LeadershipConneXtions

Books I've Recently Read on Emerging Paradigms and Our Changing World

I teach this course about once a year and every time I teach it, I do another round of reading to refresh my thinking and get psyched for teaching these themes once more.

Here are the books I read in preparation for this time around with super brief comments. You may be interested in them. 

 

Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood by Alan Roxburgh. Roxburgh is one of the fiercest critics of the established way of doing church. He is a missiologist, a futurist, an entrepreneur... and he is fundamentally concerned with the future of the church in our post-Christendom world... for which we are ill-prepared. This is a nice, accessible recommendation for how we can move away from attractional models of church to incarnational models.



 
 

Missional Map Making: Skills for Leading in Times of
Transition by Roxburgh. This is the third book Roxburgh has done on missional leadership. But it is not a retread of previous topics, although there is great congruence. Here Roxburgh makes his best case (to date) that a radical new way of leadership is necessary for those who lead the church... and that the existing models are in disastrous shape.




 

A Whole New Mind by Pink. This is a left brain, right brain book where the author says that left brain thinking will not be sufficient to move us through these challenging times and into the emerging world. It is a very easy book to read, and loaded with insight and tons of practical guidance. This is not just for leader. It is for everyone. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.



 

 

Age of the Unthinkable by Joshua Ramo. This was probably the most "in your face" book I read, but at the same time, it was delightfully challenging, great stories, a major critique of the failure of our current leadership models, political models, economic models (and again, those who are leading the way in this). In one sense, Ramo is giving us painful examples of how the old ways of thinking are disastrous and showing that new ways of thinking (A Whole New Mind) are vital if we are to survive the coming crises. I find myself wishing we had more Christians who were thinking and leading like Ramo is providing for the world of politics and economics. Brilliant. Readable. Provocative. Must Reading... but you will have to "work a little to do this."  Worth it... Get it...



 

Culture Making by Andy Crouch. I re-read this book in preparation for Emerging Paradigms. I don't think this is the best book on the subject of culture and the role of the Christian (and the church) as agents of culture... but it is a good one. Crouch is a good writer and a story teller. If you have never read anything about your vocation as a creative and an artisan and a cultivator of God's world - this is worth reading. And then figuring out how to make your way in the God's work of building culture.



 

Viral by Len Sweet. Sweet has long been one of my favorite authors. I read everything he writes. This is his attempt to explain what the emerging world is like in terms of its radical, social networked, internet-essential, googled citizens. And they are indeed differnet from their Gutenberg generation before them. Sweet is good, funny, clever, creative... but not quite as persuasive in this offering as he is on other things. Still, for the emerging world, those who are citizens of the Age of the Book are strangers in a new land of the Internet World. Life is becoming fundamentally different. New strategies and skills are needed for survival, much less "thrival."

 

 

 

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Missiological Leaders (We Aren't in Christendom Any Longer)

 

Kansas is Going, Going, Gone...

And it isn't coming back!

 

Here are two great lines. The first is from Dorothy to Toto.  "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."

Here is the second one, from the Matrix, when Cypher says to Neo, "Buckle your seat belt Dorothy, cuz Kansas is going bye bye."

Kansas has long ago gone bye-bye. And in this case, Kansas is Christendom. 

Christendom is the condition that exists when Christianity has a privileged and powerful position in the culture. It is when Christianity is in the air, it is the values, the ethos, the norms, the way, what is natural and comfortable.

For many centuries, Christendom was the way of life in Europe and then in North America. The only real question is - what version of Christendom. Would it be the Roman Catholic version or a Protestant variety? In Europe, the issue was often determined by those who lead in the various regions and countries.
 

In North America, which received vast numbers of immigrants who intermingled in the areas where they settled, denominations sprang up in every town square and village green. They occupied the main streets of culture. They migrated out to the suburbs when people spilled out past the boundaries of the city.

Seminaries trained their clergy to be pastors of congregations (kind of a chaplain who presided over the transitions and seasons of life) and to be preachers of the specific theological doctrine affirmed by the denomination. (Really, convincing the congregation and visitors, that's its way was the best way to understand the Christian faith.)  This was the pastor-teacher who often had a secure and respected position within Christendom. 
 

But Christendom has gone bye-bye and there were far too many of us who did not have our seats buckled.

