Book Review #4

Sider, Ronald J, Churches That Make a Difference: Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works, Barker Books, 2002.

The book in question is, largely, about defining what holistic ministry is, showing how it becomes somewhat of a hybrid between the two major extremes in Christian faith, and providing utensils to help churches and individuals become holistic (that is, whole-p.59) in nature. I will discuss how the authors use the contrasting beliefs of the fundamentalist and social gospel ideologies to define the holistic church and I will then discuss how the authors have challenged some of my belief structures.

In trying to define a balanced church that contains evangelism and social initiative, the book makes some very bold claims. First, the book clearly supports that evangelism is a necessary element to any God-willed mission. The following quote gets at this issue quite well.

“A prevalent myth in many churches is that if you give non-Christians a chance to rub shoulders with Christians, they will catch a dose of the gospel…it allows churches to feel that they are obeying the Great Commission just by doing good deeds for Christ’s sake…Everything we do is evangelism” (p.63).

I understand and agree with the above concept; however, the quote seems to de-emphasize how Christ-like actions are evangelism in themselves. The authors point to the opposite extreme to find fault as well.

“An exclusively spiritual focus costs evangelists opportunities to demonstrate the sincerity of their care and to communicate God’s love in concrete ways” (p.63).

The above quote is a nice transition into the other important factor that should be present in EVERY ministry that the church pursues, social concern. The book talks about how churches that look only at the heart neglect how God’s love can be shown through the care of tangible needs within the church and community.

The book has revolutionized my way of thinking about the need for social action within ministry. First, I learned that social action is not just a means to get to someone’s heart, but it is showing God’s love in a tangible way. This will undoubtedly affect the way I act within my case study. Social action, albeit outside the immediate community, will be at work in our short-term mission’s trip. I will now look at our work as showing God’s love and bringing healing as opposed to merely finding a way to get to the heart. I still wonder, though, whether or not the book’s analysis of social action is entirely correct. Although God wants us to be good stewards and at peace on earth, it is clear to me that the spirit is what ultimately matters. I do not neglect social change, because I love others and am supportive of an equalized community; however, I see the spirit as the variable containing a preponderance of the importance in the Great Commission.

The book also enlightened me to the fact that incorrect social policy is sin! As a Christian who is, admittedly, skeptical of politics, I can say that this fact has opened my eyes to the importance (and God-willed aspects) of the political system.

“Evangelists have often defined sin narrowly in terms of individual, moral choices. We have not understood that sin also has a systematic dimension. Wrongful choices become embedded in twisted, unfair policies and social systems…But we cannot enjoy the wholeness the creator intended if we must live in oppressive structures that deny our humanity” (p.93-94).

The rest of the book is dedicated to understanding the community and structural variables inherent in holistic ministry. I truly enjoyed this book. I would suggest it to any Christian, especially those who claim partisan affiliation to a single (one-sided) form of church.