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Perimeters of Light

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Every person knows the difference between pure light and pure darkness. But what is harder to discern is where the light ends and the darkness begins. Where is the point where the light has ended and dark has overtaken? To take this question to a spiritual realm, when has a Christian left the edge of the light of truth and entered the darkness of error? It is this daunting question that Ed Stetzer and Elmer Towns seek to explore in Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church.

Before I proceed I would like to point out that throughout this book, "emerging church" is not capitalized. Hence the authors are referring to the evangelical church as it struggles to find its identity in our newly postmodern society (as it emerges from modernism into postmodernism), and are not referring to the subset of this, popularly known as the Emerging (or Emergent) Church. This book contains no references to Brian McLaren, Dan Kimball, Leonard Sweet, or any of the other leaders of the Emergent conversation. Having said all of that, this book is still relevant to that discussion, as the authors seek to define biblical boundaries for what is and what is not Christian. They try to define just how much the church can change and adapt before it is no longer the church.

Woven throughout the text is a parable of two missionaries, which describes two men who are trying to reach an isolated tribe in Papua New Guinea. Their trek through the jungle emphasizes the importance of keeping a light flickering in the darkness, and their struggles in presenting the gospel to the tribesmen describes many of the issues we face in presenting the gospel to our postmodern family, friends and neighbors. The authors correctly believe that in a post-Christian culture like our own, the difficulties we face are much the same as those faced by missionaries taking the good news to cultures that have never known God. There are surprising similarities between a post-Christian culture and a non-Christian culture.

Among the difficult issues the authors wrestle with are: what makes something Christian? (when has a Christian left the light and entered darkness?); the difference between meanings and forms (how and why are decisions in Christian ministry often based on preference and culture instead of the truth of Scripture?); and boundaries in practice (where is the perimeter between true evangelism and unbiblical evangelism?). Following discussion of each of these areas, they seek to apply them to five spheres: church, worship, music, preaching and evangelism.

In discussing the church, Towns and Stetzer define the church and describe the elements that identify a body we can legitimately refer to as a church. They also try to help the reader understand when a church is no longer a church according to biblical standards.

The chapter on worship avoids becoming bogged down in discussions about the "worship wars" which plagued the church until recently (and in many places continue to do so). They talk about the dangers of consumer worship, wherein people attend church in order to have their needs met, rather than to engage in genuine worship of God. They include a helpful section where they try to answer the question of "what makes worship Christian?."

The discussion then turns to music where the authors again refuse to participate in the worship wars. They teach that God has no stylistic musical preference. They then propose an eight-part test through which we can discern if our music brings glory to God: The message test, the purpose test, the association test, the memories test, the proper association test, the understanding test and the music test.

The following chapter deals with preaching and the authors stress the importance of biblical preaching which is expositional, without committing to traditional expository preaching. They show how in many cases, pastors who seek to be relevant by illustrating their sermons with movies, in reality use the Bible to illustrate their sermons on movies, rather than using movies to illustrate their sermons on the Bible. The balance of the chapter is spent describing different ways of formatting an expositional sermon and ensuring that the listeners will hear and remember it.

Finally the authors turn to evangelism, presenting several of the traditional charts and diagrams used to show the process of evangelism and the way different people respond to the gospel. They propose a new model that takes into account the importance postmoderns place on narrative.

"Christianity in a Postmodern world" seeks to define postmodernism and describe the emphases that are important to people in this society. They show the following shifts: relationship over task; journey over destination; authenticity over excellence; experience over proposition; mystery over solution; diversity over uniformity. The church can react to postmodernism in one of four ways: ignore or dismiss it, attack it, adopt it, or present the truth church. The authors feel that if we can only present the church as God intends it, we have nothing to fear and everything to gain.

The book closes with a chapter discussing the perimeter of truth, suggesting that there are five perimeters to Christianity that cannot be crossed nor tampered with: Jesus, the gospel, biblical doctrine, Christian experience and God's blessing. They conclude with the well-known creed adopted by many churches: "In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, tolerance. In all things, love."

Through the book I found that the authors did a better job at asking the questions and providing food-for-thought than in actually answering the questions. But I do not consider this a weakness. They answer the questions that must be answered - the questions of nonnegotiable truth. But they do the best they can to avoid making judgments based on their culturally-conditioned understanding of church or worship.

In the foreword to Perimeters of Light, Paige Patterson writes, "My guess is that few readers will find themselves in agreement with all of the observations of the authors. Not only did I find myself disagreeing, but I also found myself frequently coming to conclusions quite different from those of the authors (page 8)." His predominant concern seems to be an overemphasis on creativity. My experience was much the same. The overemphasis on creativity, especially in worship, leaves unanswered the discussion of the pattern of worship we know as the regulative principle. Are we to worship only in the ways God has commanded or are we free to adapt as we see fit? The authors do not interact with a principle that many believers hold near and dear.

Patterson goes on to say why he felt he could still endorse this book. "[F]irst, there is much with which I do agree and which needs to be said. Second, and more important, the book is one of the few efforts I have seen actually to think through philosophically, exegetically, theologically, and even missiologically an approach to vigorous and successful activity in the church today" (ibid). And he is exactly right. Towns and Stetzer place great emphasis on the unchanging nature of truth and the importance of propositional truth in the areas where the Bible provides no other option. They affirm the predominance of Scripture in all activities of the church. Because of their honesty, sincerity and godly desire to present the truth, I enjoyed this book and am happy to recommend it to others.

INTRODUCTION
In the opening pages of "Perimeters of Light" is found a parable of two missionaries spending the night in the jungle. As they sleep, they are safe from danger so long as they stay within the perimeter of the light cast from the fire. Elmer Towns and Ed Stetzer expound on this theme as they examine the biblical boundaries of the practice of "doing church" in the modern context.

