• Multiplying Missional Leaders by Mike Breen & 3DM (Book Review)

    May 15, 2012 1 Comment

    The book, Multiplying Missional Leaders: From Half-Hearted Volunteers to a Mobilized Kingdom Force, by Mike Breen and the good people of the @weare3DM team was released today. As someone who’s been working w/ 3DM from the angle of the future of theological education, I was privileged to receive an advance copy, which I read last week. I think this is an important and timely book and thought I’d share a few reasons why I might say so.

    1. Amidst the proliferation of “missional” everything, we have given scant attention to implications of this paradigm for church-based leadership development.

    It’s not that missional leadership has received NO attention. Alan Roxburgh, Tim Keel, and Lois Barrett among others (I especially want to get to this new book by Mark Lau Branson & Juan Martinez) have all written helpfully in this area. However, and this is what Mike and 3DM does so well, none have written quite so practically, providing explicit models for leadership development along missional lines. The reason that Mike and the 3DM team (by the way, I use “Mike & the team” rather than just Mike because having journeyed w/ these folks for a while I know how truly collaborative all their work is. Much to his credit, and in keeping w/ the point of this book, Mike is a rare find these days – an experienced and skillful leader who cares way more about empowering and deploying others then he does turning the attention to himself) are able to write so helpfully here is that they are primarily drawing on their experience. This isn’t theoretical speculation for them, it’s what they’ve done and how they’ve seen God at work. We could stand quite a bit more of this kind of exposition. It’s what, in my opinion, qualifies them to say…

    I would argue that our churches don’t have missional leaders, but I’d take it a step further. I also think that most of our churches have next to no leaders. Sure, we have leadership development programs. We have dinners, classes, meetings, and maybe even some training. But leadership means that we’ve been given a vision from the Lord for ourselves and given the power and the authority to execute the vision. This isn’t happening in our churches.

    That’s because in most churches, we don’t have leaders; we have managers. We have people who are executing and managing the vision of the few (or the one), not people who are implementing the visions the Lord has given them. Usually we have one genius with a thousand helpers. And to plug-and-play those helpers, we have manager development programs.  (3-4, pre-published version)

    It’s statements like this that indicate that the kind of leadership development that 3DM advocates is intrinsically tied to an understanding of the nature and purpose of the Church that differs significantly from its dominant expression in the West.

    2. The paradigm of leadership development held out in this book calls for a missional understanding of the church.

    For better or for worse, 3DM isn’t explicit about their ecclesiology. But as one considers what they have to say about Building a Discipling Culture, Launching Missional Communities, and the notion of Covenant and Kingdom, you can begin to put some pieces together. Discipleship and mission are at the core of how they understand the Church and they follow this conviction through to its logical and practical implications far better than many others who remain ensnared by the assumptions of Christendom patterns of thought. Their ability to escape these, I suppose, comes from having cut their “ministerial teeth” in the context of Post-Christian Europe. From the perspective of Breen & 3DM, the Church is called to join God in his mission in the world, principally, by making disciples. It’s what compels them to join in the (increasingly common) refrain of, “… if you make disciples, you always get the church, but if you’re really about building a church, you won’t always get disciples.” (14-15, pre-published version) Incidentally, I get what they are doing/saying here, but it’s precisely at this point that I wish they’d do some more constructive ecclesiological work because if discipleship is fundamentally an ecclesial responsibility then there is no such thing as making disciples apart from it, as the quip would seem to advocate.

    Nevertheless, the book offers a prophetic indictment against the Western Church’s penchant for celebrity, consumerism, and competitiveness (Ch. 3) as it calls for a a way of being the Church that leads to the creation of movements (rendered impossible by a focus on celebrity), is predicated on fruitfulness as people are invited to be producers (rather than consumers), and invites people to join God’s mission (as opposed to compete with one another over our own). Though it’s not taken up as a topic in the book, this perspective leads to a third and final reason I think this book is so valuable.

    3. In holding out a practical model of missional leadership development that calls for a missional understanding of the church, this book will add fuel to the fire of those who experientially or intuitively know that our systems of theological education are largely anemic when it comes to training men and women for this sort of service.

