messes that plagued the early church and were answered through ecumenical councils and more. Let’s say that a paradigm shift is successful. Eventually, there will need to be another one then. Enough said on this point on blending instead of scrapping.

I loved the example of Mark Zuckerberg for innovation. Mark took the “metaphor of a college yearbook and social networking to produce Facebook.” He redefined his paradigm to approach things in a new way and create something interesting and useful. This kind of opening up new paradigms into ministry would be a breath of fresh air.

It is an entirely fair critique that organizations over time “develop into impersonal institutions that tend to impose conformity” (p. 70). It is also important to put as much “into apprenticing people in the way of Jesus,” we wouldn’t need as much programming that causes impersonal distance. Hirsch goes on to say that “institutional conformity is damaging to the commitment to incarnational ministry” (p. 71). A question that comes to mind is, do all believers have the giftedness for missions? On thought is growing families or large families. The mission field is sometimes home depending on your role and calling.

Hirsch says that “much of this book is dedicated to helping churches develop more diverse and innovative expressions of church” (p. 72). If the paradigm shift is one of new ways to take the church to the community to create disciples and affect redemption in the lives of those we reach out to, this is precisely what we need as a church body. My only fear is where radical liberation theology tends to go: remove current structures only to replace them with someone else’s interpretation of structure.

Much of this “imagine” section is excellent challenge for leadership to think through. A discussion about “shift” is to come. Blessings!

Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson
On the Verge: A Journey into the Apostolic Future of the Church
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011. Paperback. $19.99

Many thanks to Zondervan for providing a review copy of this addition to the Exponential Series. I’m under no obligation for a positive review. I am grateful to Zondervan and its authors for the hard work they do in releasing excellent pieces of communication about the gospel, the church, and theology in general.

Perhaps in the spirit of the book, I’ve reimagined my approach and will blog about each section of the book throughout this week for the On the Verge Blog Tour.

The authors believe that the need of the contemporary church is to have mission as its organizing principle. For believers without congregational experience, missional church meets an approach that seems to be largely desired when gauging the response to this method thus far. By this approach, church becomes more socially involved. Believers who are currently in congregational settings can implement missional movements that affect the local community while benefiting from increasing the number and effectiveness of leaders and adding new believers. It is believed that an important component of this is the ability to produce reproducing churches with this missional focus.

The authors call this presentation of church an apostolic movement and see it rising in the Western churches. The warning given is that such change must come from the West because the church in the West is in serious decline. If the answer for the West was to come from other countries such as Europe, New Zealand, or Australia, it would have done so by now. So the call is a serious one (the call to re-imagine church and its mission) and the status of the church in the West depends on what the West does. Some recovery of the apostolic ways is presented in a paradigm the authors call Apostolic Genius. The authors see evidence that the church in the West is heading in this direction.

In all the research, ideas, and experience the authors share, they agree that we join the work of God in what he is doing in the church. So if this is in fact the direction God is going, “certainly, we must do our part, but in the end the church exists by the grace, presence, and power of God himself, and to him we must constantly turn if we are going to be the kind of people he wants us to be” (p. 21). I appreciate this statement of the authors because it shows the right perspective that we are called by grace, accepted by faith, and are expected to do something in order for justification to be realized.

After introducing how we are on the verge of the future, the authors present their ideas and respond to each other through 4 main sections:

1. Imagine
2. Shift
3. Innovate
4. Move

The authors admit that while there are some examples of mature apostolic movements, missional church is receiving growing acceptance by church leaders. After the apostolic age, churches became more institutional and rigid due to its marriage with politics. The increasing logic of secularization in the West is placing the institutionalized church in isolation with secular social constructs. The authors place the beginning of this move with the French Revolution.

The West is becoming multicultural. Yet, the most segregated hour continues to be Sunday mornings. A challenge facing the Western church  and its ecclesiology is how to balance the idea of church how Jesus designed it. Most church models are attempted copies of mega-churches. Yet, not all can be nor should be mega-churches. Some examples are that the financial resources and personnel talent to make a mega-church successful are not available to all churches. Thus, the strategy of many churches is flawed from the beginning. “The way we think about the church and mission…indicates why we desperately need to innovate” (p. 28). The church needs better imagination of how we do church.

