English
Korean
Spanish
WASHINGTON, D.C. How would you define community in your church? Possible answers include such words as “potluck,” “accountability groups,” and “small groups.”
In Compelling Community, Mark Dever and Jaime Dunlop define local church community as “a togetherness and commitment we experience that transcends all natural bonds—because of our commonality in Jesus Christ.” Their book not only offers a biblical paradigm for community but also practical methods for cultivating and protecting this community, as they share from 20 years of experience at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
While churches often assimilate community around demographic similarities such as age, life experiences, personal interests, etc., these natural bonds can be healthy but should not be the sum total of the gospel relationships in the church. In this sense, Dever and Dunlop challenge churches to seek supernatural community that could only be explained by the gospel.
“Many relationships that naturally form in our churches would exist even if the gospel weren’t true,” they say. “That’s good, right, and helpful. But in addition, we should aspire for many relationships that exist only because the gospel.”
Dever and Dunlop describe these two types of relationships as gospel-plus and gospel-revealing. Gospel-plus community adds the gospel to already naturally formed relationships in the church. However, they say, “In gospel-revealing community, many relationships would never exist but for the truth and power of the gospel—either because of the depth of care for each other or because two people in relationship have little in common but Christ.” In this type of community, it’s not unnatural to see 20-somethings and retirees regularly caring for and discipling one another.
For Dever and Dunlop, it’s not an either/or but a both/and strategy for churches to be compelling communities that display the gospel to the world. In the first part of the book, they further explain the differences between gospel-plus and gospel-revealing relationships and challenge Christians to pursue community that is deep and wide.
In the second part of the book, Dever and Dunlop discuss how preaching and corporate prayer facilitate supernatural, gospel-centered community. They also speak of local church community as a network of “spiritually intentional relationships,” where simple, informal relationships grow among church members. Here, conversations revolving around spiritual things are common rather than odd. They give practical ways to foster such relationships and emphasize the value of church membership.
Part 3 recognizes the presence of sin that often derails gospel community and offers helpful insights on how to protect church unity and how to address sin in the church. They say, “When we are careful to follow [Jesus’] instructions, we create a culture of honesty and grace that can be experienced and seen—and that testifies to the transformative work of the gospel.”
The final part of the book explains how this compelling community serves as an evangelistic witness in the world, as non-Christians see these gospel-revealing relationships and are drawn to Christ because of them. Additionally, church planting and church revitalization are natural byproducts of such supernatural community.
This book is excellent for pastors and church members alike, challenging our preconceived concepts of Christian community and stretching us to be intentional in pursuing deeper, wider relationships in the church. Such community paints a beautiful picture of the power of the gospel, which glorifies God, builds up his people, and attracts the lost.
