Customer Reviews

Sharpening the Focus of the Church (Biblical renewal series)

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Getz' book is sorely needed in a day when human opinion and experience as to "what works" has supplanted the Biblical directives as to what the church should be according to the Word of God.

Getz presents a balanced and thorough study of what church is about, the evangelism of the lost (in the world) and the edification of believers (in our gatherings).

He presents principles drawn directly from inductive study, and even presents appendices filled with verse after verse to document his conclusions.

This books serves as a blueprint (since it is anchored to Scripture) for churches bent on pleasing God. If you can dig up a copy of this one, dig it up!

Gene Getz is one of the most seminal thinkers on the church today. This book was originally published in 1975 but it is just as useful today as when it was first published (revised and expanded in 1984) - because it is grounded on biblical principles. Terminology has changed over the years but principles based on biblical truth remain the same. Getz argues from the Book of Acts and the Epistles that in order to create a mature body of believers three vital experiences are needed: Vital learning experiences with God's Word (Christians need to be "word-centered" we might say today), Vital relational experiences with God and one another (We might say "community" centered today), and vital witnessing experiences with the non-Christian world (We say "missional" today). Getz points out: "To neglect any one of these facets of New Testament life is to interfere with the God-ordained plan for edification in the local church." This book is a classic on practical ecclesiology. Just the sections in which Getz does an inductive study of the Book of Acts and the Epistles as the foundation for the principles he articulates, makes the book worth having as a teaching tool for elders and church leaders. A few of the chapter titles are: Why the church exists; Making Disciples, Principles of New Testament Evangelism; Building the Church; Principles of New Testament Edification; Leadership in the New Testament Church;Formulating Objectives, Goals and Standards ...

Getz successfully attempts to set forth a biblical model for the church. He does so by looking at the church through the lens of Scripture, of history and finally, of culture. Throughout the book he emphasizes his dictum: People leads to function which in turn leads to form. That is, wherever people are they will be doing something together, which necessitates form. He points out that whereas the Bible gives us considerable information on function (i.e., preaching), it is relatively silent on form (how we put together a sermon).

The strength of this book is Getz's solid exegesis of Scripture. Although it is impossible to set aside all the presuppositions we have when we come to the Bible, Getz succeeds better than most. I was especially appreciative of his analysis of the first century culture and how difficult it would be for us to mimic first century forms.

Although Getz deliberately chooses to concentrate on exegesis, I would have like to see him look at church and culture in more depth. He was also somewhat ambiguous as to the plurality of elders in the local church. On one hand he argues the plurality of elders is due to the numerous house churches located in a city, on the other hand he also seems to argue that individual congregations should have a plurality of elders.

Coming from a Christian Church/church of Christ background, I really appreciated his in-depth look at the church. Traditional Christian Church theology argues that not only does the New Testament give us the functions of the church, but the forms as well. This book certainly "sharpened" my focus of the church by helping be discern between culture and biblical absolutes.