June 2011 book round-up
Krish Kandiah gives a whistle-stop tour of three recently published books.
1. The Adventure Bible, Zonder Kids
This is a very attractive children's Bible aimed at 9-12 year olds. Its got a great full colour cover that has the feel of adventure map on it inviting children to delve deeper into God's word. It uses the 2011 translation of the NIV and has lots of helps in the text. Most notably a very good dictionary and concordance section which I take as a very positive step forward for a children focused Bible. There is an animal theme running through this Bible so there's a parrot symbol that goes alongside the "Did you Know?" sections and a frog image that comes alongside the "Live it" sections that help with the application. There are some full colour sections too on "Getting to Know Jesus" and "The 10 Commandments for kids". I think my 9 year old would like this Bible more than my 12 year old because of the imagery used but the concordance / dictionary is more likely to be used by my 12 year old. The animal imagery feels a bit young for 12 year olds.
This would make a great gift Bible or a Sunday school prize- well done Zonderkids for producing such an excellent resource. In the Biblefresh year - why not think of giving a young person you know a smart new bible - and find ways to read it with them?
2. Graceful Evangelism, Frances Adeney, Baker Academic
This book has an excellent title as there are so many examples of graceless evangelism, so I received this book with great anticipation. Sadly I wasn't sure whom this book was aimed at. It is not an inspirational / motivational book; it is laid out more like a textbook but the academic level of the book is relatively entry level. Perhaps it would be useful as first year basic introduction to evangelism for a Bible school or Discipleship Training School programme. It is nicely laid out with helpful boxes and lists - but seems to add little to the contemporary need for a reimagining of evangelistic practice in the post-Christian west.
3. The Trellis and the Vine- the ministry mind-shift that changes everything, Marshall and Payne
This book from two Sydney Anglicans has crossed over to North America and caused something of a stir. It comes with strong commendation from Mark Dever, Al Mohler and Ligon Duncan. The book raises the important question of whether church pastors are investing their time in structures or people. The church structures are the Trellis while people are the vine.
"Perhaps Trellis work has taken over from vine work. there are committees, structures, programs, activities and fund raising efforts, and many people put lots of time into keeping them all going, but the actual work of growing the vine falls to a very few."p.9
This is a very important challenge and for those of us who have been in long term church leadership we can relate to the problem. How many of us are stuck in endless committees, discussions and board meetings instead of doing what we entered the ministry to do - help people encounter God. So I can completely understand the attraction and breath of fresh air this book has been to so many pastors.
The books calls for some ministry mind-shifts:
1. from running programmes to building people
2. from running events to training people
3. from using people to growing people
4. from filling gaps to training new workers
5. from solving problems to helping people make progress
There's lots of good challenge here and a helpful wake up call to many of us to get back to face to face ministry. But there is an underlying assumption of what constitutes genuine people work and here is how it is spelt out in the book:
"The real work of God is people work- the prayerful speaking of his word by one person to another" p.27
Now I believe that Bible teaching is a huge part of the church's role. I have given much of my waking life into teaching the Bible and training others to teach the Bible. But to argue that vine work / people work is limited to the studying of the Bible is the sum of all we are called to do is to miss the wood for the trees or the trellis for the vine. If your job is a farmer does that count as doing the "work of God"? Does a church that is serving the poor in its neighborhood count as people work if it doesn't involve "speaking of his word"? Christian ministry has been reduced to "word based ministry" - now you might argue this is what happens in Ephesians 4 - all of the gifts mentioned are word based gifts : Apostle, Evangelist, Pastor/Teacher , Prophet but firstly that is not an exhaustive list ( see 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12:3-8) and secondly these word based ministries are to "equip God people for works of service" now those works of service are not just more word based ministries. Jesus says in Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. What are the good deeds that will make people want to praise God? It won't be more Christian worship services or Bible studies it will be acts of kindness and mercy. So it is insufficient to argue that people work is doing Bible study. (Mark Dever who commends this book takes a similar line).
Interestingly the dominant metaphor in this book is the vine and yet ironically for a book that argues that teaching of the Bible is the core / sum of people work, very little attention is given to how the bible uses this metaphor. Strangely for a book that uses the biblical imagery of the Vine there is hardly any use of the biblical metaphor. One place that would have helped to reshape the book's core assumptions is Isaiah's song of the vineyard: (ESV link here if you prefer).
1 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. 2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. 3 "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? 5 Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. 6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it." 7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
What does God look for in the house of Israel v.7 is the key I came looking for justice. God was not just looking for biblical literacy, biblical knowledge but for justice. The word of God is supposed to equip God's people for works of service (see Ephesians 4:1-11 and 2 Timothy 3:10-17). This is not just more one to one bible study. I have looked in vain in this book to find any reference to Christian ministry that wasn't a form of Bible teaching. We train ministers and workers who will be able to teach others and that is all.
Despite my reservations about the implied understanding of the nature of pastoral ministry, this book should still be read widely as it offers an important call to church leaders to make sure we train others up, invest in face to face people work and pass on a passion for the Bible, it does add a missing element of the church's life despite being narrow in its scope and reductionist in its view of pastoral ministry and ecclesiology.
The Good Book Company
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