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The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love

James Bryan Smith

4.17 · Rating details · 687 ratings · 58 reviews

Yet many times we've gotten it wrong, tending to emphasize personal faith over social justice or vice versa. In these pages Jim Smith shows us how to bring spiritual formation and community engagement together, and then once again offers spiritual practices that root new, true narratives about God and the world in our souls. His insight and humility as a fellow learner wit ...more

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Paperback, 237 pages

Published August 4th 2010 by IVP Books (first published July 21st 2010)

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· 687 ratings · 58 reviews

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Apr 14, 2018 Cara Putman rated it really liked it

Some really good and though-provoking chapters. Would love to discuss with others. It really is a book meant to be read in community.

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Apr 20, 2020 Terri Milstead rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sermon-or-study-series

Excellent series of books for small group study. Definitely should be done as a series. Great facilitator resources are available online for free that go beyond the already good group meeting material at the back of each book. I found this series to be a nice break from the level of reading required in Disciple Bible studies while still providing the group a very similar bonding experience. (I am a firm believer that shared outside reading and prep work increases group bonding.)

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Jul 11, 2020 aundrea (tchnclrwords) rated it really liked it

Shelves: christian-books, nonfiction

The true social activist is the person who lives as an apprentice of Jesus in his or her ordinary relationships.

I have come to my senses and realize that I have to help strengthen my faith with spiritual practices. It is in this Apprentice series that I began to understand how faith can be practiced and fed on, not only depended on.

This book was an eye-opener. And it made me think about some realizations:
1. “After seeing all of these people who have peace and joy and love, I wanted to have what they have.” Christians are known for the hope that they have. And if we do exhibit this hope, it makes people wonder. I believe the philosophical or apologetics questions like ‘Is God real?’ ‘Why does a good God allow bad things to happen?’ and other pressing questions are not the main essential questions to be asked. Some people are merely wondering how and why do we believe in something that has given us so much hope.
2. “The kingdom of God is not about rules, but about the goodness and confidence we discover when we let the Holy Spirit lead us.” There are times where we read a verse in a Bible and give it too much attention; becoming overly critical. We sometimes think of it as laws to be obeyed at all times and judge people when they do things. We were given freewill and a mind to discern things on our own.
3. “We must view all who call on Jesus as our brothers and sisters regardless of doctrine or race or practice.” Additionally, sometimes it is a matter of the essential truths and non-essential truths. There may be differences in the way we criticize or interpret things in the Bible, but if we are loving the God who gave His only Son, Jesus, then we have to shrug off those non-essential differences.
4. “I realized that the hymns were, nonetheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit.” As an introvert, I would easily neglect worshipping in public since socializing and talking to people makes me drained. If I spent a little of my time alone with God doing spiritual practices such as Bible reading, journalling, and praying, I know there would be no problem. I learned, though, that spending time in church with a community of Christ followers is a way of spending eternity with the people of God.
...more

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Jan 25, 2019 Tamara Murphy rated it really liked it

Shelves: ministry-church-theology-spiritual, 2018

Our small group at church finished this, the third and final title in James Bryan Smith’s Apprentice series. I’m still impressed not only with the author's substantive, but accessible, theological insight, but also with his gracious tone and impeccable recommendations for spiritual practices to make each theological truth about what it means to live in church community root itself deeply in our hearts. Highly recommend - especially for group reading! ...more

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Feb 15, 2020 Kenny Wong rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Good series of books for small group discussion

These 3 books in the series are good for small group discussion. I guess the James is using the method of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to change our behaviour. In each chapter, he list out our false narratives. He will not condemn on the false narratives at the very first beginning. Rather, he will walk through with us how wrong are the false believes which alter our behaviour. Then he list out he true narratives and explain to us clear why those nar ...more

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May 19, 2020 Eric rated it liked it

Shelves: religion-christian-living

"The Good and Beautiful Community" is an encouraging, helpful book that provides practical steps to help any Christian improve the way they live in community with others. Each chapter includes a section titled "Soul Care," where Smith provides actual steps and practices for the reader to engage with.

