Trevor Joy and Spence Shelton are two of the brightest young stars in the evangelical firmament, and their recently released The People of God: Empowering the Church to Make Disciples (B&H, 2014) is case-in-point.
The authors begin the book by quoting Mahatma Ghandi: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” (p. 1) Joy and Shelton recognize that Ghandi’s statement has the ring of truth to it and that the right response is not to defend our churches, but rather to honestly examine ourselves in order to better represent Christ and fulfill his command to make disciples.
Joy and Shelton, both pastors, wrote the book to show from Scripture what a healthy church looks like (p. 4). They do so clearly and persuasively. Their book presents and builds upon a fundamental argument: that there is a “ . . . normative flow of the gospel among the people of God. Throughout the New Testament, the Holy Spirit comes upon a people and the gospel takes root in such a way that it transforms that community and begins to flow beyond that group to the world around them (Acts 2:42–47; 2 Cor. 5:16–21). All of us who today claim faith in Jesus Christ are a part of this gospel flow. . . . The mission of God pushes forward through the people of God.” (p. 10) There is a “gospel flow,” as they call it, which is essential to the life and practice of the church. (Continued @ the link)
http://betweenthetimes.com/index.php/2014/05/05/book-notice-the-people-of-god-by-trevor-joy-and-spence-shelton/
