Recommendation:

This is one of the better books I have read on church leadership and the future of the church in a long while. It is a compelling and pointed look at the current state of the church. It moves beyond that and delivers a compelling description of what God's vision is for the church. A friend of mine said, "it is not the kind of book you just read, it becomes a part of you". After you are done you will probably want to give out copies to other people around you. This will be the kind of book that will provoke much discussion about the present and future of any church.

ADVERTISMENT

Selected Insights & Comments

Several months ago I tool a sabbatical from reading any books a pastor wrote about leadership in ministry. These master pastor spiritual autobiographies about how God has blessed their ministry because of their superior leadership and vision were starting to grate on me. After only a couple of moments browsing through An Unstoppable Force I realized that this was much more than a spiritual autobiography about Mosaic and McManus. It was something altogether different. The book is a prophetic and profound call to church leaders about the current status of many of our churches today. The church as McManus puts it,

have chosen standardization over uniqueness. We have chosen predictability over surprise. And without realizing it, to our own regret, we have chosen comfort and convenience over life, and this, perhaps, is the fundamental dilemma we face-that at best the church is seen as a healthy organisation. The church is seen as the religious equivalent of IBM and Microsoft. If the church is not running well, then the solutions are laid out in the best business practices available. The pastor becomes the CEO, and the success of the church is in its ability to move from a mom and pop business to a conglomerate. And Robert's Rules of Order becomes the guiding text rather than the pattern of the apostolic church.

He follows up with an articulate and compelling critique of the church today with a clear calling to live out the pattern of the apostolic church. McManus presents the book in four major sections or as he calls them, movements.

Zero Movement asks the question that Jesus asked the invalid at Sheep's Gate, "Do you want to get well?" In being asked that, McManus challenges all churches. Are we willing to leave behind our desire to be safe, secure, sheltered, and move out to a call that reflects the risk shown in the metaphors and teaching of the New Testament?

Selected quotes from Zero Movement

· We've spent millions of dollars preserving our music and hymnals rather than creating worship that expresses the culture in which we live. [25]
· As pastors became desperate, the church growth forum erupted onto the scene. In a sense, the birthplace of the church growth movement was the barren womb of the modern church. The solution to the modern church problem were developed with our modern tools. Church growth became a science, where it had once been an art form. And it didn't take the church where it needed to go. [26]
· Is it possible that it wasn't the nation that was becoming dangerously secular but the church? [29]
· If those who prepare for leadership are looking for the safe place, who will lead the church into the dangerous places? [32]

The First Movement deals with the metaphor of engaging the invisible. The fear of moving from the safety of the church to the uncertainty of the world around us. McManus acknowledges, "The culture from which the church has been dominantly informed and formed has positioned the church to be antagonistic or ineffective in emerging global scenario." By taking a big picture view of the changing world we are living in, from globalization, urbanization, population explosion, technological change, and information explosion, McManus puts together a compelling picture of a new global mosaic where many of the churches basic assumptions no longer apply. More troubling he talks of a church that is in retreat and fleeing these new realities and finding refuge in a safer place [like Colorado Springs].

The challenge of the movement is not just accepting new realities from what we are used to but actually doing something about them.

Selected quotes from the First Movement

· When everyone in the community looks just like you, it is not difficult to justify isolation and exclusivity. [44]
· Our access to information, made possible by the technological revolution, places us at the epicentre of global responsibility [50]
· If a spiritual expression wants to be considered as legitimate in the emerging culture, it must be able to cross the barrier of racism and isolation. [53]
· While most Christians would quickly acknowledge that it is important to reach people for Christ, an underlying comfort level is often threatened when growth actually happens [68]
· Too many times we see leadership as our right to tell people what to do. We direct from the back and only get involved when people are desperate or dying on the vine. Revolutionaries do not lead from behind a desk. There are some things you can't delegate if you are not the one in front. You may hold the title, but you're not the leader. [74]
· God calls us to take the memories with us but to leave the memorabilia behind. [84]

The Second Movement deals with a subject that we don't hear a lot about, the redemption of a people. The modern church has been about converting individuals. For McManus, redeeming people builds a movement of Jesus Christ. It is in this movement that the outstanding chapters on cultural architecture exist. They are rich in the importance of impacting the world around you and creating your own future. It moves on to an amazing discussion on the metaphors that define us culturally and as the people of God. His discussions on metaphor and story of a special interest to me but I think are worth the price of the book.. If you have time to read only a small section of this book, you will want to read the second movement.

Selected quotes from the Second Movement

· The problem in many of our congregations is not that we've chosen a wrong strategy or have an irrelevant style but that we have an unhealthy culture. [108]
· It is more important to change what people care about than to change what they believe! [110]
· We live in a world of commerce where one symbol says everything necessary. [113]
· If people do not believe a leader has a true story of God, no other stories he tells will have meaningful impact [118]
· "When we use language that is not substantiated by action, the words diminish in value and lose their power." [124]

The Third Movement is about life in a very dangerous world. It is about leadership in a world that at the same time is hostile to the church but at the same time is very receptive to a spiritual people. It deals with how we prepare people and how we ourselves are prepared. Dealing with topics as diverse as spiritual leadership, relationships both inside and outside of the community, and even how our communities are organized. He uses the metaphors of the architect, the designer, and artist to talk about our leadership styles and the strengths of the weaknesses of each. He honestly calls them for what they are and for many pastors aren't. I walked away from this section realizing that so much of the church growth ghetto (you may prefer sub-culture) focuses on feeding the engineer/designer and leaves the artist and the architect out of the equation.

Selected quotes from the Third Movement

· It's hard to believe that a movement born of visionaries and dreamers would become dominantly known for its traditions and rituals [138]
· Stories communicate what really is important and what kind of experiences others in the community should aspire to have. [141]
· Could it be that while we've been searching for innovations and new strategies to effectively engage this radically changing world, the secret to seeing first century results lies in the first century church? [149]
· In short, spirit matters. What's God's Spirit is doing is what the church needs to be doing. [174]

In the last two sections McManus talks of the risks for church leaders and their families. As he writes, we will be known by our scars. A frightening reminder of the resistance that those that choose to impact their culture will face.

At the end of each of the twelve chapters there are some outstanding discussion questions. In many books, these kinds of questions are quite a bit weaker than the chapter itself. In this case, the questions add an incredible amount to each of the chapters. Whether you are in a group discussion or by yourself, these questions are worth your time and effort to go through.

Another part of the book that really surprised me was how effectively McManus talked about the larger church (which Mosaic is one of). I have often read spirited defences of the mega-church by pastors and felt worse about working at a larger church than I did before. McManus talks honestly about the advantages and the problems that mega-churches have. His honesty in talking about both was refreshing and appreciated.

Closing Thoughts

The book wasn't perfect. Any time someone uses as many metaphors as McManus did, some won't connect or the connection will be weak. It does happen a couple times in this book. Despite the occasional one missing the mark, his storytelling ability made the book a pleasure to read and one that I shamelessly have harassed those I work with to read. He does default to different version of the church but at the same time, the traditional expressions of church have not been left behind. This will cause some people more trouble than others but his background in the church should not take away from what McManus has to say here. I have given the book out to numerous people and will give out more copies in the future. The book is a much deserving 2001 Gold Medallion Finalist from the ECPA. A strong 4/5.

Jordon Cooper just came to realisation that while he read a lot of books last year, not all of them were even considered good so if you have any suggestions, you can reach him at coop@theooze.com or via his website at www.jordoncooper.com.

Next week: Survival is Not Enough by Seth Godin.