In the emerging order and the not so brave new world, the religious leaders of communities MUST BE missiologists. That is, those who interpret the culture, who discern the times and who know how to speak, not just to the church dwellers who know the language of Zion, but to the much larger numbers of people for whom the Bible is an ancient and archaic book and to whom the ins and outs of Christianity are strange indeed. 

The pastor as missiologist knows the truth of Hebrews 11. We are sojourners, stranger in a country we don't understand. And we who want to sing songs of lament (Psalm 137), instead, God has called us to the work of Jeremiah 29.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce Marry and have sons and daughters, find wives for yoru sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughers. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, becaues if it prospers, you too will prosper.  Jeremiah 29:4-9

 

This is the work of emerging leadership which we spent our week discussing. This is the new vocational calling of Christian leaders. Missiological entrepreneurs who know how to architect new communities of missional friends of Christ.

This is what we spent our week pondering over, praying baout and preparing to go forth as a new kind of leader.
 

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

"Here Be Dragon" Times

 

 Disruptive Change,  
a Dangerous Era
And called to lead...

One of the core ideas we work with in the Emerging Paradigms class is the rapidly and massively changing world around us. The world is exploding with change, at almost frightening levels. Change is happening faster, more often, more widely and more disruptively than ever.

A Church That is No Longer Relevant.
I have a friend who use to say, "I was trained to do ministry in a church that was no longer relevant, in a world that no longer existed, using methodologies that no longer worked." That is a fact in our emerging world. The old ways no longer work. Christian leaders have to face this.
 

Best of Times... Worst of Times.
I find the quote from A Tale of Two Cities is always powerful for leaders. Dickens opens his book about the French Revolution and the general turmoil within Europe with these words:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness... it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way...

This is our situation also. Best of and worst of times. Exciting opportunities and enormous challenges at the same time.

Serious Times.
I use the quote of John Adams to his friend Thomas Jefferson, describing the revolutionary times in which they had been called to lead. "My friend, you and I have lived in serious times." Yes indeed -- the times are serious. Our times are very serious.

Here Be Dragons Times.
I use the idea of "Here Be Dragons" kind of times. If you look at some of the very old maps, when they were poorly drawn, when the terrain was not very well known and when it was risky to sail in to these largely uncharted waters, map makers would put on the boundaries of the map, sea creatures and the words - Here Be Dragons. It was symbolic of the dangers that lay beyond the known world.

I borrow this idea and say that we live in the time when all the cultural maps (religious, moral, spiritual, political, philosophical, etc.) are literally being redrawn. We do not yet know what this emerging world will look like. But it will be risky and dangerous. The temptation will be to stay safe in the known harbors.

Inbetween the Times.
Finally, I use the theme of "Inbetween Times." I borrow this from Drucker who said:

Every few hundred years in Western history a sharp transformation has occurred. In a matter of a few decades, society altogether rearranges itself - its worldview, its basic values, its social and political structures, its arts, its key institutions. Fifty years later, a new world exists. And the people born into that world cannot even imagine the world into which their parents were born.

This too is our situation. We are living in about the middle of one of those times of great transformation and upheaval. Everything is changing. We are not yet sure what the end result will be. But in another 25 or so years - everything will be radically different than life that we experienced in 1980.

A new world is emerging. 
A new kind of leadership is necessary.

This establishes the motivation as well as the urgency to consider these matters. That is what we spend our week probing, arguing, debating, exploring and trying to discern... as did those sons (and daughters) of Issachar who also lived in paradigm changing times.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Missional Thinking for Tomorrow's Leaders

 

Seminary prepared me to do ministry
using models that no longer worked
in a church that was no longer relevant
for a world that no longer existed. 

I first heard a version of that quote almost ten years ago, from a good friend and former colleague, John Stringer. I use that quote every time I begin the course I am about to teach.

In just a few weeks, I will be teaching one of the Core Courses we provide for our friends in Latin America, through REG's masters program in church leadership. That course is: 

Emerging Paradigms of Leadership
in a Post-Modern World.

It is one of my favorite courses and it ranges over a wide terrain of territory. While I do constant reading on this subject, I ramp up my reading of new books every time I prepare to teach the course.

