Burke, a former staff member at Willow Creek Community Church, gave the reader his personal experiences as founding pastor of Gateway Community Church in Austin, Texas. The Gateway Community Church website revealed that it is currently “one church with one mission that meets in several different places.” The church has been on the cutting edge in reaching out to the Post-Modern. Seventy-percent of the church of 3,000 is in their twenties and thirties.
Gateway Community Church has reached out successfully to skeptics and “sinners” of all backgrounds. The stories and suggestions in the book testified to Burke’s excellent skills in counseling and community ministries. Although the setting at Gateway Community church is unlike traditional church contexts, the principles are valuable for any context of ministry in the twenty-first century. The culture around (and within) the church today has embraced views different from previous generations on sex, alternative lifestyles, drugs, etc. Burke provided the reader with case studies in how Post-Moderns are being reached with the Gospel.
Burke presented a high standard for church leaders. To consider ministering on the level indicated in the book, the leader would need excellent personal skills, tremendous courage, forward-thinking visionary ability, and well-honed practical theology. Burke’s perspective is non-denominational and non-traditional. He has little room for hierarchal denominational politics. Likewise, his approach has little to offer to those who bow to what is politically correct within the traditional evangelical world. Burke reserved his sensitivities for those who are outsiders to the church.
Burke’s objective was “creating a culture of acceptance.” Burke presented the reader with a challenge to remove five barriers that loom between the church and the culture emerging today. These barriers were presented as “struggles” with trust, tolerance, truth, brokenness, and aloneness. Burke discussed these struggles in methods far beyond terms used in a sociology course. Burke recounted authentic stories of dysfunctional families and recovering addicts. The book highlighted the quest for truth piloted by people of all ages and backgrounds. Burke maintained that the core beliefs of the church need not be bent or altered in order to create a culture of acceptance.
Burke depicted the church as a place to serve as a family to all who come. The church is a family, not an organization. In this intimate context, people can respond appropriately to the transformative love of Jesus Christ as displayed in genuine community. This thinking is countercultural to the norm of many existing churches. Burke refrained from stereotyping people or homogenizing them into a sense of sameness. Burke valued the uniqueness of each broken person within his congregation. This type of acceptance would be valuable in a unique city like Austin, Texas.
A strong section of the book is chapters 7, 8 and 9. This section deals with the issues of homosexuality and religious tolerance. Burke emphasized the need for sound theology and reasoning that is paired with genuine compassion for people. These concepts are essential for evangelism to the Post-Modern, and for any generation or context. Overall, Burke’s case for creating a transforming, accepting environment was presented with experience, compassion, and courage.
