As 21st century Americans, we prefer our lives to be our own. The decisions start early in the morning: one decides what time to wake up, and what to eat soon there after. One chooses when to work, when to play, and the specific tasks of both. The cycle does not cease at bedtime: one must settle on the right time to call it a day. And if he/she is a person of religious persuasion, one might choose to pray, read a spiritual tome, or experience personal religion in any way they see fit. This is the life of the average American Christian. Private life is life.

In a quick glance, readers might place Keith Drury in this category. After all, his last book With Unveiled Faces dealt with personal spiritual disciplinesâ€"tangible acts the Christian man or women could do by themselves to grow closer to God. Prayer, fasting, solitude…you know…the “me and Jesusâ€? disciplines. But on the heels of that book comes There is no I in Church, a book that is sure to change any miscalculated opinions about Drury’s focus. He is passionate about the Church, as a body, not a gathering place where individuals come to get their needs met and leave to their own realities. In fact, Drury urges his readers to see this title as the “companion volumeâ€? to his previous work. Every chapter includes a “Practical Tipsâ€? section, complete with questions and ideas to work through as a group. The last 22 pages of the book is a study guide of sorts, meant to be discussed and studied in small groups to stimulate corporate growth and discipline within the local church.

In what some readers and students (Drury is a professor of Christian Ministry and Church Leadership) have come to expect, Drury does not hesitate to state his opinion. If the reader takes a low view of the church, they will constantly be wrestling with Drury’s unapologetic tone. But right from the start, Drury passes the buck to the Bibleâ€"something a little harder to disagree with from a Christian perspective. In his preface, the author lays his foundation: “In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul was most interested in the sanctification of the church…and other groups of believers as a whole.â€? But the strong tone does not stop there. In the same preface, you will find the “conviction that the church is not optional because it is God’s primary means of making His people holy.â€? Wow! Like it or not, Drury reminds us that the Bible is clear; we are headed for a group marriage. “That is why people who reject the church cannot be Christian…They won’t join the bride.â€?

Against the “Marlboro Man Mythâ€? (author’s words) and Burger King spirituality (have it your way), Drury displays a tremendous amount of knowledge and patience. Knowledge of the theology behind corporate spiritual disciplines, and patience with the church who often times has failed to see past individualization to its own power and calling. So what disciplines does the author identify as “means of grace?â€? Corporate prayer, Scripture, the moving of God, testimonies, the Lord’s Supper, and experiencing conversions and baptisms as a group. It takes a church-wide effort, but a congregation can change as a whole unit through the means that God has set apart such as the before mentioned practices. The book sits in a healthy balance between being specific enough about each discipline, while at the same time maintaining the core messageâ€"there is a lifestyle that the people of God should collectively live. It’s time to stop looking around at each other (like many do during prayer) and start looking up together.

The most enjoyable chapter to this reviewer was by far the section entitled “Koinoniaâ€"Doing life Together.â€? Koinonia is the Greek word the Bible uses for the idea of community, although it is often times weakly translated as “fellowship.â€? As Drury writes, “Koinonia is more than eating together, worshipping together, and helping each other with chores; it is being one together.â€? It is this type of community that truly is a means of grace. Too often, the church settles for carry-in dinners and family movie nights, but we are to be a family, the very body of Christ. You cannot choose Christ but reject His chosen bride, or as Drury puts it “You can’t behead Christ by taking the head without the body.â€? The headiest section of the book is also in this chapter for all the brainy Christians who happen to pick up a copy. We often forget that God is in Himself a “small group.â€? It is in the Father’s gift of the Son that communion is established for all to see. That same relationship has now granted us an open community with the Godhead. Personally, this reviewer would love to see a little more talk about the community found within the Trinity including the Holy Spirit. It may be a little too heady for this book, but it would be a nice addition for theologically minded readers.

If you have ever read any of Keith Drury’s works, you will not be disappointed. The usual style is thereâ€"the quick wittedness has not diminished, nor has the typical metaphor of the dating relationship versus the Christian life. Drury does not hold back, and one would not expect anything different. He is in love with God, and in love with the Churchâ€"which is the only way he thinks you can have it. Try this quote on for size: “When people try to follow Jesus in secret, one of two things eventually happens. Either their following of Jesus eliminates their secrecy, or their secrecy eliminates their following of Christ.â€?

How does that fit in your worldview?

Regardless of whether you tossed those words in the “do not wear pile� or bear it snuggly around your neck for all to see, it is that type of writing/thinking that should make this book required reading for new church membership classes all around the country. Kudos to Keith Drury for making me come to grips with my indigestion towards the Church, and moving me towards experiencing God with my local brothers and sisters who make up the very hands and feet of Jesus.

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