Two of the books I am reading are by Alan Roxburgh of the Missional Network. He is an important voice in this conversation. He is not always a pleasant voice, and in fact, he is often an irritating one. I find I disagree with him on numerous points, but deeply appreciate him on others.

Brief Detour: Just two of the points of disagreement I have:

(1)  I think he fundamentally misreads the nature of spirituality that is both biblical and of great interest to postmoderns. His misreading is mainly one of being inadequate, lacking both breadth and depth of understanding. But that is not his interest. He is a missiologist and church planting specialist. 

(2)  I also think he is too modern is his thinking and falls in to the either/or thinking of modernity. And when it comes to his model, he is very either/or. His model is the only way in to the future. All the other ways of doing church are wrong. I believe Phyllis Tickle and her Great Emergent approach is better. She sees a multiplicity of models that will be viable.

I finished reading Missional: Joining God in the Neighborhood, which is the easier of the two and most accessible for most readers who are interested in the state of the North American church and "whither the future?"

I am almost finished reading Missional Map-Making: Skills for Leading in Times of Transition, which is a more challenging read, and I think mainly suitable for leaders. But it is very worthwhile. If you have read his two previous books written for leades, it is sufficiently different to warrant a reading.

His audience is a North American and European one. Here is a basic premise underlying both books, and for that matter, all the books which Roxburgh writes.

The times in which we (see above) are living are a fundamental time of change and transition. We are truly Post-Christendom. But, the church is still stuck in a Christendom model. That model no longer works. It can't be tweaked or morphed or salvaged. It is time to let go of it and move in to a new way of being and doing church.

Whether you agree or disagree with him, he throws down a necessary gauntlet of provocative stories, statistics and perspective (mapping a way forward).

 

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

MSNBC Interview With Rob Bell

Rob Bell has provided the theme that will be the discussion of the month or longer.

I have always respected Bell the communicator.

But . . . 

Even reading Velvet Elvis, I found myself thinking he was wrong and misleading on many issues and I no longer saw him as someone to provide guidance into the future.

While I haven't read the book yet, listening to interviews and what Bell is saying (and isn't), I am more than a little sad. 

Bell excuses himself (and some of his ideas) by saying he isn't a theologian! Of course he is a theologian. As soon as one begins to formulate and present thoughts about God and the Christian faith, you are doing theology.... and presenting theology... and wanting to influence others to have the same thoughts... otherwise - why communicate?

Frankly, I appreciate the MSNBC Host asking hard questions... which Bell tends to dance around without answering.  And I think that is what is most frustrating about Bell and others (McLaren in particular). Just be honest. Don't ride the fence. Don't resort to rhetoric to dance around the hard (and vital) questions.

I appreciate the host pointing out to Bell that when Bell accuses others of speculation, that is what Bell does.

I would have added, when Bell refers to the problem of "dogma" that the other people have, the host could have pointed out Bell's own dogma.

These are important themes...

A friend of mine is concerned about civility in this discussion. As well we should be. But I would also be just as concerned about truth and integrity and the future shape of Christian faith and mission. About these things, the arguments will undoubtedly be passionate. And of course, Bell himself is very passionate and persuasive (and manipulative as well) as a fierce communicator. 

So Bell has started the firestorm, he has set the agenda, he has thrown down the gauntlet... this is not the time to avoid sharp, pointed critique in the name of civility. I suspect that one of my favorite authors who has written on this very issue (Os Guinness) is going to be civil but unmistakably clear in refuting the theology/dogma/speculation of Rob Bell.

 

 

 

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

 

Presence...

Allow me to muse for a minute and not be practical at all in this post.

Allow me to ramble for a post and not be too organized.

This one is kind of a "idea dump."
 

ONE:
When we are present to another, than we experience presence and they experience presence with us.

God's Presence is with me, but I am not always aware of or attuned to His Presence. Part of the Christian journey is to have a growing ability to be present to and with God, attuned to His Presence.

 

TWO:

The word PRESENT has a dual meaning.

To be PRESENT means to show up, to be there, to be on site, to be with.

A PRESENT is a gift.

Here is the word play. To be PRESENT, i.e.  show up, to be there, to be with another is a PRESENT/gift to that person.

So God's PRESENCE is the greatest PRESENT He gives to us.

