Book Review: Reimagining Church, with a bit of testimony

The offer review Frank Viola’s Reimagining Church came at just the right time. For the last couple of years, my wife and I have been really been trekking through changes in our practice, in how we must embrace our convictions more and truly trust in the Lord, in our ecclesiology, and in various other aspects of how our family should be living the Kingdom.

Likely the most pressing issue was that of the Church and local bodies. For so long we had both been raised in large churches—the kind Frank Viola refers to as “the institutional church.” It’s not that we were comfortable; it was more like there was nothing different to experience. That church experience was church. To diverge from it was to diverge from God himself.

But then we became a part of a very small, very community-minded congregation, which was (get this…hold on…wait for it) elder led.

Oooooh.

I know: heresy.

No pastors. What? That’s right: no pastors.

Communion every week. And it’s not a waste of time by now? I hear ya.

An emphasis on home fellowships, where we ate together every time. Scandalous. There was even one group that focused the study on the kids. Isn’t that a cult?

What it was was different. To me and my wife, that was a different church, a different experience, a different way to live the Kingdom. And through time, conversation, trials and so forth, we came to a place where our fundamental understanding of the Church and local congregations dramatically changed. Pair that with our embracing the Anabaptist legacy, and you’ve now got yourself a couple of trouble makers.

But there was always difficulty with articulating just what was going on in our heads, and why. We knew there were differences between the way local churches were structured and what we found in the New Testament. We saw the business like structure of local congregations and struggled to find any such traditions in the Scriptures. And, for the most part, we were at a loss to find many others who were seeing the same thing. So I chuckled a little bit when I came across this passage in the book’s preface:

There will be two major responses to this book. One will sound something like this: “Thank goodness, I’m not crazy! I thought I lost my mind. I’m grateful there are others who feel the same way I do about church. This book has given language to feelings and beliefs I’ve had for years. And it’s given me hope that there really is a church life experience beyond what’s commonly known and accepted.”

That loneliness is probably the most difficult part. How often we thought of giving up and turning back to the way things were. We’d know more people, wouldn’t add any stress to any family members that maybe didn’t like the direction we were going. How often we took a step back and wondered “Maybe we’re the one’s wrong about this.” It’s kind of a relief when you realize you’re not alone in the struggle. You sort of form a community of people seeking to live out the Kingdom community.

Reimagining Church asks serious, challenging questions of the disciple of Jesus. You might be able to sum it up this way: If the way church is done today is wrong (e.g. unbiblical, subverting the community, relegating Jesus to an outside role), then are you willing to do something about it?

My wife and I were very enthralled by this book. It has encouraged us in our journey, and challenged us to take further steps. We already knew the vast majority of the content, the information. But, much like the Way as a whole, being alone is extremely difficult, if not impossible. But, being part of a unified body, a community focused on Jesus our head, we can push forward with strength, faith, empowerment, confidence, and hope.

This is definitely a text to give to friends and family. This is a text to go through and have conversations about.

And for those who might think this is just some more emergent minded splosh with no real care for doctrine and truth, that couldn’t be further from reality. Throughout the text, Frank Viola reminds the reader of the trinitarian foundation of the Church and of community.

This is an extremely valuable book. Very challenging, but well worth the struggle.

The book was intended to be read after going through Pagan Christianity, by Viola and George Barna, which we have not read yet. We look forward to the opportunity to pick up that text and learn more, be challenged more. Reimagining Church is more the practical growth of the seed planted by Pagan Christianity. At least, that’s my understanding. So going back to the foundations will be a great adventure.