Some of us remember from school that a prototype is an early
sample of a product, it’s built to test a concept or process and it is to act
as something to be replicated. Jonathan Martin, in his book “Prototype: What Happens When You’re More like
Jesus than You Think?” (http://prototypethebook.com/) suggests that
Jesus is the model that was used to test the product or the concept, and He is definitely
someone that we should try to replicate and learn from. The knowledge of Christ shapes our identity. Then,
once we realize that Jesus loves us, we can begin the incredible faith journey
that takes us beyond our wildest imagination. This book is an affirmation of
the fact that Jesus can and does take some of the most unlikely people and shape
them for His service. It is also a reminder that all Christians are called to
be witnesses to God's glory.
Martin’s bio says that he leads the liars, dreamers and misfits
of Renovatus (a church for people under renovation) in North Carolina. The book
includes many of Martin’s stories, but it also includes the stories of
many of the people that labor along side of him. And each story is full of grace. At the church
where I serve, we also celebrate the communion mea each week. It never gets
old, and Martin has helped me to understand why: “we are tasting the future”. He
reminds the reader of the disciples on the road to Emmaus: “it doesn’t matter how clueless and blind we
might be, when we break bread, all of a sudden we can see Jesus again.
Renovatus may be a refuge for liars, dreamers, and misfits,
but they seem to know how to ‘be’ the church. And that is what makes this book
worth reading. It’s a call to action, a call to get back to basics and follow Jesus.
Not the Jesus that we've invented based on pictures from the 15 century, but
the Jesus that is described in the bible. Jesus: love who turned the table
upside down in the temple. Jesus: the image of the invisible God and the first
born over all creation. (Col 1:5) Prototype calls us to community, to worship,
to serve, to be the hands and feet of God.
Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy
of this book .
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