Neil Cole's Blog, page 11

Don't follow the Piper with this Tune

Last week John Piper put up a post on his blog Desiring God with a very energized attack of a statement from Alan Hirsch and Mike Frost's book The Faith of Leap . He readily admits to having not read the book but only the few sentences that bothered him. He never attempted to clarify with Mike and Alan and didn't bother to even read the entire chapter (let alone book) for context. He just rambled on in a Calvinistic diatribe, complete with a video statement as well, all based on his impression of one paragraph removed from any context.
The passage in question is below:

It seems correct to say that God took something of a risk in handing over his mission to the all-too-sinful human beings who were his original disciples—and all the sinful disciples beyond them. We wonder what Jesus must have been thinking on the cross, when all but a few powerless women had completely abandoned him. Did he wonder if love alone was enough to draw them back to discipleship? The noncoercive love of the cross necessitated a genuinely human response of willing obedience from his disciples. Given our predispositions to rebellion and idolatry, it is entirely conceivable that history could have gone in a completely different, indeed totally disastrous, direction if the original disciples hadn't plucked up the internal courage to follow Jesus no matter where. (The Faith of Leap, pp. 36–37)

There were four things that Piper said were wrong about these sentences, each point filled with much content. They were...
false to the Scriptures; built on a false philosophical presupposition;damaging to the mission of Christ in the world;and belittling to the glory of God. Taken out of context one can see these points as perhaps a valid opinion, but I think that attacking them online without knowing the context and intent of the statement that is scrutinized is irresponsible. From this point on I want to address Piper directly in my language…
Frankly, John, I believe a public apology is in order and anything less is weak. Not just an apology to Al and Mike, but to your readers who trust you to do the right thing and set a good example of how we are to communicate in the body of Christ. Surely you do not want a person of your caliber to take two or three sentences of your book out of context and without having read your complete thoughts then slam your theology onstage for all to read. That wouldn't be fair to you. Show your true leadership in this by taking responsibility for speaking out publicly before thinking. We've all done this at some point so I am sure you will receive a good response to such courage. I have admired you for years in the past and would respect you greatly for boldly taking the lead in this.
John, we need to do better. Next time, give Mike and Alan (or whoever is next) a call before you slam them in public. When Jesus said to go to your brother "in private" we can assume he didn't mean to blog it publicly. Read the book for crying out loud! If you find something wrong with what they believe ask them to clarify it. If it is a concern about how the flock will be led astray, ask them to do a dialogue online together and present both sides so that the people can learn to Think for themselves. There are better ways to do this than to post a public rebuke on a blog without even so much as an opportunity for comments on it. 

I do not intend this to be a theological defense of The Faith of Leap , but I want to mention that there are other possible thoughts behind what Hirsch and Frost wrote. 

