Christianity
The Trellis and The Vine, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne
Trellis and Vine was released in the Fall of 2009 with fanfare and endorsements from Famous Christians that were more ecstatic than usual. (Example: “READ THIS BOOK NOW! BEFORE LUNCH!—the apostle Paul.”) The hype was sufficient to induce me to buy the book, but I waited to read it until after the new year, in order to avoid being too trendy. Having finished it, The Trellis and The Vine didn’t strike me as revolutionary, but it was a timely read that reminded me of some key principles that I probably need to do a better job of keeping front and center at Providence.
Written by two longtime pastors in Australia, Trellis and Vine is a very readable volume about seeking and encouraging healthy spiritual growth in the local church. The book’s title serves as a structuring metaphor for its content: picture a trellis and a vine. What you want as a grape grower is big, lush grapes; for that purpose, you build the right amount of trellis. Applying the image to the church, Christ seeks vibrant spiritual growth within his people (the vine), and the trellis (structures at church like different programs, activities, etc.) exists only to support the vine. Often, however, the ecclesiastical tail (trellis) can wag the dog (vine), in which case churches may have lots of small groups and programming up and running that are not at all necessarily conducive to real sanctification among its members. (When this happens, the authors claim, burnout and disillusionment among church members is high.) Alternatively, any and all trellis-works at church must be evaluated and reevaluated to see if they’re fostering real growth in grace.
Again, nothing in Trellis and Vine was new to me per se, but it was a powerfully presented reminder that we as a church need to be people- (and therefore mission-) oriented. I’m talking with the other elders to see if there are ways in which Providence can mature in this direction.
General disclaimer: I’ve been reluctant over the last couple of years to start a blog, because I’ve thought to myself that I’d have trouble figuring out things to say, or spend too much time trying to fill a blogospace. But, it seems that one thing I could do would be to keep track of books that I’ve read (plus music), jot down a paragraph about each, and post everything online.
I hope that this list is helpful to people both to give some ideas about what to read (and what not to read), and also to open a window into how I personally process through books and consider issues related to Christ and culture. (In addition, I won’t try to write anything particularly controversial, but I offer these words just as one man’s perspective and maybe some food for thought for others. These aren’t ex cathedra pronouncements that bind anyone into agreeing with me.)