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Book Review: Sent by Jesus ::
Sent By Jesus reminds us that if we want to build churches that are based on the bible and are serious about the bible, then we need to be serious about the bible ourselves.
Source: Perspective Vo4 No3 © Perspective 1999
Author: D.B. Knox
Published: Banner of Truth
Reviewer: Grant Thorp
When I lived in Sydney one of my favourite eating places was a Greek restaurant called Sofie’s in Balmain. Susan and I went there several times and our favourite dish was the mixed entree. It consisted of an assortment of cheeses, tasty meats, stuffed vine leaves, and mushrooms – and when we’d finished we always felt like we wanted more.
Broughton Knox’s book “Sent by God” is like that mixed entree. The subtitle, “Some aspects of Christian Ministry Today,” is an accurate reflection of the content of the book. It covers a wide variety of topics such as: the nature of Christian ministry, the theology of ordination, masculine terminology concerning the deity and the consequences for congregational life, the ministry and teaching – just to name a few. All of them are dealt with in Dr Knox’s inimitable style and, like the entree at Sofie’s, when you’ve finished you feel like more.
Although the book deal with lots of different topics in fairly discrete chapters, as you read it you can’t help but pick up the philosophy of ministry which is characteristic of Broughton Knox and which, through Moore College, is his great legacy to the church. This philosophy is built on the priority of proclaiming the gospel. As he says in the first chapter on The Nature of Christian Ministry “There are many ways in which a Christian may spend his life and earn his living to God’s glory and to the benefit of his fellow man. How are we to distinguish those excellent and Christian occupations from the essential Christian ministry?” “Perhaps the test is whether a person has the opportunity in them of proclaiming the kingdom of God and of teaching the whole counsel of God by instruction, exhortation and admonition.” He then goes on, in subsequent chapters, to deal with the content of this proclamation – the kingdom of God is at hand (Ch 5) and repentance (Ch 7). In the light of the importance of this task he also stresses the importance of proper preparation.
At the end of the day the thing I liked most about this book was the way it reminded me what is really important in ministry. Not that I’d forgotten it – I’d just been tempted at times to pay attention to other things that were screaming loudly. Dr Knox’s placed the word of the gospel at the centre of ministry, and his book was a reminder to me to do the same, and not give into the temptation to move it to the periphery.
A friend of mine commented to me recently in regard to church growth “what gets them there, keep them there.” I think he’s right! Sent By Jesus reminds us that if we want to build churches that are based on the bible and are serious about the bible, then we need to be serious about the bible ourselves.
Grant Thorp