There are places where the Bible describes God in humanistic manner to demonstrate something of His character that would normally be beyond our ability to grasp (one can argue the entirety of Scripture is this way–language is finite, God is not). This is not a slight on God or his attributes but on our limited cognitive capacity. This is different than Anthropomorphism where we reduce God and his attributes to our level. God does not have chicken wings (unless its for dinner), but He has the sort of protective heart that gathers his people much like a mother hen does her chicks under her wings. That is finite and poetic communication of an infinite being, not heresy. Moses describes God as changing His mind…is God indecisive, or are we unable to fully comprehend His being and so the author uses language to help us understand and relate?
There is a sense that because we have the godly capacity to choose to dare something even when the consequences can be harmful that this reflects something of God's image–in which we are designed. Call it sacrifice, call it faith, call it a dare, but it is certainly a godly characteristic reflected in our finite perspective of the moment. Of course God is not weak, but then again, daring something is NOT weak but godly. Yes, God is sovereign and eternal and knows the end from the beginning…but he is also capable of fully living in the moment regardless of how he understands the future. That is why "Jesus wept" with those who were hurting at the loss of their brother and friend in John 11–even though he also knew that he would be having dinner with Lazarus that evening! In a circumstance where I–in my limited and selfish humanity–would be smiling, Jesus was weeping. Why? Because even though He is aware of the future, He is fully engaged in the emotions of the moment. We should all be more like this, not less.
All of this could very well be what Hirsch and Frost had in mind when they said, "it seems correct to say that God took something of a risk…" Notice that even the authors knew that it was not absolutely true so they clarified their description as something seen from our weak and human point of view. The language was not adamantly presented in absolute authority, but tentative and suggestive, reflecting that this is a possibility seen from our human point of view so that we can relate more to the concept that being daring is indeed godly (or Godlike). If from our viewpoint God can change His mind, certainly He can take a risk. From this perspective, such doesn't take anything away from his attributes, but makes them more accessible and doable.
Give more grace and allow for more opinions. At the very least do a review of the entirety of the book and then add the critique in the midst of your review if it still stands, which would be more kind and ethical if you ask me. That is very much like Jesus if you read his "critique" of the Ephesian church... "I know your deeds…I have this against you."
Note: I did attempt to contact John Piper's ministry before posting this on my blog. I sent a copy of these comments, requested a response and indicated that if there was no response that I would then  post this online to address a very public mistake. I was told that Dr. Piper would not be able to respond. I believe that this should be addressed and could not delay long as the internet world has a very short memory and the damage is immediate. As I mentioned above, Piper's blog does not allow for public comments (even screened ones) so this is what I was left to do after no personal response to my email. I felt it would be far better for Piper to first address the mistake himself but it doesn't appear that will happen.

A painting of a real organic church in action

The following post is taken off of a friend's blog. Lindsay Ellyson is an organic church planter in Kansas City. You can check out her blog here.
paint me a mural; call it churchSeptember 30, 2011 by Lindsay Ellyson  Let's paint a picture.
Let's paint a Puerto Rican single mom and her toddling half-Mexican daughter.  Let's add a teenage black boy.  And his two sisters, one twelve years old, the other seventeen.  Let's paint a Nigerian doctor, and a white nurse who was raised in Hawaii.  Let's paint a white college student studying fashion, and a black one studying audiology.  A Brazilian soccer coach, and his newly wedded dancer wife.  A Colombian railroad worker.  A black rapper.  A white guy who owns his own computer business.  A black teen mom who has been separated from her daughter.  Let's paint a half-Argentinean guy from California and his roommate from Kansas.  And let's add one more white girl into that mix.
Stroke that brush and depict them sharing a meal.  Someone makes some soup.  Someone brings some bread and cheese.  Sandwiches are made. A pretty cake appears, and someone else traipses through the door with homemade mint tea in hand.
Let's paint this small crowd sharing this meal in the living room of a two-bedroom triplex located on the border of the impoverished and crime-ridden part of the city.  Let's paint a scene where the fifteen-year-old black kid leads the whole group in remembering Jesus' great sacrifice by offering them a broken piece of a pita chip dipped in glass of Coca-Cola.  Stories are told from the week, stories of how the God who upholds the universe by the word of His Power invades each of their own little worlds.
Paint a book with words of life, and everyones hands held open on their laps.  Paint understanding pouring out in the form of simplicity off the lips of the twelve-year-old.  Paint tears in a few eyes.  Paint light dancing in many hearts.  Let's be sure to paint smiles. And great sobs. And uncontrollable laughter.
Let's paint the picture of these beautiful people praying for the sick in their midst.  Show how some are healed immediately.  Let's not forget to add the scene where one girl's leg is shorter than the other and grown miraculously on the spot.  Paint the prophetic words that fly around the room, and the ones that fly across the city via phones and laptops.  Depict the teenagers helping the single mom distract her little one, so she can have a twenty-minute break.
Paint that picture in such a way that we know that a few of those individuals have not yet made decisions to follow Jesus.  And several just started following Him a few months ago.  A handful more have known Him for just a couple of years.  Only a few have really known Him long.
In the middle of the painting, show the highschool students breaking up fights at their strife-ridden schools.  Show the Nigerian doctor sharing the good news of Jesus to a pregnant girl in his clinic.  Paint the nurse praying fearlessly over each of her ill patients, at the risk of losing her job.  Paint a few of the crowd driving their dear friend to the emergency room and taking her tiny kids home for the weekend.  By the way, their friend is a stripper & addict with sickness ravaging her body.  Let's paint a scene where the computer business owner takes flowers to the eighteen-year-old while she recovers in the hospital after being shot in a drive-by shooting.
Paint these beautiful people crowded around a fountain nearby, as someone who just experienced the forgiveness of Jesus gets baptized by someone who has never baptized anyone before.
I wanted to paint a picture.  I suppose we painted a mural.  I suppose if we painted all this it would take up the whole side of one of these dilapidated buildings I can see out the back window that faces Troost Avenue.  If we paint with broad strokes it might cover a few.
What shall we name this lovely mural?
Let's call it church.
(Note:  This is not a far-off dream.  This is not a bunch of nice ideas.  This is my present reality.  I have personally experienced all of these things happening within the last month, both here with my local spiritual family and as I have spent time with spiritual families on the other side of the nation.  I am in awe of what can happen when people begin to encounter the love of God for them.  I've tasted the miracle that Jesus called "church."  And all I want is MORE.  This times a million, doused with even greater hope, greater faith, greater compassion.)

