Garrett, Robert I., Jr.

English

APU Digital Archives (Azusa Pacific University)

Great Commission Research Journal Volume 2 Issue 2 Article 15 1-1-2011 Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church by John H. Armstrong Robert I. Garrett Jr. Dallas Baptist University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalarchives.apu.edu/gcrj  Part of the Christianity Commons, Practical Theology Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Garrett, R. I. (2011). Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church by John H. Armstrong. Great Commission Research Journal, 2(2), 316-320. Retrieved from https://digitalarchives.apu.edu/gcrj/vol2/iss2/15 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by APU Digital Archives. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Commission Research Journal by an authorized editor of APU Digital Archives. For more information, please contact sharrell@apu.edu. relationships with our neighbors are transformed, we move in a trajectory thatresults in our organizations becoming healthy communities. This seems to be rare,yet it also seems to be the great yearning of people working together inorganizations. People desire to be involved in organizations like this, yet they arevery rare, in part because there are so few leaders who understand the values ofbeing a “steward leader.” There are few transformed leaders, so there are evenfewer transformed organizations, which can then transform society and culture.Rodin is very persuasive and inspiring in this section of his book.No glaring limitations are in this book or its ideas. However, the weakness willbe that the audience will read it and only follow or understand part of theprinciples. The Steward Leader is a holistic concept. Following only a few of theideas or principles will not result in transformation of the leaders or of theorganizations they lead. It starts with foundational principles and then builds fromthere. It starts with very personal and private issues in the life of a leader and thenmoves out concentrically into all the relationships of the leader’s life. The readercannot jump into the process in the middle, nor just add a supplemental idea to hisor her leadership process and practice. It is a holistic journey that I fear mostleaders will miss, ignore, or just choose to follow the trajectories that they havefollowed thus far in their lives, which have resulted in a modicum of success.Rodin has made a great contribution to the body of information broadlydefined as “leadership.” I am going to use this book as a text in some of the classesI teach. However, the bigger application for this reader will be that I am going toask the people in the organizations that I lead to read this with me and join me inthe journey of being a “steward leader.” As we are personally transformed andmove in the steward trajectories, I hope that our organizations are healthy andtransformed as well, and reflect that they are part of the kingdom of God.John H. Armstrong. Your Church Is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to theFuture of the Church. Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan, 2010. 220 pp. $19.99.Reviewed by Robert I. Garrett, Jr., Director, MA in Global Leadership, Dallas BaptistUniversity.The title of this book calls to mind the title of a book quite popular a fullgeneration ago. Your God is Too Small (J. B. Phillips) argued for a broader view ofGod’s place in the life of every believer. Armstrong likewise argues that the churchhas become too small in the minds of many Christians. This narrow image which316BOOK REVIEWSGCR2-2_text:GCR 2-2 Winter11  2/28/11  3:00 PM  Page 3161Garrett: Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s MissPublished by APU Digital Archives, 2011places limits on the church defined by our own experience “shrivels our spirit andhinders Christ’s mission” (13).In the Foreword, J. I. Packer notes that John Armstrong is a church leader whohas “traveled the distance from the separatist, sectarian fixity of fundamentalismto embrace the kingdom-centered vision of the church” (11). Doctrinal anddenominational divisions, however important, are secondary to the “missional-ecumenical vocation” (11). The vision of unity Armstrong offers refers to lovingcooperation in life and mission and requires “neither unanimity nor uniformitynor union” (11).Armstrong self-identifies as a pastor and church planter for more than twentyyears. He is an adjunct professor of evangelism at Wheaton College GraduateSchool and a guest lecturer on many seminary campuses. Currently, he directs anorganization called Act 3 which promotes unity among Christian communions.Armstrong’s book is the result of more than ten years of effort by its author, whohas penned eleven previous books. The book is written in a popular first-person style as an autobiographicaljourney. Over the past twenty years, Armstrong has come to understand his ownspiritual identity in a new way in which a vision of the mission of Christ hasgripped his imagination in a way that would work for the renewal of the entireChristian church, affirming with fresh understanding the reality of the “one holycatholic and apostolic church” (26–27). He advocates rejecting the