★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE CORE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH ABOUT?
This work lays out some concrete steps for the Church to disciple her members to help those around them—for the sake of the Gospel, and because of the mission to be salt and light that we've been given.

He starts with tracing the Biblical narrative—how Abraham was called to be a light to the nations, how the rest of the Old Testament showed Israel's successes and failures to live that mission. Then he shows how that looks in the New Testament. With that as the background, Goheen then calls us to—and shows us ways to—bring this to life in our contemporary Church and Culture.

Let me show you the Table of Contents for a clearer look at how Goheen goes about things:

Contents

1. An Opening Appeal
2. Reading the Bible as Jesus Did
Part 1: The Gospel of the Kingdom
3. What Is the Gospel?
4. The True Context of the Gospel
5. The Whole Truth of the Gospel
6. Continuing in the Gospel
Part 2: The Biblical Story
7. Israel's Story, Part 1: The Book of Moses
8. Israel's Story, Part 2: Life in the Land
9. The End of the Story, Part 1: Jesus
10. The End of the Story, Part 2: Mission and Consummation
11. The Urgency of Reading the Bible as One Story
Part 3: God's Missional People
12. The Missional Vocation of God's People
13. A Missional People Today, Part 1: Scattered Life
14. A Missional People Today, Part 2: Gathered Life
Part 4: A Missionary Encounter with Culture
15. A Missionary Encounter with Western Culture Today
16. The Story of the West
17. The Spirit of Postmodernity
18. The Spirit of Economic Modernity
19. The Spirit of Consumerism
20. A Closing Appeal



HIGHLIGHTS
As I will say later, almost all of the book is a highlight—if there are any places I would quibble with his argument or the way he's making it, they're so minor as to be ignored.

Still, I think Parts 3 and 4 are the most vital/urgent segments of the book—I'd call out chapters 13 and 14 for particular notice. They're just fantastic (and that's the best I can do without reproducing his argument without his detail, so what's the point?).

This is not me saying that you'd be okay skipping the first two parts—you need the foundation to really appreciate the flow of his argument. But most readers aren't going to learn a lot from them—very similar tracings of the Biblical story are told elsewhere, perhaps not with Goheen's particular angle, insight, or drive—but still, you're going to feel like you're on familiar ground.

CULTURAL SANCTIFICATION
Last year, when I talked about Stephen O. Presley's Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World Like the Early Church, I said:

His position is, to over-simplify: through a focus on catechesis (or, if you prefer, discipleship) and liturgy (or, if you prefer, worship) the Church was able to build identity and community, able to live out the lives they were called to and to impact—slowly and organically—the culture around them.


What Presley was calling the Church to (back to) by looking at the Early Church, is pretty much what Goheen is calling the Church to through his biblical and theological work. It struck me more than once that these two books were echoing each other.

I thought it was important for Presley to say what he said, and I think the same for Goheen's work.

A FEATURE OR A BUG?
Goheen is clearly part of the Reformed stream of Protestantism—and he doesn't seem that shy about it. That said, there is little (if anything) distinctively Reformed about this book and what he's calling the evangelical church to.

This is a bug in that it robs his message of much of its power, particularly when it comes to Reformed worship or sacramentology. Both of those could really augment his call to action, reminding his readers of the ways that the Lord equips His Church for their mission.

On the other hand, there's nothing here that will put off the non-Reformed reader. And I think that's the point, a (somewhat) watered-down vision for the mission of the Church in favor of a wider audience.

I do think the book would be stronger if there was a full-throated Reformed thrust to the argument. But I'm not sure how much stronger it would be—nor am I sure if it would be worth it. There's nothing here to stop a Reformed reader from endorsing the argument, and there's no roadblock for someone who is trying really hard not to be Reformed to endorse it, either.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE CORE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH?
Early on, I wrote a note that I could easily highlight this whole book—and resolved to restrain myself*. I'm not sure how well that worked, I have 21 pages worth of quotations/notes in this 256 page book. Here's where I, the publisher, and you are all very happy that I don't have a published copy to quote from. This would be a long post.

* And partway through Chapter 13, I said, "It would be easy to highlight entire chapters of this book." It's good to see that even if I don't remember what I noted, I was at least consistent.

I thought this was insightful, visionary, and a clarion call to the Church—in her Reformed, Evangelical, or other streams. Yes, the idea of missiological churches seems to be passé—mostly because it was overused (and often used incorrectly). But that doesn't mean the need for missiological churches is gone—it's just that we're tired of talking about it. Hopefully, Goheen and like-minded people will help us get over it (or will find a new label for us to embrace while sticking with the same ideas).

Early on, Goheen states that this book is intended to be a shorter book at a more popular level than some of his other work. Now, it's been nine years since I read his A Light to the Nations, but I don't remember it being at a particularly non-popular level (but I don't know about his other work), so that struck me as an odd comment. Regardless, this is an easy-to-approach book. But it's not an easy read—it will make you think. It will make you reconsider some things. It will encourage you to act.

None of these things are drawbacks—far from it. But one shouldn't pick this up and think that you'll breeze through it.

I strongly encourage the reader to pick this up and chew on the ideas—and may it spur you to action, for the sake of the world.