Kingdom Causes (one of our Associate Ministries) is Changing its Name

This just in from Kingdom Causes (one of CMA's associated kingdom ministries): Kingdom Causes, the So CA regional association of city transforming works, is becoming City Net. Our new name/logo represents our role as bridge builders among catalytic leaders and collaborative movements in cities throughout Southern California. The net is a web of connectivity, care and concern. Local congregations and other related ministries, organizations, leaders and neighbors are the knots. Our role at City Net is to connect and strengthen the relationships between the knots so that through collaboration and leadership development, community transformation deepens. We share God's heart for cities and our vision is to see a growing number of cities flourishing because together its' residents are building a better community for everyone.  As an association of cities and catalytic partners, City Net has created a support network that allows city-level mobilization and partnership to develop and flourish. Our network of cities provides opportunities for shared learning, greater leverage and overall care and support.

For more information visit: CityNet

Threading Needles with Two Humped Camels

Most church planting enterprise is focused in areas of higher education, income and status. One can speculate why that is. Perhaps it is because we need to find self-support for the church planter and the ministry quickly. Another reason could be that the church planter who chooses the location wants to raise his/her family in a nice neighborhood with good schools. It could be because we are trying to reach people that are most like us and the majority of church planting groups are white middle-class Christians.

I am not calling these motives into question in this post, but I do wish to question the strategy itself. You see, I believe that we focus a good deal of our resources and efforts to reach the least reachable, rather than the least reached. I believe that the self-sufficient nature of people in wealthy neighborhoods works directly against the influence of the gospel to spread from life to life.

One of the sayings in our movement is: Bad people make good soil...there's a lot of fertilizer in their lives. It is proven time and again that those who are hurting and broken are more receptive than those who are well off. It is also a whole lot cheaper to start churches in lower income areas.

Jesus said that it is harder for a camel (and he meant a literal camel) to fit through the eye of a needle (yes, he meant a literal needle too) than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Why then do we continue to spend billions of dollars trying to thread that needle with yet another two humped camel instead of bringing the gospel to people who know they need it?

I suggest that we should stop trying to force camels through needles and just look for those who actually need the redemptive atonement of Jesus. The gospel is always meant to be a choice. Jesus said "It is not the well who call a physician but the sick, I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

Can wealthy people come to Christ? Yes, of course...with God all things are possible. But the response will be less frequent and less contagious in wealthy neighborhoods. This is just a fact folks. You will be hard pressed to find any fast spreading movement among the wealthy. You will be equally hard pressed to find a fast spreading movement that didn't start with lower income people.

Is it wrong for some to reach out to wealthier neighborhoods? No I am not saying that. You will also find wealthy people involved with most of the movements in history. Often times, they are even the catalyst to get it rolling. There is indication that Paul and Barnabas were wealthy in the early days of Christianity, not the end. Count Zinzendorf, who is the apostolic leader that ignited the Moravian missional movement, was certainly well off, at the start. It is common to find wealthy people in the start of a movement, but not a lot of them. They may start wealthy, they usually do not die wealthy.

