The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love (Apprentice (IVP Books)) [Hardcover]

James Bryan Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 2010 | Series: Apprentice (IVP Books)

In this third book in the Apprentice Series, James Bryan Smith helps us know how to live in relationship with others as apprentices of Jesus. "Apprentices of Jesus are not part-time do-gooders," he writes. "They live in continuous contact with the kingdom of God, and are constantly men and women in whom Christ dwells. They do not sometimes tell the truth, sometimes live sacrificially or sometimes forgive. There are myriad opportunities for us to impact the world in which we live." Yet many times we've gotten it wrong, tending to emphasize personal faith over social justice or vice versa. In these pages Jim Smith shows us how to bring spiritual formation and community engagement together, and then once again offers spiritual practices that root new, true narratives about God and the world in our souls. His insight and humility as a fellow learner with us will lead us to live in authentic ways as a good and beautiful community of Christ-followers, shining the light of the Spirit into every relationship.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Apprentice Series is the best practice I have seen in Christian spiritual formation." (Dallas Willard, author of The Divine Conspiracy )

"Jim Smith is the most articulate, accurate and helpful writer of spiritual formation of my generation. I give this series my highest recommendation." (Todd Hunter, author of Giving Church Another Chance )

"The Apprentice Series is a treasure. Dr. Smith has thought long and hard about the process of human transformation into the likeness of Jesus. I urge you to buy these books immediately! Read them and apply them. Then live them out in the context of a loving community. You will not regret doing so." (Richard J. Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline and coauthor of Longing for God )

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (August 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830835334
• ISBN-13: 978-0830835331
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Bryan Smith (M.Div., Yale University Divinity School, D.Min., Fuller Seminary) is a theology professor at Friends University in Wichita, KS and a writer and speaker in the area of Christian spiritual formation. He also serves as the director of the Christian Spiritual Formation Institute at Friends University.

A founding member of Richard J. Foster's spiritual renewal ministry, Renovaré Smith is an ordained United Methodist Church minister and has served in various capacities in local churches. Smith is also the author of A Spiritual Formation Workbook, Devotional Classics (with Richard Foster), Embracing the Love of God, Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven and Room of Marvels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great end to the trilogy, September 1, 2010

By 

Kurt Conner (South Hadley, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love (Apprentice (IVP Books)) (Hardcover)

This is the third book in the Apprentice Trilogy, and for me, it is the most insightful and challenging. I enjoyed the first two Apprentice books(The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love With the God Jesus Knows (The Apprentice Series) and The Good and Beautiful Life: Putting on the Character of Christ (The Apprentice Series)), which dealt with issues of who God is and how we personally respond to Him, and this book takes the next step by exploring the idea of how we work these changed lives out in community. A reader may expect this book to focus entirely within the walls of a church, and that is where most of the attention goes, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the way that Smith challenges readers to look at the impact they have on people outside their church and inside small accountability groups within a church. I was also challenged by Smith's consistent efforts to bring all of his recommendations back to God's word, even when that leads to an unpopular suggestion that a congregation not sever ties with a denomination that has gone astray in some theological area (I think, on that point, Smith's message of reconciliation and commitment not to divide unnecessarily would benefit from a discussion of how passionate Paul was about differences of opinion on, say, circumcision - he may still end up at the same place, but I would love to hear him get there). While this book is great on its own, I highly recommend that readers tackle the books in order to get the most out of each one, especially in the context of a small group where people can challenge each other. I have started buying copies of The Good and Beautiful God for friends in my church, hoping that we can grow closer to God with them, and The Good and Beautiful Community reassures me that I need to start planning on giving away copies of the entire series. Everyone should read these books.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling portrait of Christian community, August 26, 2010

By 

John Gibbs (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love (Apprentice (IVP Books)) (Hardcover)

Our daily encounters with others are the arenas in which our relationship with God becomes incarnate, and most of us need a little help in this area, according to James Bryan Smith in this book. The book attempts to offer ways in which followers of Jesus can have healthy relationships and become blessings to the world around them.

As the King James Bible asserts, Christians are a "peculiar" people, or at least they should be. They should obey earthly laws but live by higher laws. They should be living lives that are so winsome that others want to have what they have. They should live in a hopeful, serving, Christ-centred, reconciling, encouraging, generous, worshipping community. To help readers work towards this, the author provides soul training exercises at the end of each chapter.

I tend to regard spiritual disciplines are something that is good for me, rather than something I find exciting. Nonetheless as I read the book I found myself resonating with and attracted to the "good and beautiful community" that the author portrays. The soul training exercises may not suit the theological inclinations of all readers, but the essential characteristics of the Christian community that the book describes are compelling.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great For Small Groups, October 7, 2010

By 

A. Morgan (Virginia, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love (Apprentice (IVP Books)) (Hardcover)

We all live in community at differing levels. Of course we are part of the community of humanity. But we are also part of the community which is our country; the community of our city, town, neighborhood, church and family.

We interact with other people every day. As Christians, as followers of Jesus, how are we to `be' in the communities we exist in.

How we are in the everyday of life should be something we think about. Do we leave our `faith' at home when we go to work, or school, or college? Do we have our quiet times in the morning but then are indistinguishable during the day from anyone else we interact with? Or maybe the opposite is true. Maybe we are generous and kind and giving and service-hearted but our faith is not the driving force. James Bryan Smith suggests that how we act in community should be inseparably connected with what is going on inside us spiritually. In The Good and Beautiful Community Smith challenges us to balance contemplation and action; piety and mercy; personal devotion and social service, all in the context of our every day life.

This is an immensely practical book. It is not just to be read, it is to be `done'. The `Soul Training' sections at the end of each chapter help the reader to think and put into practice what has been said with suggestions for action for the days following. At the end of the book, Smith has provided a very helpful section on "Writing A Soul-Training Plan". This helps you to look at how you are with God, with yourself and with others, and then helping you to create a plan of action to develop and grow in these areas.

This is a great book for small groups to work through together.