    Plain and simple, our currently dominant models of theological education (and therefore our systems of accrediting) are simply not capable of cultivating leaders who can serve and reproduce along the lines sketched in this book (and I say this as a guy well on his way to a third theological degree!). Why? I could name a slew of reasons, but the bottom line is that by and large people have to evacuate churches and other ministry contexts in order to engage in programs of theological education. As convinced that Mike is when he says,

    You see, I am absolutely convinces that 100 years from now, many books will be written on the phenomenon that is the late 20th Century/early 21st Century American church. And I am fairly certain that it will be with a large degree of amazement and laughter that people, in reading about it, will say to each other:’You must be joking! Seriously? People actually thought it was a good idea to structure the church as if it were a business? Honestly? (4-5, pre-published version)

    I am convinced that in the future we will find the notion of theological training apart from ministerial rootedness every bit as laughable.

    Many, and I mean tons and tons, of current and aspiring Christian leaders will read this book and something inside of them will not only resonate with it, but will leap w/ a desire to be led and lead others into the vision of church and leadership development offered within it. Sadly, they will have precious few places to turn for examples, guidance, and training. Good for 3DM, bad for nearly everyone else – really bad for those places of theological formation who are without the flexibility or vision to engage and respond. The model of leadership development offered in this book, predicated as it is, quite simply, on the life and ministry of Jesus, is an invitation to us to reconsider what the purpose of theological education for church-based ministry is really all about and how we ought to be re-structuring our programs in light of it.

    Conclusion

    That’s really more of a personal reflection than a proper review of the book I suppose, but those were my major takeaways. The book is an easy and accessible read that really seeks to do one simple thing, encourage us to look to Jesus and the pattern of the early church as we think about cultivating leaders around principles related to discipleship and mission. On that count, I think there is a lot of good stuff to be gleaned here. This is a book I would encourage any Christian leader to pick up and work with.

    Chad Stoianoff liked this post

    Posted in: 3DM, bible, books, christendom, culture, discipleship, Jesus, missional, missional theology, post-christendom, review, spiritual formation, theological education, theology, western culture

  • A Week’s Worth of Thoughts, Pictures, & Links: 2012-05-14

    May 14, 2012 0 Comments

    • from the lifeasmission archives: Tweets for the Week : 2011-06-20 http://t.co/ImwHhvEn
      #FB #
    • Morning run. Downtown Richmond, VA. (with Jesus at Virginia State Capitol) [pic] — http://t.co/hIUGj8lE #
    • Can't believe I'm about to say this (if @amyrozko we're here she'd take my temp!), but, I think I need some introvert time. #FB #
    • History. (at St. John's Church) [pic] — http://t.co/gJ0pENDK #
    • Be sure to ask @dreamawakener about selling tear gas in Richmond & @fitchest about his encounter w/ Ms. Cow! #priceless #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: Great Friends http://t.co/SvNrH8gV
      #FB #
    • 1 of the best parts about @missioalliance meetings this week was how God & his mission in the world took precedence over denom. details. #FB #
    • Rising and falling. The way of all things new and ancient. #FB http://t.co/cCoe3P94 #
    • Just finished an advance copy of Multiplying Missional Leaders by @Mike_Breen/@weare3dm. Gonna be an important book for lots of people! #FB #
    • Obama endorses same-sex marriage. Yawn. A posture made possible by the idea that the Church remains the locus of history's trajectory. #FB #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: Idolatry, Desire, & the Lion's Roar http://t.co/8W77E4zX
      #FB #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: The Future of Theological Education: A Groundswell of Conversation http://t.co/umu5fRQu
      #FB #
    • Awesome post from @kathyescobar on some of the common absurdities of the Christian life http://t.co/sIJpgKV6 #FB #
    • According to this @TGC author, discipleship="mastering" (cognitively) the Bible. Result of a deficient soteriology? http://t.co/ws18bJOY #FB #
    • The more I re-read books in my library, the more I realize how very unoriginal all of my "revolutionary" ideas are ;) #debtofgratitude #FB #
    • In case you're wondering what will be inspiring my tweets for the next few months… [pic] — http://t.co/dwHIix1Y #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: Tweets for the Week : 2011-05-09 http://t.co/zLF0sdWz
      #FB #
    • "John [Yoder] did not provide new answers to old questions; but rather, like Wittgenstein, he changed the questions." Hauerwas #FB #
    • "The divine mandate of the state consists in using evil means to keep evil from getting out of hand." JHY #FB #
    • "The divine mandate of the church consists in overcoming evil through the cross." JHY #FB #
    • "Theological thoughts about “megachurches” -" http://t.co/JTjLzvuH via Roger Olson #FB #
    • Grand opening of the new @imagocommunity studio space. [pic] — http://t.co/2p8K9JPr #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: Tweets for the Week : 2012-01-09 http://t.co/ZctZMJ8m
      #FB #
    • Realization: The incessant self-promotion of Christian authors via social media makes me think less of them & mistrust their work. #FB #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: Summer Plans http://t.co/Ernm9i2g
      #FB #