conflicts andschisms that have separated evangelicals in America. The book divides its appeal for a larger vision of a unified church, cooperatingtogether for Christ’s glory, into the following three major sections: past, present,and future. From the past, there is a biblical and historical basis for Christian unitythat Christians have failed to appreciate appropriately. In the present, restoringunity in the church is a major step toward God’s people living out the gospelmandate. A future missional-ecumenical movement is understood as a comingparadigm that will disturb Christians out of their current petty fiefdoms andchallenge them to unite in a wider cause.The road to the future begins with a frank recognition that the contemporarychurch exists within the cultural megashifts that redefine our context. Christiansmust revisit the past to develop what Webber called an “ancient-future faith” (18).Doing so will expose how naïve and dangerous it may be to assume that presentunderstandings of the church are adequate, since “America has, in fact, become abreeding ground for new religions and sects” (18). If  Scripture alone is taken as supreme (Heb 4:12), then the witness of Scripture317great commission research journalGCR2-2_text:GCR 2-2 Winter11  2/28/11  3:00 PM  Page 3172Great Commission Research Journal, Vol. 2, Iss. 2 [2011], Art. 15https://digitalarchives.apu.edu/gcrj/vol2/iss2/15is to the living Christ as the final revelation of God, who promised to build Hischurch (Mt 18:16). Not until the last two hundred years has it been possible toimagine the church as “a myriad of independent and unrelated congregations andmovements that interpreted the Bible as each saw fit” (19). Even among theReformers, a common faith was found in early ecumenical creeds. A “criticalrealism” does not divorce the hope of a future idealized church from the actualreality of the historical church (20). However, the priority of the kingdom of God(John 17) will help the church see her role in making a reality the vision ofRevelation 5:9–10, where members of every tribe, language, people, and nation jointhe redeemed in honoring Christ. Over the long run, there cannot be pessimism about the direction of the churchbecause “it belongs to Christ!” Where the kingdom of God breaks out, churcheswill prosper. While it is anybody’s guess what the church will look like in terms ofcultural forms, the church will play a decisive role in preparing for the final comingof Christ. What God is doing in our time is creating a new vitality that defieshuman explanation and is characterized by an unexpected willingness of bothCatholics and Protestants from various groups to relate to one another in graciousways, seeing in one another brothers and allies rather than competitors (23). At thesame time, young Christians, especially evangelicals, are abandoning the ship oftraditional churches (23), driven by a sense that things have gone wrong and thatthere are deeper spiritual roots to be found elsewhere.Armstrong’s journey toward “catholicity” begins in worship moved deeply bythe final words of the Apostle’s Creed, so that he became committed to “one bodyand . . . one Lord” (Eph 4:4–5). He speaks of three “conversions.” As a small boyin 1956, he came to know Jesus.  In his early ministry in 1977, he came to embracea doctrinal commitment to Calvinism. Later in 1995, he became to see from John17 and Ephesians 4 that the unity spoken of in the church could not only apply toan “invisible” church, but also that this unity should translate itself  into concretereality (26–27). While he soaked his soul in John 17, Armstrong also began to lookfor Christians who were from different traditions. He was inspired by discovering“a community so vast that it overwhelmed me in its richness, beauty, and diversity”(32). He found fellowship among those whom he had once feared. Also, some ofhis former suspicion now seems like the party spirit, strife, discord, and divisionsagainst which the New Testament warns (1 Cor 1:10, Jas 4:1–2).Armstrong sustains that the de facto “divide and multiply” strategy adopted byfractious churches for church planting simply misses the powerful message of John17 (36). In addition, it deflates the “greatest apologetic” available to a lost world,which is a community founded on consistent love for one another (50–54). 318BOOK REVIEWSGCR2-2_text:GCR 2-2 Winter11  2/28/11  3:00 PM  Page 3183Garrett: Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s MissPublished by APU Digital Archives, 2011Against this fragmentarianism, Armstrong proposes that Christians place Christ atthe center, seeing Him as architect of His church.So, from the past we have four classic marks of the church from the creeds: thechurch is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic body (66–72). The church is one from auniqueness of common allegiance to Christ, and oneness among all believers is agoal to be pursued. The church is holy because its God is holy, and because fromthat holy God there is a sense of what is morally required. The church is catholic—not in identification with the Church of Rome—but in terms of beinggeographically and culturally universal. The Greek term katholikos can be literallytranslated “through the whole