The Good and Beautiful Community by James Bryan Smith was a deeply practical, encouraging read. It is the third book in the Apprentice Series, and I have not read the first two: The Good and Beautiful God and The Good and Beautiful Life. Now that I’ve read this one, I am interested in seeking out the other two. I have spent quite a bit of time with the Renovare resource, A Spiritual Formation Workbook, which was edited by Smith. It came along at a very important spiritual juncture for me, and the small group of young adults with whom I experienced Renovare were equally important to that journey.
The focus of this volume is squarely on the church, pointing out the deficiencies of the “personal faith” overemphasis of American Christianity, and its reactionary counterpart, the social justice movement. Smith reminds the reader that apprentices (disciples) of Jesus “live in constant contact with the Kingdom of God” with Christ indwelling them. Smith attempts to strike a balance by bringing spiritual formation and Christian community together.
He mostly succeeds in this attempt. Smith seems to be writing directly to the local church as one who has done the hard work of spiritual formation in the local church. This isn’t a pie-in-the-sky, academic look at spiritual formation, although Smith is a professor. This is for those who aren’t afraid to get down in the mud a little.
I love the focus on Christian community in this book, with all its messiness. The chapters deal with simple yet vital practices of spiritual formation: prayer, worship, forgiveness, service, etc. But the concepts, illustrations, and suggested practical exercises in every chapter deliberately deviate from a “personal faith” approach. Instead they are focused on how this is worked out while being a part of the body of Christ. Smith’s favorite expression for the Church is the Greek ekklesia. Literally the word means “called out from and to” (from the world, and into the Kingdom). This understanding of Church is the most appropriate for understanding Smith’s particular approach.
I do hear a lot of echoes of Foster and Willard in Smith’s concepts, which isn’t surprising since Smith has spent significant time with these two spiritual formation giants. In fact, this leads me to my only real criticism of The Good and Beautiful Community: Smith name-drops Dallas Willard and Richard Foster far too much. Story after story of Smith and his mentors populate the pages. I would have liked to hear more about how this material has worked with people Smith has mentored, and less about his mentors. It seems as if Smith is trying to lend credibility to his work by demonstrating how much was derived from his mentors. This isn’t necessary, as the material speaks for itself in terms of credibility.
Maurice England does a great job narrating the audiobook version. He always does solid work, and I appreciate his confidence and unique tone.
Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the Christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work. More information can be found about this and other Christian audiobooks at christianaudio.com.