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  • A Week’s Worth of Thoughts, Pictures, & Links: 2012-05-07

    May 7, 2012 0 Comments

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  • A Week’s Worth of Thoughts, Pictures, & Links: 2012-04-30

    April 30, 2012 0 Comments

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  • Younger Missional Leaders, the Lausanne Movement, and the Shape/ing of the Church

    April 24, 2012 1 Comment

    A College Memory

    For about a year and a half during and right after college, I got to live in a house w/ a group of guys, most of whom I still consider good friends and interact with regularly. This was one of the most formative (and fun!) times of my life. One memory in particular has come back to my attention recently.

    A few of us were sitting around on the front porch talking and the conversation turned toward the future. One friend commented on how he had had a personal epiphany recently. He said that he realized that he had developed, in no specifically methodical fashion, a vision of the man he would be someday. He went on to offer a litany of characteristics that he believed would accurately describe him when he was, say, 40 or 50 years old. That wasn’t what struck him however. The epiphany sprung forth from the idea that he was not just going to magically wake up and be this person that he imagined at some point, but that he was right then and there, in the present, either moving closer toward or further away from actually becoming the kind of man he envisioned. It’s probably characteristic of college-age students to disassociate who they are from the person they hope to become, but in the midst of an impending graduation, my friend, and through him the rest of us, began to wake up to the reality that there is no such thing as the person we imagine we will be someday, only the person we are actually becoming.

    The Inevitable Changing of the Guard

    This realization has important implications for how we think of our own formation for sure, but it begs the consideration of another reality; namely, that like it our not, in terms of Christian leadership, the younger generation inevitably becomes the older generation. The sad passing of people like John Stott and Chuck Colson bear this out.

    At 33, I feel like this is beginning to be important. I occupy something of a shared liminal space. Whereas I could rattle off a long list of Christian leaders that I and others have looked to for theological guidance over the last 15 years or so, the fact of the matter is, in another 15 years, many of these people will have offered most of what they have to offer and a younger generation of emerging Christian leaders will be looking to (gulp!) my generation for the same sort of theological guidance. Which compels me to ask the question, “What kind of Christian leaders are those of my generation becoming and how will these men and women serve and shape the Church?”

    I was insanely fortunate to have had the opportunity ride my wife’s coattails all the way to South Africa back in the fall of 2010 for the Third Lausanne Congress. I am equally grateful that I will get to participate in the upcoming Consultation for North American Younger Leaders. The Lausanne movement doesn’t need to be seen as THE locus for a quest to discern the future shape of the Church, but I have to agree with Dave Dunbar, the President of Biblical Seminary, when he supposes that perhaps Lausanne, and especially the Cape Town Commitment, hasn’t really received the attention it deserves (it’s a pivotal document for the initiative I’m working with, the Missio Alliance). They seem to have managed to bring a more globally and ecumenically representative tribe of Christians together than any other endeavor, and for the fact alone, I think it’s a worth-while point of reference. I think this brief video of my friend and Lausanne’s International Deputy Director for North America, Tom Lin, gets at some of this.

    From the Experience and Questions of “Wilderness” to the Experience and Questions of “Exile”

    Another friend, Geoff Holsclaw, and I have discussed that while Christian leaders of our generation (those under 35) have benefited greatly from the example and writing of many missional theologians and pastors, our actual experience has been quite different than theirs. They have had to navigate a ton of terrain on the journey from modernity to postmodernity / Christendom to Post-Christendom / denominational stability to denominational irrelevance, leading them to ask certain questions in certain ways with certain expectations and assumptions. By and large, this isn’t a shared experience for those of my generation. For most of us, the destination of our theological mentors has been the beginning point for us, leading us to ask (even if not altogether) different questions in different ways with different expectations and assumptions.