If you are called to the nice suburbs, is it possible to find good soil there? Yes it is. Believe it or not there is sin in the suburbs. Here are some practical ideas to find good soil for the seed of the gospel even in the suburbs:

Go for a ride-along with the local law enforcement officer...they are paid by your tax dollars to know where the good soil is. They know which homes have the domestic abuse cases, where the drugs are dealt, which bars have the most fights and which corner the disgruntled youth tend to hang out at. Look for the signs of good soil. Yes there are signs...literally. A Going out of Business Sale sign may mean a good deal for you, but its a shattered dream for someone else. A foreclosure on a home is also some one's nightmare come true. A bankruptcy is a sign of some one's life turned upside down. If you pay attention you can find people that are hurting everywhere. Twelve step recovery groups are filled with people who recognize they are enslaved to sin and are powerless to overcome it. They are asking a higher power for help. If you are an addict yourself, this is a great place to find people that are responsive to the good news of Jesus. You are welcome and considered family and you are encouraged to share your story with the group. If you are not an addict, this idea is not open for you.
Now an important word is necessary at this point. I am not advocating any sort of manipulative maneuver to take advantage of weak people. If that is what you are looking for I STRONGLY suggest you repent and change your whole outlook (Okay, now I am addressing motives).

What then am I suggesting? I am simply suggesting that you look for people that are in pain and love them as you would want others to love you. Sound familiar? That's Jesus. Don't go looking for a project for your church outreach program, look for someone who needs love...and love them. Even if they never attend your church–love them!

You see the idea is that we bring the powerful, life-saving presence of Christ to the very places where it is most needed. Does that sound like a radical strategy? Well, it shouldn't, it should be an obvious conclusion. Jesus died and rose again so that the hopeless can find hope and the helpless can find help. "If you love those who are like you, what reward do you have?" Find someone who needs help and love them the way you would want to be loved. Simple.

Our Logo's Symbolism Explained

CMA is not about image. We are "anti-slick" as Ed Stetzer once called us. But I do want to say a little something about our logo. Why? Because symbols are important things in a movement. Whether it is a flag with stars and stripes, a single fist in the air, a stenciled image of a revolutionary on a wall or T-shirt, or even a swastika–a symbol can convey more than an idea or identity, it can provoke an emotive response.  For 13 years our logo has been on our resources but I've never taken a moment to explain its symbolism, this is that moment. I designed it years ago and just moved on. It has been with us this whole time and come to represent our movement, but I have not been sure everyone understood its complete symbolism.The X is a symbol for multiplication (duh, okay you probably got that). In the negative space are dark arrows coming in. They fall into the background and form a cross and then produce arrows of light going out to the four corners (of the earth). The logo symbolizes transformation and multiplication by the power of the gospel and then going out on mission to the ends of the earth. It says a lot in such a simple image doesn't it? We adjust our logo a little when we are addressing our training which we call Greenhouse. The bottom dark arrow becomes a house, a green house. It reminds me of Monopoly (we're not always playing games...but often are). Most of our organic churches meet in homes and Greenhouse is the name of our organic church training. If a life doesn't change at home it will never change the world. One of our sayings is: personal transformation precedes community transformation. It all comes together in a a symbolic image. We lightened the darks to accentuate the green house image. I was trained as an artist and appreciate the simplicity and yet boldness of our logo. Many logos are bound to a time because of the style of the time in which it was created. I wanted a logo that would transcend the immediate and be relevant for a long time to come. Black and white are not only bold and representative of light and darkness, but always are relevant, whereas color choices often reflect a style that may go out as quickly as it came in (remember Miami Vice?). This logo symbolizes well the values of our movement–changed lives and homes multiplied to the ends of the earth by the power of Christ's atoning work on the cross. It is simple, bold and clean. Hopefully, now you will always see the symbolism when you see this logo and remember what our movement is all about.

Church Transfusion: Releasing Organic Life Into Established Churches

My newest project is called Church Transfusion: Releasing Organic Life into Established Churches. We are offering a two day training, much like our Greenhouse, for those who lead an established church but would like to see more vital health and reproduction from organic church principles. There will also be a book forthcoming, published by Jossey-Bass in the Leadership Network series written by myself and Phil Helfer.

