Written by an Anglican minister, The Irrelevant Church is a serious indictment of his church. Steeped in the life of the industrial northern England, Gamble finds his church increasingly irrelevant and warns that it must change or "go bust." But Gamble writes for all Western churches that face the charge of irrelevancy.
The author divides his work into three sections. The first gives a history of the church in nineteenth-century Britain, highlighting its concern for the working classes. The second outlines a Christian perspective on the class struggle, and the third examines what the Bible says on wealth and poverty.
Gamble challenges his readers to strip away their conditioning on how to interpret the Bible. For example, he questions the belief that worldly prosperity is a sign of God's blessing. He then profiles Israel's history in four periods, analyzing how wealth and poverty are dealt with in each one. He then summarizes the New Testament in a similar manner.
Gamble's analysis is particularly relevant to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in areas where it has become settled, middle-class, and secularized. He uses quotations from Amos and Isaiah—uncomfortable ones for those who avoid the topics of justice and fairness.
For those who question how much we should side with the underprivileged, Gamble states that Jesus "signed up" to play for the poor as "they had always been His Father's favorite team." My response, however, is that talk of a favorite team detracts from a God who is interested in all people.
The third section of the book tells of the task facing today's church. Though the author primarily deals with his own situation in England, pastors everywhere can empathize with the issues he faces. For example, differences between middle-class and inner-city churches; the church as an institution or as a movement; prophecy today and the need to blend strategy with an openness to the Spirit.
This book does not espouse any Marxist gospel, but it does refer to areas that Seventh-day Adventists often evade. We can no longer afford to do so, or we too will become "the irrelevant church."