This book is written by two men with very different backgrounds of church practice who have together to present a balanced treatment of the biblical principals associated with church practice in the modern context.

BRIEF SUMMARY
The author's apparent purpose is to challenge the reader to come face to face with their ideas regarding what is truth and what is preference in regard to the Christian faith. Many believers are under the impression that whatever methodology they employ in their church service is the right one. They are under the impression that everything that happens in a church service is more than a matter of preference and some will even defend their particular way of worshiping God as though it were the only correct way.

Towns and Stetzer set out to suggest a new way of thinking about church methodology. They suggest that it is appropriate to be creative in taking the unchanging light of the gospel into the ever changing world in which we live. This book does not suggest or assert how specifically that should be done, rather, it merely puts forth ways of helping the church think biblically about the issues. They do not present all of the answers to the questions facing churches, but they do encourage Christians everywhere to think biblically about these things.

The authors explore very practical areas of concern for pastors and laity alike. How much biblical content must be present in a sermon for it to be considered valid? Within what boundaries must a group of believers fall to consider themselves a true Church? Is there a type, style, or genre of music that is more pleasing to God when presented as worship? The authors explore these and many other relevant topics for the emergent (modern) church.

While the authors do present ideas in response to each of these questions, ultimately they leave the answers up to the reader. They assert that it is only within the context of the local church and its unique setting that answers to these questions can be found. As church leaders and members are testing their methodologies in the light of scripture they are likely to come to biblical - God pleasing - conclusions.

CRITICAL INTERACTION WITH AUTHORS WORK
The authors stated purpose in writing this book is that "ultimately, this book is about a theology of methodology." The goal of the author is to present the issues facing the modern church as it seeks to be relevant to the culture and, at the same time, faithful to scripture. Each of the authors clearly holds scripture in high regard. They write in an obvious fashion in regards to the importance of scripture in the life of the church and in finding solutions to the challenges facing the modern church.

The authors effectively argue to their ultimate point which is the unity of the body of Christ. Their perimeter of light message is very effective at transmitting their message that so long as church practice and worship life operates within the boundaries of orthodox belief, it should be appreciated as legitimate.

"We have many friends in denominations who hold beliefs that are different from ours, but we agree on the essential core of doctrine. With them, there is so much more doctrinal agreement than disagreement. Nevertheless, because we are all within the perimeters of Christianity, `we be brethren.' "

The authors make strong cases for liberty within the body of Christ. The authors have presented a solid biblically based work without the presence of any obvious weaknesses. They in no way stray from orthodoxy in order to accommodate differences of church practice within the Church. In fact, in the opening chapters of the book the authors lay out a clear litmus test for orthodoxy using an illustration of successive circles similar to a bull's eye.
In their explanation of the diagram they point out that the center, and smallest circle in the middle, represents the clearest biblical understanding, while each successive circle become less clearly biblical until finally reaching heretical levels of unorthodoxy. This thesis is well developed throughout the course of the book. This theme runs right through the center of the book. In chapter after chapter it is presented with clarity and in a straightforward tone which is easy to read and likewise easily understood.

This book sits at the top of the list of recently similar publications. Greg Laurie's "Upside Down Church" also deals with the broad issue of emergent church life by telling the story of one particularly non-traditional way of doing church in the modern context.

In Laurie's book he tells the story of Harvest Christian Fellowship, where he is founding pastor. The main similarity between the two is that both books make the case that non-traditional modern worship attracts many to Christ and should not be discounted simply because is a recent phenomenon.

Another work in this genre of church methodology in the modern context is Kent Hunter's "Your Church Has Personality." This book closely resembles the work being considered. It also examines the Christian Church in a broad context. Its author uses the example of various shapes to represent various denominations. While one church is a trapezoid and another is a parallelogram, all are shapes and represent the Body of Christ. Though they differ to varying degrees, so long as they are built on the firm foundation of scripture then their particular personality is a valid expression of Christianity.

Towns and Stetzer's work is written in an especially practical way. In this regard it is rather similar to the previously mentioned books in the same genre. Where it stands out is in its expediency for application. "Perimeters of Light" addresses several issues in a clear-cut way that is easily applied. While the other works mentioned do provide good insight into the difficult issues of balancing cultural relevancy with scriptural faithfulness, there content is not as applicable for the average churchgoer or church leader.

As a pastor, I found chapter seven especially helpful. I have no doubt that many other readers who currently serve in church leadership or are preparing for church leadership will find the content helpful as well.

In this chapter the authors discuss the various types of preaching found within the Body of Christ. They examine the various forms of preaching in light of scripture. They offer a fair and balanced review of the forms examined and ultimately make the case for expositional preaching which is memorable, encourages the whole person, offers encouragement, and is listener-informed.

This book offers technical insight toward developing a valid philosophy of ministry. It also outlines some very practical teaching in regard to the daily practice of doing ministry.

Far from an impractical work, "Perimeters of Light" is encouraging, inspiring, and instructional. Its contents would be valuable for any church leader or future church leader who is serious about developing, as the authors put it, a "theology of methodology."

CONCLUSION
In the opinion of the reviewer, the authors have collaborated to create an excellent work which accomplishes its stated purpose and goal. The book is edifying and enriching. The book is written in a style that is likely to be well received by Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregationalist, and Independent alike. A clear distinction is drawn between methods and principals.

New methods should be embraced while biblical principals upon which they are founded are unchanging. The book challenges all within the body of Christ to make room for the various ways we can reach into the world's darkness with the light of life!

Excellent book! Towns & Stetzer hit another home run w/ this one...The balance they bring concerning foundational doctrines of the church are terrific. Buy the book you will not be disappointed!