world,” and it reflects the missionary character ofthe gospel. The church is apostolic in the sense that it is linked to the faith of theapostles, meaning that we must judge our own community against the dynamismand conviction that characterized the early church.The second section examines the present challenge of how to restore unity inthe church. Armstrong suggests that the Apostles’ Creed would make a very goodconfessional basis, made necessary because “the scandals and heresies of AmericanChristianity dilute our witness to a watching world” (82). Sadly, the lack of unitycreates weakness in the church, delighting Satan who “hates a unified church.”The seeds of disunity come from interpreting the same core doctrines through“distinctively different pattern of thought, government and worship” (83). Wemust see sectarianism not as a mere unfortunate fact of life, but as “our enemy”—to be opposed by a diversity that represents catholicity among believers. To think rightly about the church means embracing a “new ecumenism” that isfounded on mission and the transformation of nations (103). Since Protestantdenominations face an uncertain future unless they are redefined on the bases ofmission, this enterprise is most urgent (105). Unless new churches and networkslearn to relate positively to other Christians also embracing a healthy orthodoxy,the result will be simply more different groups and increased sectarianism. What isneeded is a new emphasis on becoming like the church in the New Testament.The church must discover that it is a servant to humanity and the communityof God’s kingdom. Just as Jesus became flesh, the church as Christ’s body canincarnate the reality of the kingdom. A turning of Christians toward one anotherwill be part of a coming renewal.This renewal will recognize the importance of tradition, which as JaroslavPelikan explains, “tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is thedead faith of the living” (123). This tradition comes from biblical tradition, classicChristianity (as expressed in the creeds), and the wisdom of church fathers. This isa deep well from which Christians can draw guidance and encouragement.319great commission research journalGCR2-2_text:GCR 2-2 Winter11  2/28/11  3:00 PM  Page 3194Great Commission Research Journal, Vol. 2, Iss. 2 [2011], Art. 15https://digitalarchives.apu.edu/gcrj/vol2/iss2/15Armstrong designates as “the great evangelical catastrophe” that authority wasgranted to the Bible alone, since “we have exalted our own interpretations ofScripture” and promoted schism in the process of splitting hermeneutical hairs. Hesees the result of this as “a small view of the church and a big view of our ownimportance” (131).Looking into the future, Armstrong sees what he calls the “missional-ecumenical movement” gaining hold as Christians recognize that denominationsare not found at all in the Bible, and, in the search for a true church, newconvergences are experienced (138–39). A new interest in finding oneness with“everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord” provides the starting point forseeking an ideal church (140). In this church, where diversity is valued, the famousdictum is functionally useful—“In essentials unity, in nonessentials freedom, in allthings charity.” This new unity would transcend denominations calling for aloyalty beyond their boundaries rather than provoking tired old questions like,“Which church is the one true church?”In the Missional-Ecumenical Church, unity will be a sign and an instrument ofChrist’s mission. John R. Mott and Lesslie Newbigin have called for a missionalform of ecumenism. Armstrong suggests along similar lines that a missionalreformation will provoke a concern for a lost world that requires us as Christiansto recognize that we must love each other first for the sake of the lost (161).This becomes a new paradigm in which reconciliation occurs as groups sharein common witness and ministry to their communities. The book concludes withan appeal that God will disturb us as evangelicals into making the drastic shiftsthat our challenging times require.In assessing this book, one can affirm the spirit of the author who seeks to finda way back toward a common bond with other Christians. Correctly, he suggeststhat perhaps the most powerful motive to unite otherwise very different Christiansis a mutual and deep commitment to share the gospel with a world that is clearlylost and in need of the gospel of Jesus Christ.While the tone of the book is popular, and neither the argument of the booknor the interpretation of pertinent biblical texts is traced with academic care, it isremarkable to hear this testimony of an evangelical who has discovered the wayout of his own faith ghetto. He recommends the path he has found to his fellowswho can recover from sectarianism and find a better way toward a unity that couldempower the church for its mission to the lost world. 320BOOK REVIEWSGCR2-2_text:GCR 2-2 Winter11  2/28/11  3:00 PM  Page 3205Garrett: Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s MissPublished by APU Digital Archives, 2011

Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church by John H. Armstrong

Asbury Theological Seminary

