Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods.
by Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears.
Mark Driscoll (pastor) and Dr. Gerry Breshears (professor/theologian) have joined once again to bring us Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods, the second “Vintage” title in the well-liked Re:Lit series. Many ‘ church leadership’ books are lacking in that they are either all leadership philosophy/theology – with little or no hands-on practicality or they are ‘how to’ manuals with little or no philosophical/theological foundation. Vintage Church overcomes that disparity by being exactly what it claims: “timeless truths and timely methods.” Questions are answered by means of the timeless truths of Scripture – such as the nature and mission of the church – and these truths are connected to timely (contemporary) methods for the 21st-century church.
The Preface of the book picks up where Vintage Jesus leaves off – focusing on the person and work of Jesus. It is here that Driscoll identifies the Christo-centric nature of their work: “Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to enable and empower Christians to continue his ministry on the earth, which is an overriding theme of this entire book” (9). He also identifies one of underlying beliefs and hope (as well as a general structure) for the book; i.e., that through “humility and discernment” the church will become “biblically rooted (prophetic/confessional), grace centered (priestly/experiential), and culturally connected (kingly/missional)” (11).
The basic organization for V intage Church comes from twelve practical questions about church doctrine. According to Driscoll, it is his voice that is to be heard in the majority of the book, though admitting that many of the concepts (and editing) were provided by the professor – Gerry Breshears, as well as the writing of the “Answers to Common Questions…” sections found at the end of each chapter. Sequencing of the questions is accomplished in a very practical and developmental manner, as the authors begin by establishing the nature of the Christian life and defining the church, continue by laying out the leadership structure of the local church, the importance and necessity of preaching, and the meaning and practice of the sacraments of baptism and communion. This is followed by such ‘priestly/experiential’ topics as church unity, church discipline, and love. The final chapters are devoted to what is meant by ‘missional’ in terms of the call of the church, a statement/defense of the multi-site church philosophy (especially as utilized by Mars Hill Church), the use/misuse of technology in the church, and a look at how the church can transform the world.
There is far more to commend about the book than to criticize. This book is an excellent tool for all Christians who desire an understanding of the doctrine of the church from a biblical perspective, especially as it relates to recent developments in how the church is choosing to engage culture (emerging, emergent, missional, etc.). Those teaching an introductory course on ministry or the nature of the church would do well to consider using this as a part of the reauired reading. The writers have taken great care to provide biblical answers for each question raised, questions which are both relevant and pertinent. For instance, the chapter on church discipline (“What is Church Discipline?”) is both timely and much needed. As noted, most people only think of excommunication when they hear the words church discipline. The writers remind us: “Biblical discipline is, first and foremost, training.” They go on to provide a step-by-step biblical process, making the important distinction between formative and restorative discipline.
By way of criticism, and of particular note from the Stone-Campbell perspective, is a statement made regarding baptism. It should come as a surprise to read that the writers “stand more in the Reformed tradition and the teaching of John Calvin” (126). They have already written that the saved are “those who are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone without any false notion that they can in any way contribute to their salvation through human works such as morality, spirituality, or religious devotion (21). [Emphasis is mine.] Thus, when dealing with the necessity of baptism they make the rather bold statement, “Someone can be unbaptized and yet be a Christian who is destined for heaven” (119).
The biblical defense for such a statement is weak, to say the least. The approach is twofold: the thief on the cross was not baptized and the Philippian jailer, wherein they cite that Paul “did not mention baptism but simply said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus.’” The use of the thief on the cross is almost expected, but the Philippian jailer came as a surprise, especially since Luke will go on to record that “at that hour of the night… immediately he and all his family were baptized” (Acts 16:33). Driscoll does lessen the force of his statement by noting in the sentence that follows: “Nonetheless, even though one can be a Christian without being baptized, a Christian should be baptized” (119). In fact, he develops the fact that both Jesus and the apostles command us to be baptized. Thus, even in offering this criticism, the majority of the material dealing with baptism is first-rate and very biblical – including an excellent discussion as to the merits of credobaptism (believers’ baptism) as opposed to paedobaptism (infant baptism).