The Authors:

Phil is one of my oldest friends and the co-founder of CMA. One of the most radical organic thinkers on our CMA leadership team, Phil also happens to pastor a well established church of between 300-400 people. Because he is a Shepherd on our APEST (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, Teacher) team he will stay with his flock and has been a catalyst for much change. This one church has sent off four networks of organic churches over the last 15 years. He has learned in the trenches and paid the price to function organically in a traditional church climate.

Many might ask why I, a church planter, would write to established churches. Prior to starting churches, I led a well established church for almost a decade. During that time we raised up leaders from within and sent out church planters. I learned a lot in that context of what to do, and not to do, which not only informed my church planting, but will be pertinent to this book.

The Book's Content:

The first part of the book puts forth the idea that change is impossible with men, but possible with God. While there are many books available on church transition, we believe that it takes more than a assessment of where you're at, a new direction, a better set of bigger goals, a refined mission statement and a new logo and building campaign to truly change a church from within. As any who have read our material already know, the key to health, life and reproduction is in the DNA. If your church is already established and it obviously does not have a complete DNA is it possible to change? How do you change someone's DNA? Well, that is truly the realm of science fiction today...but so is the resurrection. With men these things are impossible, but with God all things are possible. This sort of change, however, is more than a church transition, it is a church transfusion. Healthy DNA must be released into the body to replicate, influence and even replace the unhealthy DNA from the inside out. The first part of this book examines what it takes to do this and presents several real examples of such churches that are each very different in their journeys to transfusion.

The second part of the book is about how to implement successful transfusion. Chapters cover practical subjects such as
Dying to liveThe leadershift necessary Detox from dependency issues Releasing and empowering peopleThe price a healthy church must be willing to payHealthy disciple-makingHow to pilot change in a "skunk-works" type projectHow to reproduce rather than simply cloneNew ways of measuring successHow to equip people for influence in the world (not just the church). Like all our resources, this book will be chock full of real life stories and examples as well as the type of ideas that can only be forged in the flames of true experience. We will pull no punches. The book will tell the glory stories right next to the gory ones.

Church Transfusion should be released in 2012 from Jossey-Bass/Leadership Network.

Our first training opportunity will be Friday and Saturday, Sep 23-24, 2012 at Los Altos Grace Brethren Church in Long Beach CA. You can find detailed info and register for it here. There is still room available.

There will also be a half day workshop in Singapore Friday October 28th for those in S. Asia.

How Many Churches Did the Apostle Paul Start?

Some have said that Paul only started 14 churches in his lifetime. If so that is a remarkable thing, but I tend to think there are more than 14.

I would assume that there are some churches started that were not necessarily mentioned as churches in the NT. For instance there is no mention of a church started in Athens, but there are households that began to follow Christ there, so we can assume that a church was born there. In Philippi there were two households that surrendered to the gospel (Lydia's and the Jailer's), so there could be two organic churches there. Some say that there is just one church in Philippi because Paul wrote a letter to them, but it is actually to the saints in Christ who are in Philippi. He wrote a letter to the churches of Galatia, how many of them is not mentioned. So numbering the churches Paul started is a challenge.
While he only started the Ephesian church in Asia, this one in turn started so many others that every person who lived in Asia heard the message of the Gospel. Does that count as only one church? How many churches were started in Cyprus on the first missionary journey? We know it is more than one. How many were left in Crete?
There are places we have no mention of a church but we know he was there preaching such as Did he start churches while he was in Tarsus? Acts does mention churches in Syria (Acts 15:40-41) could it be that some of these started before he was sent from Antioch? Did Paul go to Spain? If so then perhaps he started churches there as well, but we do not know. He did go to Crete and started some churches and left Titus there to further establish the work.
He probably started close to 20 churches himself, with many more born out of those by his apprentice leaders. In Asia alone the NT mentions Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Colossae, and Hieropolis. Ephesus was really a city full of churches meeting in homes and from that work all the others were started. So while starting upwards of 20 churches in one's life is impressive, what is far more impressive is how many daughters, grand-daughters and great-grand-daughters were birthed from those. When Paul left earth in the end of his life he not only left some church plants, he left the DNA of a movement that would eventually spread to the extent that even the Roman Empire itself would surrender to Christianity (for better or worse). History was changed in dramatic fashion through this one man's obedience.
I am discovering that simple obedience is a powerful thing in one's life. More powerful than spiritual gifts or personalities. Certainly more powerful than any program or strategy. In a day where we Christians are already educated beyond obedience, I find that what we need is not more education but simple obedience to what we already know. Follow Jesus today. Take one step at a time and leave the results and the destination up to the one you are following.
Every one reading this blog can also obey the same God as Paul and leave behind a lasting and vital work for the Lord of the harvest. Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ."