Great Commission Research Journal Volume 2 Issue 2 Article 15 1-1-2011 Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church by John H. Armstrong Robert I. Garrett Jr. Dallas Baptist University Follow this and additional works at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/gcrj  Part of the Christianity Commons, Practical Theology Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Garrett, R. I. (2011). Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church by John H. Armstrong. Great Commission Research Journal, 2(2), 316-320. Retrieved from https://place.asburyseminary.edu/gcrj/vol2/iss2/15 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Commission Research Journal by an authorized editor of ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange. relationships with our neighbors are transformed, we move in a trajectory thatresults in our organizations becoming healthy communities. This seems to be rare,yet it also seems to be the great yearning of people working together inorganizations. People desire to be involved in organizations like this, yet they arevery rare, in part because there are so few leaders who understand the values ofbeing a “steward leader.” There are few transformed leaders, so there are evenfewer transformed organizations, which can then transform society and culture.Rodin is very persuasive and inspiring in this section of his book.No glaring limitations are in this book or its ideas. However, the weakness willbe that the audience will read it and only follow or understand part of theprinciples. The Steward Leader is a holistic concept. Following only a few of theideas or principles will not result in transformation of the leaders or of theorganizations they lead. It starts with foundational principles and then builds fromthere. It starts with very personal and private issues in the life of a leader and thenmoves out concentrically into all the relationships of the leader’s life. The readercannot jump into the process in the middle, nor just add a supplemental idea to hisor her leadership process and practice. It is a holistic journey that I fear mostleaders will miss, ignore, or just choose to follow the trajectories that they havefollowed thus far in their lives, which have resulted in a modicum of success.Rodin has made a great contribution to the body of information broadlydefined as “leadership.” I am going to use this book as a text in some of the classesI teach. However, the bigger application for this reader will be that I am going toask the people in the organizations that I lead to read this with me and join me inthe journey of being a “steward leader.” As we are personally transformed andmove in the steward trajectories, I hope that our organizations are healthy andtransformed as well, and reflect that they are part of the kingdom of God.John H. Armstrong. Your Church Is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to theFuture of the Church. Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan, 2010. 220 pp. $19.99.Reviewed by Robert I. Garrett, Jr., Director, MA in Global Leadership, Dallas BaptistUniversity.The title of this book calls to mind the title of a book quite popular a fullgeneration ago. Your God is Too Small (J. B. Phillips) argued for a broader view ofGod’s place in the life of every believer. Armstrong likewise argues that the churchhas become too small in the minds of many Christians. This narrow image which316BOOK REVIEWSGCR2-2_text:GCR 2-2 Winter11  2/28/11  3:00 PM  Page 3161Garrett: Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s MissPublished by ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange, 2011places limits on the church defined by our own experience “shrivels our spirit andhinders Christ’s mission” (13).In the Foreword, J. I. Packer notes that John Armstrong is a church leader whohas “traveled the distance from the separatist, sectarian fixity of fundamentalismto embrace the kingdom-centered vision of the church” (11). Doctrinal anddenominational divisions, however important, are secondary to the “missional-ecumenical vocation” (11). The vision of unity Armstrong offers refers to lovingcooperation in life and mission and requires “neither unanimity nor uniformitynor union” (11).Armstrong self-identifies as a pastor and church planter for more than twentyyears. He is an adjunct professor of evangelism at Wheaton College GraduateSchool and a guest lecturer on many seminary campuses. Currently, he directs anorganization called Act 3 which promotes unity among Christian communions.Armstrong’s book is the result of more than ten years of effort by its author, whohas penned eleven previous books. The book is written in a popular first-person style as an autobiographicaljourney. Over the past twenty years, Armstrong has come to understand his ownspiritual identity in a new way in which a vision of the mission of Christ hasgripped his imagination in a way that would work for the renewal of the entireChristian church, affirming with fresh understanding the reality of the “one holycatholic and apostolic church” (26–27). He advocates rejecting the conflicts andschisms that have separated evangelicals in America. The book divides its appeal for a larger vision of a unified church, cooperatingtogether for