    To generalize, we don’t wonder about the shift of Christianity to the global south, we take it for granted. We don’t feel the same sense of Western (missionary) guilt, because colonialism wasn’t our project. We aren’t all that interested in conversations about restoring Christianity to the center of culture, because, for the most part, we’ve never known it, or, in a more theological sense, we reject it as not befitting the nature of Christian faith anyway. This list could of course be added to and argued with (as it should be). It also obviously wouldn’t resonate with the experience of everyone across the board (what does?!) But, my sense is that it nevertheless outlines some of the generational realities that shape and inform not only the questions we’re asking, but the way in which we ask them and, consequently, the shape the Church will inevitably take as younger leaders begin to take on more and more responsibility.

    I’m curious. Regardless of what generation you happen to find yourself in, what are your thoughts or impressions on the qualities, characteristics, and perspectives of younger Christian leaders and how do you suppose these will influence the future shape of the Church as these leaders shoulder more and more responsibility over the next 30 years or so?

    Posted in: christendom, church, conference, culture, evangelicalism, lausanne, leadership, missio alliance, missional, modernity, post-christendom, postmodernity, spiritual formation, theology, western culture, young adults

  • A Week’s Worth of Thoughts, Pictures, & Links: 2012-04-23

    April 23, 2012 0 Comments

    • The most alluring & pervasive invitation to pain and loneliness of our era. [pic] — http://t.co/MjWGPKRQ #
    • Unspeakably excited to get home tonight & see my girls. #FB http://t.co/D8hWoyUY #
    • Adams Morgan. (at @trystdc) [pic] — http://t.co/IvW4hXan #
    • The idea that salvation is something we "have" (as a possession) signals the American bent toward the commodification of all things. No? #FB #
    • "What God longs for, and what we must long for, is the salvation of the world." — Newbigin #FB #
    • "We are not called by Christ simply that we ourselves may be saved: we are called in order to be partners in his saving work." -Newbigin #FB #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: Freeing Love from the Shackles of Fear http://t.co/K5Esw3KD
      #FB #
    • (re)reading Yoder's, "Christian Witness to the State." Publishers should just underline every other sentence for me & save me the ink! #FB #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: The Pursuit OF and IN Marriage http://t.co/3v6xyfut
      #FB #
    • Off to attend the home inspection for our new home! We see this as a major step toward the mission(s) God is calling us into. #FB #
    • Where does my child walk to every time she holds my hand @ home? The front door! #girlwantstoexplore (or maybe escape :/) #FB #
    • A new theological initiative is forming 4 those engaging issues of theology & practice 4 mission. http://t.co/yz6l7Ikv (@missioalliance) #FB #
    • 230 new items in my Google reader & the next hour open. Let's see what kind of damage we can do here! #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: Over the Rhine in Hollywood http://t.co/N8XPMv9m
      #FB #
    • I can't stand bloggers who force you to visit their site to either A) drive up their traffic or B) make $ via advertising. #gagme #FB #
    • Encouraging update on the state & future of @ecclesianet here in 2012. http://t.co/M9306jiK #FB #
    • Chur | What America can learn from the European Church | Part 6 http://t.co/YQLEDPb9 #
    • Church as family & not business?! This is why the future of the Church DOES NOT lie in American entrepreneurialism. http://t.co/YQLEDPb9 #FB #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: A Tribute to Mark Lau Branson http://t.co/6ZrLtizQ
      #FB #
    • I'm missing @inhabitcon & #exponential2012 but only one that I'm "Missing." Hard 2 imagine more divergent approaches 2 church planting. #FB #
    • Dragged this sleepy girl downtown this AM to get her a passport. Costa Rica, get ready … (w/ Amy at @argotea) [pic] — http://t.co/EKHazeMQ #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: My Roommate Ryan http://t.co/zGDoo7rR
      #FB #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: Choosing Mission Over Affinity http://t.co/XAUTtk4E
      #FB #
    • Hashing out the nature & practice of the church w/ fellow disciples (at Life On The Vine Christian Community) — http://t.co/TwgiTLXi #
    • Reconciliation isn’t important in a culture of certainty." From a great post @ http://t.co/b801U8DW #FB #
    • from the lifeasmission archives: Young Adult Picnic http://t.co/ggL4ZAY0
      #FB #

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