A Lasting Lesson from a Notorious Atheist

Today I turned 51. Most of the major transitional boundaries of my own life occur the first year of a new decade and this year seems to be as much. As I am reflecting on my own life and the journeys it has taken I felt that a lesson learned from the man who tried to declare that God is dead was in order. The following is from the last chapter of my book Journeys to Significance which came out last Spring.

Eugene Peterson who gave us TheMessage, has a book curiously named after a quote by the famous atheist, Friedrich Nietzshe, who declared that God is dead. The name of the book is A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. The quote, from Beyond Good and Evil says this: 

"The essential thing 'in heaven and earth' is…that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living."

"I have fought the good fight," Paul says, "I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). As I serve the Lord I am finding that there are fewer people than you would imagine who are able to say at the end of their life words like this. As I mentioned at the start of my book Journeys to Significance, "the only applause that really counts is at the finish line."

My hope, prayer and passion is to remain faithfully obedient in the same direction and to finish well or die trying.

Pressing on,

Neil Cole

Toys are Illegal, Shoes & Shirts Required...Pants are Optional?

San Francisco continues to astound me with their bizarre politics. They are not afraid to intrude with legislature even into the sacred relationship of parent and child. Last year they outlawed happy meal toys at McDonald's because a parent is not responsible enough to care for their child's diet so the government must step in. Now they are once again considering passing a law. This one says people that are nude in public must place a towel down before they place their naked butt down in public. Huh?

Yes, that is right, being completely nude in public is not something worthy of a law, just making sure that they don't put their naked cheeks on a public bench without a towel between. Does anyone else think this is a little absurd? Why does the city feel that it is fine to take toys from children but it's okay to expose children to their neighbors genitalia? How does a legislature get to the point where they make such extreme laws–on one side there is no freedom and on the other side too much? Can anyone seriously trust such a government?

In the LA Times article I read this morning they interviewed two guys smoking "medicinal" marijuana (perhaps they are nauseous because of the naked guy across the boardwalk). One said he doesn't go naked in public because he doesn't want to scare the horses...the horses! Yes, lets protect the horses.

"You'd think customers would have to have pants too!" says one citizen in response to a sign that reads: shirts and shoes required in a restaurant window.

In the legislature they have actually proposed that one could no longer go into a restaurant without clothing (or a Happy meal toy). I guess there are limits to even their excesses.

I have lived my whole life in California and I get a little frustrated as I travel around the country by the way people in the Midwest stereotype us Californians, so I'm a bit apprehensive about putting this out there where it can actually fuel such prejudice. But there it is...in all its glory. Yuck.

Mike Kim's Review of Oganic Leadership

I thought this nice review would be of interest to some of you. I can say that Mr. Kim was able to understand the heart of why I wrote the book. 

Neil, as a Church Planting Movements guy, has always been about simplicity and reproducibility. These values, to no surprise, come out here in Organic Leadership as well; but he uniquely directs them to the topic of Christian leadership. The result is a book unlike the run-of-the-mill, 10 steps book on leadership. He doesn't come across as a John Maxwell does where you feel like you have to buy more of his stuff or be like him or else fail. Nor does he come across as a typical Christian preacher talking about leadership with perfectly alliterated points that sound good but lack authenticity and personal stories of provenness in the real world. Instead, when you read Organic Leadership, it feels like he REALLY wants and needs you to be the leader God made you to be, so he'll tell you about the passing of his father-in-law, tell you about his "low point" of being a pastor AND a paper boy, and other things that a true spiritual parent would roll up his sleeves and tell you over breakfast. There is a different level of weight or authority that you will sense in this book, and I suspect it has to do with the fact that these are not just ideas, but the communication of a way of life learned over the years -- a way of life that he wants us to grasp for the times ahead.