Each chapter will help the reader delve deeper into Christian community-development and hone their spiritual formation practices. Filled with tons of stores and anecdotes from the Smith, "The Good an ...more

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Aug 12, 2017 Chad Stutzman rated it it was amazing

This is the third book in his series and I loved all three books. I read these with a group of men and the discussions have been productive and helpful. This last book on community was very good in understanding the role and importance of people and the church in our spiritual journey. The honesty and real life stories help you connect with the ideas and the soul exercises are fantastic in putting it into practice.

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Oct 04, 2017 Diana Davis rated it really liked it

I highly recommend doing this series of books. Each chapter grabbed my attention and I was able to focus on a different spiritual aspect for a week. I went through these books with a group, and really recommend doing so if you want to get the best out of them. Hearing each other's perspectives and ideas helps us grow spiritually and gives us someone to mentor or be mentored. These aren't books I will read just once, it will be something to reference and look up in the future! ...more

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Nov 14, 2020 Kayla Dean rated it it was amazing

This series is by far the best thing I’ve ever read about Spiritual Formation. James Bryan Smith does such an incredible job of calling us into a deeper life with Jesus and with our fellow Jesus Followers without legalism and with deep love. This book, and the others like it were encouraging, convicting, and empowering. I have been and will continue to recommend it to anyone who wants to grow closer to Jesus in their lives.

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Jun 21, 2017 Rena Brown rated it it was amazing

Shelves: christian-lifestyle

now I need to go and do that homework and see some life changing results. I think this book is really helpful for developing the Christian lifestyle.

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May 08, 2018 Mikehoov.net rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I am a fan

After completing this third book of the series I am convinced the presence of Jesus in me has changed. Thank You for the experience.

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Jul 21, 2018 Pixismiler rated it liked it

Will need to read again. Not as good as the first.

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Oct 01, 2018 Jenny Snyder rated it really liked it

Informative, Challenging with a couple of eye opening concepts (for me at least)

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Aug 11, 2019 Donna rated it it was amazing

Good ideas for practices to put in place to build up
The Christian life.

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Aug 13, 2019 Michelle rated it it was ok

He obviously cares deeply for people and loves God, but the book is fluffy for my taste. Doctrine matters.

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Sep 09, 2019 Daniel Cash rated it really liked it

Enjoyed this series. Practical, thoughtful, helpful.

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Jan 04, 2020 Seongkyul rated it really liked it

Shelves: faith-healing-community, 2020

Super practical take on faith-informed community building, improving on the vague or fluffy sections of "A Bigger Table" and "Community: the Structure of Belonging." Strong 4.5.

"Soul Training" sections at the end of each chapter were super helpful (churches in different cultural contexts could easily add/adapt). Am considering exercising a chapter a month.

Would love for every church community, especially american churches or those of us who have gotten to used to 'comfort gospel', to read/challe ...more

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Jan 08, 2020 Lindsey Ripple rated it liked it

I found this to be the most divisive of the series - which to be fair the author said it was written as he was learning as well. I didn’t see as many practical applications for my life as I did in the first two Apprentice series books.

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May 12, 2020 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: lady-bugs, smith-james-bryan

I really liked this book- the whole Apprenticeship series as a matter of fact.

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Jul 23, 2020 Heidi rated it really liked it

A fantastic, accessible and useful spiritual read.

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Nov 11, 2013 Dr. Trent rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook

This review, by Dr. Nicholson, has been provided courtesy of Desert Bible Institute www.desertbibleinstitute.com.
Dr. James Bryan Smith has written a good book for small group instruction as the third installment of his Apprentice series. The Good and Beautiful Community does a respectable job of looking at the importance of serving as one church under Christ and developing a faith community. All the ideas that Dr. Smith shares are both biblical and clearly from the heart. He obviously has a lov This review, by Dr. Nicholson, has been provided courtesy of Desert Bible Institute www.desertbibleinstitute.com.
Dr. James Bryan Smith has written a good book for small group instruction as the third installment of his Apprentice series. The Good and Beautiful Community does a respectable job of looking at the importance of serving as one church under Christ and developing a faith community. All the ideas that Dr. Smith shares are both biblical and clearly from the heart. He obviously has a love for both God and God’s people. Additionally, all his arguments are intelligent and well thought out.

