The thing that Strobel does well and wisely here is to spend time on a much-needed discussion of worldview. Using simple illustrations, the author shows how our worldview colors everything we see, hear, and read—especially Scripture. No one comes to the Bible without their lens of culture, personality, family, education and socio-economic background. These factors form the lens through which we see the world and interpret Scripture. This is a fundamental starting point for discussions about spiritual formation and church life, but it often goes unaddressed. When the topic of worldview is skipped, many discussions never lead to a productive place. People debate around foundational things in their worldview which unfortunately go unnoticed by themselves as well as others.
Strobel makes the graceful point that we don’t get to choose our personal worldview, but that once we know what it is and have examined it carefully, it is our responsibility to let the Bible inform our worldview instead of the other way around.
The book tries hard to straddle the line between emerging and evangelical ideologies and overall does a good job. The closest the author comes to putting any of these methodological differences side by side is a table comparing “solidified” and “developmental” churches, and how they respond and react to change. Strobel points out that change takes far more than information. He urges his readers to find groups and communities of people to follow Christ with while cautioning pastors gently, “The church should not view community as a tool for getting things done.”
I doubt that the ideas in Metamorpha will offend or anger anyone. The book doesn’t have many brand new ideas to offer, but it does have many good things to say that are often forgotten in the hustle and bustle of Sunday morning Bible studies and church services. Focusing on the life of Christ, the voice of Scripture, the importance of prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit, the author has insights here that forego “church models.” Metamorpha would be a good resource or starting place for Christians familiar with either the “seeker-sensitive” church model or the “mega-church” model and who have been left unsatisfied with both, and to anyone desiring to making changes in their actions and belief-systems.