The first section (120 some pages) is incredibly convicting and offers a prophetic critique of the way leadership is understood and practiced in the West. This is the underbrush that needs to be cleared away to go further in the organic leadership journey. We must get through this before we talk about tools and new paradigms. But be warned! Neil pulls the veil off the truth that most of us, leaders, have never contemplated: WE are part of the problem! Since many of us have never gone there before, I anticipate a feeling of discomfort during this section. Like me, you may have to stop reading at points in the book to pray, to repent or to contemplate further. Neil courageously asks us what most parishioners would never dare say to us. And for that reason, we need to listen all the more. Neil, coming from the organic point of view, asks new questions like: have you ever considered that the content, setting, frequency and manner of our "teaching" is actually having the opposite effect of what we want: stunting the church's growth?! Traditions like these go unquestioned in our evangelical cultures, but if they were indeed true, would we listen and change course? The whole section has a feel of a heavier and more radical version of J. Oswald Sanders' Spiritual Leadership where he asks such important questions like are you spiritually plateaued? are you acting more like Jesus or the Pharisees? But it's not coming from self-righteousnes or anger but out of a burden to see the world reached for Christ through leaders like us.

Once you get through these hard questions and topics, you will find an illuminating section on paradigms and perspectives that cause us to lead off center: like the unnecessary and unbiblical separation between secular and sacred or between clergy and laity. There is also a great section on starting leadership development with not-yet-Christian folks instead of with the usual more mature Christians we recruit. This part is worth paying attention to because it links leadership development to MISSION instead of to the shepherding of the local church where we develop or recruit existing leaders to our programs -- thereby creating no new leaders in the net cause! Neil humorously mentions that some of the best leaders of tomorrow are waking up with a hangover and in the wrong bed today! The playing field significantly widens without separating "evangelism" from leadership development; they become part of the same disciple-making activity. Sounds biblical, doesn't it?

After that is my favorite part, there is a fantastic section on mentoring. I think the price of the book is found here. It is filled with profundity and experience... and, again, elegant simplicity. I have "discipled" my share of people over the last 20 years, but never did I think to do it as he recommends -- with an eye towards obedience and multiplication over content. Neil gives advice like:

don't teach them anything new until they followed through on the last thing. never teach a skill unless there is a felt need for it.a skill is never learned until it is taught to another person
He simultaneously lowers the bar on mentoring while also raising it by taking us back to the way of Jesus and Paul. After reading this section, I immediately made changes in the way I was relating to a not-yet-Christian I am doing a Life Transformation Group with.

I also like the concluding section where Neil offers examples of new kinds of leaders in the movement who have given up traditional structures and roles for the sake of mission. Real life examples always help flesh out the multi-faceted look of what the author is describing and help open up our imagination to what the future holds for a new breed of leaders.

One final thing that I like about this book (and about Neil on the whole) is that he is not a mission deconstructionist who is just saying everything is broken. We don't need more of those! Neil Cole is very much a reconstructionist who is showing us a better way that 1.) he has lived out and seen reproduce internationally, and 2.) is actually rooted in Scripture. I think this is why he has been so readily embraced by people across the world as an ambassador of a more missional way. This reconstructionist orientation shows up in Organic Leadership quite often as he recommends [here it comes] simple and reproducible tools like the Seven Signs of Jesus from John's gospel, or Mentoring sheets that are profoundly simple, or Life Transformation Groups that are leaderless and multiply, or Truth Quest which teaches theology in community and with different points of view. Not a lot of Simple Church people are recommending alternative ways, but Neil is -- and churches across the world are multiplying as a result.

If you, like me, have long thought that something is off on the way that we "lead" in the church and long to know God's natural design for leadership that can truly transform the world, then I heartily recommend Organic Leadership for direction in this new way for a new time.