There are several reasons that this book will work well for a small group. The author has broken each idea down into small, manageable sections that could easily be read and discussed. He also has specific tasks for each member to do between the hearing of the current session and the next session. His ideas are organized and clear and he uses very little advanced vocabulary that would confuse the novice or lay-reader.

All of that said, I didn’t particularly enjoy the book. While there were a number of “nuggets” of wisdom that were useful, there wasn’t a solid through-point that tied it all together. I’m not saying there wasn’t a theme; because, there was. It just had the feel that these were several individual lessons strung together under one umbrella of “community” rather than a steady building of one thought. Again, this might work well for a group with expanses of time between readings, but becomes tiresome to the individual reader.

Another issue was Smith’s use of diction. Admittedly, I have not listened to his first two books, but it seems that he is trying to create his own, relevant terminology by using catch words and catch phrases of his own devising. The problem is they aren’t all that catchy. His attempt to create a common vocabulary is clunky and occasionally is too vague to accomplish his purposes. This seems to be a matter of personal preference and style; however, since many of his quotes and examples from other authors have this same aesthetically displeasing discordance.

Lastly, it seems that most of his examples seem to be limited to himself, his seminars, and Dallas Willard. While none of these are bad, it does lend a lack of scope to that he is saying. A more wide-ranging and balanced sense of research would not only level out some of the biases of the book but also allow the reader to experience other viewpoints on community so that they would have a fuller understanding of the importance of faith community.

I have to assume that it was the author’s style more than Maurice England’s reading that made listening to this audio version challenging. England, as usual, read with crisp diction and a steady pace. While it was a smidgen more “announcer” than it was narrator, I thought it was good considering the challenges the book presented. I was left with the impression, at the end of this book, like it was good and I would be happy to endorse it to a novice study group, but I would be hesitant to recommend it as an individual read especially if the reader was going to listen straight through rather than utilizing the week-by-week structure established in the book. It seems likely the author realized this since he gave similar caveats in the introduction of the book – only with a more positive spin.

Dr. Nicholson reviews academic, Christian living, and fiction books for a variety of publishers in an array of formats. He is never paid for any of his reviews. He writes these strictly as a courtesy to his students at Desert bible Institute and for any other readers that might find his insights valuable. For more reviews or information, visit Dr. Nicholson’s blog at drtnicholson.wordpress.com.
A copy of the book was generously offered to Dr. Nicholson by christianaudio.com in exchange for this unbiased review.

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Mar 21, 2019 Amy Senter rated it really liked it

Insightful book that explores the false narratives we have of who we are as Christians. It then lays out the true narratives and challenges you to live them out. My favorite part was the last chapter where you review everything in the book and create a plan on how to make it applicable to living it out in your own life.

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Jan 15, 2014 Josh Morgan rated it really liked it

This review first appeared on my blog, Jacob's Café (jacobscafe.blogspot.com).

Back in 2010, I reviewed the second in James Bryan Smith's Good and Beautiful series. Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to an audiobook version of the third book, The Good and Beautiful Community. Most of my reactions about the process of the book were similar to the prior. Smith is a good, accessible writer, who makes abstract concepts easily understandable.

One of the big differences is that this book did seem This review first appeared on my blog, Jacob's Café (jacobscafe.blogspot.com).

Back in 2010, I reviewed the second in James Bryan Smith's Good and Beautiful series. Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to an audiobook version of the third book, The Good and Beautiful Community. Most of my reactions about the process of the book were similar to the prior. Smith is a good, accessible writer, who makes abstract concepts easily understandable.

One of the big differences is that this book did seem to tread some new material in contrast to The Good and Beautiful Life. It still is rather introductory, especially for those who have read a lot in the area of the importance of community. But I have a feeling Smith was on the front edge of this movement, as this book was originally published in 2010.

First, my repeated criticisms are the stronger influence of the contemplative tradition on Smith's form of community building in addition to the reliance on spiritual disciplines. I've written about my view of the limitations of both before, so I won't rehash that. I think both are valuable, especially in community-building, so this isn't truly a bad thing; I would have just liked to see more options from the other of Foster's streams.