Christ’s glory, into the following three major sections: past, present,and future. From the past, there is a biblical and historical basis for Christian unitythat Christians have failed to appreciate appropriately. In the present, restoringunity in the church is a major step toward God’s people living out the gospelmandate. A future missional-ecumenical movement is understood as a comingparadigm that will disturb Christians out of their current petty fiefdoms andchallenge them to unite in a wider cause.The road to the future begins with a frank recognition that the contemporarychurch exists within the cultural megashifts that redefine our context. Christiansmust revisit the past to develop what Webber called an “ancient-future faith” (18).Doing so will expose how naïve and dangerous it may be to assume that presentunderstandings of the church are adequate, since “America has, in fact, become abreeding ground for new religions and sects” (18). If  Scripture alone is taken as supreme (Heb 4:12), then the witness of Scripture317great commission research journalGCR2-2_text:GCR 2-2 Winter11  2/28/11  3:00 PM  Page 3172Great Commission Research Journal, Vol. 2, Iss. 2 [2011], Art. 15https://place.asburyseminary.edu/gcrj/vol2/iss2/15is to the living Christ as the final revelation of God, who promised to build Hischurch (Mt 18:16). Not until the last two hundred years has it been possible toimagine the church as “a myriad of independent and unrelated congregations andmovements that interpreted the Bible as each saw fit” (19). Even among theReformers, a common faith was found in early ecumenical creeds. A “criticalrealism” does not divorce the hope of a future idealized church from the actualreality of the historical church (20). However, the priority of the kingdom of God(John 17) will help the church see her role in making a reality the vision ofRevelation 5:9–10, where members of every tribe, language, people, and nation jointhe redeemed in honoring Christ. Over the long run, there cannot be pessimism about the direction of the churchbecause “it belongs to Christ!” Where the kingdom of God breaks out, churcheswill prosper. While it is anybody’s guess what the church will look like in terms ofcultural forms, the church will play a decisive role in preparing for the final comingof Christ. What God is doing in our time is creating a new vitality that defieshuman explanation and is characterized by an unexpected willingness of bothCatholics and Protestants from various groups to relate to one another in graciousways, seeing in one another brothers and allies rather than competitors (23). At thesame time, young Christians, especially evangelicals, are abandoning the ship oftraditional churches (23), driven by a sense that things have gone wrong and thatthere are deeper spiritual roots to be found elsewhere.Armstrong’s journey toward “catholicity” begins in worship moved deeply bythe final words of the Apostle’s Creed, so that he became committed to “one bodyand . . . one Lord” (Eph 4:4–5). He speaks of three “conversions.” As a small boyin 1956, he came to know Jesus.  In his early ministry in 1977, he came to embracea doctrinal commitment to Calvinism. Later in 1995, he became to see from John17 and Ephesians 4 that the unity spoken of in the church could not only apply toan “invisible” church, but also that this unity should translate itself  into concretereality (26–27). While he soaked his soul in John 17, Armstrong also began to lookfor Christians who were from different traditions. He was inspired by discovering“a community so vast that it overwhelmed me in its richness, beauty, and diversity”(32). He found fellowship among those whom he had once feared. Also, some ofhis former suspicion now seems like the party spirit, strife, discord, and divisionsagainst which the New Testament warns (1 Cor 1:10, Jas 4:1–2).Armstrong sustains that the de facto “divide and multiply” strategy adopted byfractious churches for church planting simply misses the powerful message of John17 (36). In addition, it deflates the “greatest apologetic” available to a lost world,which is a community founded on consistent love for one another (50–54). 318BOOK REVIEWSGCR2-2_text:GCR 2-2 Winter11  2/28/11  3:00 PM  Page 3183Garrett: Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s MissPublished by ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange, 2011Against this fragmentarianism, Armstrong proposes that Christians place Christ atthe center, seeing Him as architect of His church.So, from the past we have four classic marks of the church from the creeds: thechurch is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic body (66–72). The church is one from auniqueness of common allegiance to Christ, and oneness among all believers is agoal to be pursued. The church is holy because its God is holy, and because fromthat holy God there is a sense of what is morally required. The church is catholic—not in identification with the Church of Rome—but in terms of beinggeographically and culturally universal. The Greek term katholikos can be literallytranslated “through the whole world,” and it reflects the missionary character ofthe gospel. The church is apostolic in the sense that it is linked to