What this also tells us is that churches are competing to reach the same audiences. The logical question that follows is then how do we reach those who are not yet being reached? The contemporary way of doing church was new and fresh some time ago, but is now experiencing competition in the formerly uncharted waters. A new approach will be required for reaching the un-churched in our communities.

The rise of information technology has changed social interaction and the way and availability that information is accessed. Information is no longer only in the hands of priests and centralized mediators. We are looking at a positive move toward “the ordination of ordinary people” (p. 31). The authors believe we must separate from institutionalized church to some large degree. Since the apostolic or early church movement was one of mission, the authors believe a return to that concentration is what God desires. They believe this is what Jesus intended.

On this point I diverge a little from the authors in that church as we know it must be replaced with what they’ve called Apostolic Genius. It is not because the method is not a good or a correct one. It is that instead of replacement or needing to be liberated from the current structure of church, it seems to me a blend is more in order. I don’t think the institutionalized state of the church after 2,000 years of what the church has gone through God intended to abandon. A lot of good came from the Constantinian movement that institutionalized the church. It had its negative implications to be sure, but it also had its positive implications.

Though there were great lessons in piety and purity learned from similar movements such as monasticism, the organized church was right to warn against isolationism that tended to stem from the monastics. It was the organized or institutionalized church that took bold stands against heretical movements while the desert fathers were largely disengaged. There were only two occasions in which Anthony of Thebes came out of his dessert confines to make public appearances to declare his positions: the situation with Diocletian and in support of Athanasius’ opposing Arianism. Let’s not forget the shoulders upon which we stand regarding what God has done with the institutional or structured church.

What I hear more predominantly from those who are frustrated with organized church is not so much the rigidity of programming as the hypocrisy of leadership. It is the lack of genuine love for people and their creative expression. What the un-churched desire to encounter is genuine leadership that is sold out for Christ and living the holy lifestyle that is preached; empowered by the Spirit to break the yokes in the lives of those who desperately long for such aid and realness. I agree wholeheartedly that an expected outworking of this includes missional activity in the community. I think where I differ is that I don’t believe the answer is as strongly missional as the authors do. The both/AND motif seems to lean more heavily on the missional side. We need organized structure too.

The authors say that the early apostolic movements were more “grassroots” and “movemental” as opposed to structured. This is a bit misleading. Some of the early churches took this shape because those Jews who supported Christ as the Messiah, i.e. enter Paul, were banned from preaching in the synagogues, which were organized assemblies of God’s people. This word for assembly, ecclesia, is not necessarily connoting only organic movement, though it doesn’t exclude that. The authors are correct to say that ecclesia was not meant to describe a building. The word carries forward the use of (Qahal) or congregation in the Old Testament, which basically means a group of people gathered for a particular purpose. The authors says that God “permits” (32) some level of institutional structure. I believe this tends to downplay the reality a bit. From the desert in the Exodus we start to see the use of organization and physical structures accompanying the Qahal. In the New Testament church, there was both local church regularly gathering (i.e. Timothy) and the work of outreach and mission (i.e. Paul).

The authors use a formula to describe the type of movement they are writing about:
Multiplication Church Planting + the Mission of All People Everywhere = Apostolic Movement

What empowers this move is a term the authors use and expressed in the beginning of this blog entry: Apostolic Genius. It involves 6 elements:

1. Jesus is Lord
2. Disciple-making
3. Apostolic environment
4. Missional-incarnational impulse
5. Organic systems
6. Communitas

I enjoyed a helpful section about the idea of community, which stated that clarifying purpose, principles, and belief within organized bodies strengthens more than the efforts of assets, expertise, ability, or management competence can do (p. 46). The people of God are first and foremost a covenant community. This is true. A helpful comment from Michael Fullan is quoted regarding two common failures in leadership : “indecisiveness in times of urgent need for action and dead certainty that they are right in times of complexity” (p. 48).

I’m looking forward to the discussion. More to come. Blessings, Saints.