Recently, David Mathis of Desiring God interviewed Tim Chester regarding the state side release of their book Total Church. Here is a snippet with a link to follow: DG: Can you give us some idea what being gospel-centered and community-centered looks like in practice? TC: Let’s take evangelism. We encourage one another to build relationships with people and share the gospel. But we also encourage one another to introduce people to the Christian community. That doesn’t necessarily mean inviting them a church meeting. It means welcoming them into the network of believing relationships by inviting them to the cinema, to go shopping, to a meal—Christians and unbelievers together. Jesus said all men will know we are his disciples by our love for one another. We want people to see that love—to see the gospel-shaped relationships of the Christian community. Or let’s take pastoral care. We often have a very professional approach to pastoral care—it’s something done by a pastor or a counselor. But Paul tells the whole Christian community in Ephesus to speak the truth to one another in love. The context is the gospel community, and the content is the gospel word. So we try to create a culture in which we encourage one another ...