the faith of theapostles, meaning that we must judge our own community against the dynamismand conviction that characterized the early church.The second section examines the present challenge of how to restore unity inthe church. Armstrong suggests that the Apostles’ Creed would make a very goodconfessional basis, made necessary because “the scandals and heresies of AmericanChristianity dilute our witness to a watching world” (82). Sadly, the lack of unitycreates weakness in the church, delighting Satan who “hates a unified church.”The seeds of disunity come from interpreting the same core doctrines through“distinctively different pattern of thought, government and worship” (83). Wemust see sectarianism not as a mere unfortunate fact of life, but as “our enemy”—to be opposed by a diversity that represents catholicity among believers. To think rightly about the church means embracing a “new ecumenism” that isfounded on mission and the transformation of nations (103). Since Protestantdenominations face an uncertain future unless they are redefined on the bases ofmission, this enterprise is most urgent (105). Unless new churches and networkslearn to relate positively to other Christians also embracing a healthy orthodoxy,the result will be simply more different groups and increased sectarianism. What isneeded is a new emphasis on becoming like the church in the New Testament.The church must discover that it is a servant to humanity and the communityof God’s kingdom. Just as Jesus became flesh, the church as Christ’s body canincarnate the reality of the kingdom. A turning of Christians toward one anotherwill be part of a coming renewal.This renewal will recognize the importance of tradition, which as JaroslavPelikan explains, “tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is thedead faith of the living” (123). This tradition comes from biblical tradition, classicChristianity (as expressed in the creeds), and the wisdom of church fathers. This isa deep well from which Christians can draw guidance and encouragement.319great commission research journalGCR2-2_text:GCR 2-2 Winter11  2/28/11  3:00 PM  Page 3194Great Commission Research Journal, Vol. 2, Iss. 2 [2011], Art. 15https://place.asburyseminary.edu/gcrj/vol2/iss2/15Armstrong designates as “the great evangelical catastrophe” that authority wasgranted to the Bible alone, since “we have exalted our own interpretations ofScripture” and promoted schism in the process of splitting hermeneutical hairs. Hesees the result of this as “a small view of the church and a big view of our ownimportance” (131).Looking into the future, Armstrong sees what he calls the “missional-ecumenical movement” gaining hold as Christians recognize that denominationsare not found at all in the Bible, and, in the search for a true church, newconvergences are experienced (138–39). A new interest in finding oneness with“everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord” provides the starting point forseeking an ideal church (140). In this church, where diversity is valued, the famousdictum is functionally useful—“In essentials unity, in nonessentials freedom, in allthings charity.” This new unity would transcend denominations calling for aloyalty beyond their boundaries rather than provoking tired old questions like,“Which church is the one true church?”In the Missional-Ecumenical Church, unity will be a sign and an instrument ofChrist’s mission. John R. Mott and Lesslie Newbigin have called for a missionalform of ecumenism. Armstrong suggests along similar lines that a missionalreformation will provoke a concern for a lost world that requires us as Christiansto recognize that we must love each other first for the sake of the lost (161).This becomes a new paradigm in which reconciliation occurs as groups sharein common witness and ministry to their communities. The book concludes withan appeal that God will disturb us as evangelicals into making the drastic shiftsthat our challenging times require.In assessing this book, one can affirm the spirit of the author who seeks to finda way back toward a common bond with other Christians. Correctly, he suggeststhat perhaps the most powerful motive to unite otherwise very different Christiansis a mutual and deep commitment to share the gospel with a world that is clearlylost and in need of the gospel of Jesus Christ.While the tone of the book is popular, and neither the argument of the booknor the interpretation of pertinent biblical texts is traced with academic care, it isremarkable to hear this testimony of an evangelical who has discovered the wayout of his own faith ghetto. He recommends the path he has found to his fellowswho can recover from sectarianism and find a better way toward a unity that couldempower the church for its mission to the lost world. 320BOOK REVIEWSGCR2-2_text:GCR 2-2 Winter11  2/28/11  3:00 PM  Page 3205Garrett: Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s MissPublished by ePLACE: preserving, learning, and creative exchange, 2011

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1335&context=gcrj

Book Review: Your Church is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church by John H. Armstrong

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