One of the elements I most appreciated was Smith's emphasis on the role of community as going through the faith journey together. And being humble. Smith spends an entire chapter exploring how to love those with whom we disagree. This is such an important topic that I often don't find adequately addressed in most discussion of community. I've discussed the topic before on my blog, but it's great to hear balanced efforts toward unity from a national leader. Smith was able to include anecdotes to illustrate his points well (as was helpful throughout the book), and in this section, the story was not just about actually being able to achieve unity. That's one of the things I found most helpful: This book is not about perfection. It's about how to live in an imperfect, fallen community, and how beautiful that is.

Some of Smith's arguments for the need for being in a faith community are a bit weak in my opinion, but he's never heavy-handed or forcing of his opinions. In fact, I experienced his sharing of his perspective as quite grace-filled in recognizing the various ways people approach and experience community. And this method reinforced his view all the more by practicing what he was preaching.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” ...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Kurt rated it it was amazing

This is the third book in the Apprentice Trilogy, and for me, it is the most insightful and challenging. I enjoyed the first two Apprentice books, which dealt with issues of who God is and how we personally respond to Him, and this book takes the next step by exploring the idea of how we work these changed lives out in community. A reader may expect this book to focus entirely within the walls of a church, and that is where most of the attention goes, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the wa ...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Bob rated it really liked it

Shelves: christian-spiritual-formation

In the third book of Smith’s Apprentice series, he explores the communal practices which shape a vibrant Christian community. He introduces this by exploring the foundational disciplines that make us a “peculiar” community, radical connectedness to the Spirit’s leading that flows into radical generosity toward others and the world. Subsequent chapters focus on our shared hope and expression of the gospel, how we serve one another including prayerfulness, how we love across our differences in Chr ...more

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Apr 02, 2016 Amy rated it it was amazing

I definitely enjoyed reading this series. I found this third instalment in James Bryan Smith's Apprentice Series just as relevant and helpful as his two previous books.
And truthfully, I found this book more enlightening for me because I have always struggled with this aspect of Christian life: church community, and really the entire community around me, my "neighbours". Smith provides a lot of insight to how to view one's community, what Jesus taught about it, and how to follow Christ while int ...more

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Aug 22, 2011 SaraJane rated it it was ok

Page 16:
"Jesus, then, is both the model and the means of the compassion. I can live, love, serve and accept others because Jesus does those things for me. I am giving what I have, not what I lack. Christ-in-me must be cultivated in personal exercises such as solitude, lectio divina, prayer, slowing down and so on. But that same Christ-in-me propels me to love others, accept them and make sacrifices of myself for them."

Page 34:
"There have always been Christians who are well-adjusted to greed, we ...more

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Dec 21, 2015 David Blankenship rated it it was amazing

The point of this book, and the entire 'Good and Beautiful' series, is the transformation of character to make Christians into genuine followers of Jesus. This book focuses on community...how do we live with one another? There is so much practical truth to this book, so many good ideas about what it means both within the church and how this applies to dealing with those who are our neighbors. It's a book that deserves to be returned to, but the challenge of it is how to put these things into pra ...more

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Feb 12, 2014 Alice rated it it was amazing

I really appreciated reading this book as part of the young adult book study group at my church. It has helped me to reflect upon things that myself and the rest of my church community can do to deepen our relationships with God, with ourselves, and with others, in ways that make sense for our modern lives. It was easy to read while also containing engaging examples and stories. There was also a "soul training" component, which challenged me to actually put what I was reading into practice. I fe ...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Adam Shields rated it really liked it

Short Review: The Good and Beautiful Community by James Bryan Smith - last of a trilogy on spiritual growth - this third book focuses on the role of community in spiritual growth and wraps up the trilogy by helping the reader make a long term plan for focusing on spiritual growth. The trilogy is intended to be a one year curriculum for a small group, but I read the first and last of the trilogy so far as an individual and I think they are well worth reading by yourself if you do not have a small ...more

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About James Bryan Smith

James Bryan Smith

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James Bryan Smith (M.Div., Yale University Divinity School, D.Min., Fuller Seminary) is a theology professor at Friends University in Wichita, KS and a writer and speaker in the area of Christian spiritual formation. He also serves as the director of the Aprentis Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation at Friends University.

A founding member of Richard J. Foster's spiritual renewal ministry, R ...more