  

THREE:

The more fully I live in His Presence, the more fully I am able to be present with others and allow His Presence to flow through me.  And that becomes a present to the world.

In the language of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, to practice the Presence of God is the way to have a corresponding Presence/Present to the world.

Here is the mystery. The Practice of God's Presence (the mystical encounter with God) is the way to Practice being Present to, with, in and for the world (the missional encounter with the world).

It is the way of mystic missionality or being a missional mystic.

It is the Ignatian Way of Proceeding.

It is the way of Brother Lawrence.
 

Give the gift of your presence today and as you do, you are giving the gift of God's Presence to those around you.
 

Brian K. Rice 
Leadership ConneXtions International 
www.lci.typepad.com

Did You Know? (Get ready to be overwhelmed . . .)

This is a video about the MASSIVE change that is taking place in our world!

This goes beyond amazing and perhaps into the frightening (for those who are not keeping up!).

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Thursday: Power and Authority

Well, yesterday morning, I decided to make a change up when I got to class. I did yesterday, what I was going to do today. So today, I am going to do what I posted yesterday morning.

We spent yesterday working our way through a biblical paradigm of power and authority, using the Creation - Fall - Redemption model.

I have taught this material many times and it is central to my understanding of leadership. This is as "counter-cultural" of a session that I do.

We built this off of Ron Carucci's book: Leadership Divided,where he looks at the issues of established leadership. There is to much rank, superficiality, deception, monotony, arrogance and patronizing in leadership today. Emerging leaders want disclosure, opportunity, authenticity, invitation, generosity and gratitude in leadership.

We seek to get at those issues through an "upside down" look at power and authority. I always enjoy this. There was very good insight from the participants. I think we all came away with the longing to become a new kind of leader.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Missional Leadership

Today we are looking at Roxburgh's Missional Leader and three major metaphors of leadership that he recommends.

ONE:  Leader as cross-cultural missiologist and missonary.

TWO:  Leader as Environmental Architect (one who creates spiritually formative, leadership learning missional communities).

THREE:  Leader as Catalytic Change Agent

Roxburgh believes that the established leadership metaphors were (maybe) sufficient for the world of Christendom and modernity, but they do not work well in post-Christendom and post-modernity.

We are living in the "in-between times." We are inbetween modernity and postmodernity. We experience all the tumultousness of that transition. It is painful to be "in-between" leadership paradigms.

It is a good group with which to process these issues.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

The Post-modern Context for Emerging Leadership

Today is probably the most difficult day of the week long course. Today we focus on the characteristics of modernity (which is the fading cultural context) and postmodernity (which is the cultural milieu in ascendance).

We'll especially try to wrap our understanding around the features of postmodernity which are making the ways of leadership in modern times dated, irrelevant, and actually a hindrance.

Tim Keel, (Intuitive Leadership) says these provocative words:

". . .all the paradigms for leadership and maps of the territory I found myself in proved to be, if not deceptively drawn, at least so out-of-date they were dangerous to myself and others."

Dated --- Deceptive --- Dangerous

Pretty strong words!

That is the assessment of one postmodern leader as he looks at the leadership of modernity (with its Christian versions - Hybels, Maxwell, Stanley). I doubt that Bill is inviting Tim to be a speaker at The Leadership Summit.

But this is the theme we look at today.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

First Day of "Emerging Paradigms" at LBC grad school.

This week I will be having two posts per day. The first post will be the normal posting I do and the second one will be an update about a course I am teaching.

I took a week's vacation to teach at the grad school of Lancaster Bible College. The building pictured is the Good Shepherd Chapel and is the building in which I'll be teaching. I am teaching a leadership course:

Emerging Paradigms of Leadership.

Monday (today) is a day of looking at the paradigms and methodologies I use for interpreting Scripture, culture and the human heart on the theme of leadership. We'll also look at a few models that will help us understand modernity and postmodernity.

Class generally runs from 8:30 to 4:00.

This is a new Core Course I developed for REG LCI graduate program in leadership for Latin America. I did a field test of the material this past April. I revised it a lot for this course at LBC. I will do another major reworking of it after the course. And then I am scheduled to teach it three times in 2009 in Latin America.

I am also working with this material to put this in a Leadership Workbook format for a wider distribution in Latin  America through my friend Omar and his organization REG.

Pray for me this week.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International