num_pages: 256
description: Christians can be adept at drawing lines determining what it means to be a good Christian and judging those who stray out of bounds. Other times they erase all the lines in favor of a vague and inoffensive faith. Both impulses can come from positive intentions but either can lead to stunted spiritual life and harmful relationships. Is there another option? The late missionary anthropologist Paul Hiebert famously drew on mathematical theory to deploy the concepts of bounded fuzzy and centered sets to shed light on the nature of Christian community. Now with Centered-Set Church  Mark D. Baker provides a unique manual for understanding and applying Hiebert's vision. Drawing on his extensive experience in church mission parachurch and higher education settings along with interviews and stories gleaned from scores of firsthand interviews Baker delivers practical guidance for any group that seeks to be truly centered on Jesus. Baker shows how Scripture presents an alternative to either obsessing over boundaries or simply erasing them. Centered churches are able to affirm their beliefs and live out their values without such bitter fruit as gracelessness shame and self-righteousness on the one hand or aimless whateverism on the other. While addressing possible concerns and barriers to the centered approach Baker invites leaders to imagine centered alternatives in such practical areas of ministry as discipleship church membership leadership requirements and evangelism. Centered-Set Church charts new paths to grow in authentic freedom and dynamic movement toward the true Jesus himself.
language: English
title: Centered-Set Church: Discipleship and Community Without Judgmentalism
publisher: IVP Academic