Customer Reviews

Why Church Matters: Worship, Ministry, and Mission in Practice

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This book resonated deeply with me because of the way if differs from usual ecclesiological approaches. Though prescriptive or descriptive approaches (ie: "What can be synthesised from the raw biblical data?" or "How can we account for the variety of ecclesiologies?") aren't invalid , Wilson's 'determintive' approach asks a far more timely question, namely, "Why does church matter?" This question has immediate relevance for low- and high-church Christians and not just potentially disaffected emergents.

Sadly, some have failed to see the value of Wilson's question, and so appreciate any of his answers. This highlights the importance of the first chapter in which Wilson defines the scope and explains the methodology of his approach; remember he is proposing "why" rather than asking "what?" or "how?" -- these are valid approaches (as has been shown by other more-than-competent theologians), but they are not Wilson's.

Central to Wilson's approach is a particular understanding of practices as those things which link the life of a community to its telos. In tracing his understanding of telos through the work of Alasdair MacIntyre back to Aristotle, he makes a distinction between the technical term (the telos is determinative of the community and its practices) and the popular use of its equivalents (a group will often set its own 'goals' or 'objectives').

In short, church matters because 'church' is how a community practices the gospel, and thereby participates in its telos, the kingdom of God -- that is, it's how they demonstrate that they are authentically Christian.

This is a great book for seeing theology and practice combined. It can be somewhat heavy on the theological side but does a good job on setting it on its foundation to look at the practical side. I would recommend this book to any person.

I felt that this book did a good job of dissecting the practices of the church in light of theological discussion. There were several important themes that ran throughout the book, two of which were the telos (overarching purpose of the church) and the necessary link between theology and practice. Wilson does an excellent job of fully explaining both of these ideas and carrying them into each chapter and page. Overall, I felt that he raised viable questions and provided some insightful answers.
If I was to offer one critique it would be that he had included more references to Scripture. There were times where I would have liked to have known where he got an idea and other times where I thought ideas were wonderfully grounded in Scripture with no such reference.

Jonathan R. Wilson, the Pioneer McDonald Chair in Theology at Carey Theological College, seems to be irritated by the current conditions of the church in North America. His book, Why Church Matters, is a discussion on "practicing church" in today's culture. The ideas and information in Why Church Matters, make for a somewhat interesting and at times, entertaining read.
In the first section of the book, Wilson reviews and explains some of the practices of the church "that generate and sustain the life of the church." (p. 5) His second section then addresses some of the practices that he believes are in need of renovations. In the third section, Wilson uses "imagery" and "formation language" to describe the New Testament church. These sections seem to overlap and cover some of the same material. Even though the book is only 158 pages, it probably could have been condensed to 125 pages because of the overlap in content from chapter to chapter.
Overall, this book was a great disappointment from the start. In the first chapter, Wilson attempts to use a word that Aristotle and Alasdair MacIntyre use frequently in there writings. He insists that the word "telos" be used instead of words like "goal," "purpose," or "orientation." Wilson says that the word "telos" encompasses all of these words and more. This may be true, but throughout the book, he uses the word "telos" in places that the word "purpose" or "goal" would do just fine.
This idea of using new words and new language for the practice and philosophy surrounding the church is prevalent in the book. Wilson devotes much of the book to establish his views that the current "language" in theology and the church is not sufficient. He promotes the use of new or different words, especially words that indicate imagery. Throughout the book, he uses the word "community" in the place of "church." This causes great concern because he views a "community" as any group of believers. He seems to imply that anywhere there are some believers making up a "community," there is a church. The changes that he desires makes with the language are dangerous and should be avoided.
One major problem with this book was his use of Scripture. Wilson used some Scripture in a few chapters, but for the most part, the Scripture references in the book are scarce. Some of his ideas and propositions are not scripturally based and his applications to those ideas and propositions are even further from the truth.
At points, it was difficult to understand what he really wanted to get across to the reader. He even seems to contradict himself in a few places. For instance, he believes that worship can be used as a witness to the world. Wilson says that some worship services should be in very public places, such as, parks, the mall atrium, or in the community center. (p. 33) Later in the book, Wilson says that Baptism must take place inside the church building since it is not for the public to view. (p. 107) (I thought this would be something that could or should be public!) He mentions in many other places that the whole activity (and most important activity) of the church is worship. Either Wilson is saying that baptism is not worship, or he has trouble remembering what he wrote earlier.
Some of what Wilson said was very helpful. He has a great desire to have true worship and practice before God. Many of the statements he makes about the condition of the church are right on target. He knows that there is a need for change, but the methods he gives for changing are questionable. There are sections in which Wilson is biblical and accurate, but because of some of the inaccurate applications, the reader must read the book with great discernment. After reading this book, one must think that either Jonathan Wilson is part of the Emerging Church or that his thoughts and ideas are not solid thus they must be emerging. You should not waste your money on this book. A much better book to buy and read would be Philip Ryken's book, "A City on a Hill."