I always enjoy meeting the people who write the books I read. It adds a certain texture to the experience.
Last month, I was in a two-day meeting in Chicago that drew various Christian leaders from around the country. Skye Jethani was present at this meeting, and it was the first time we met in person.
Skye attended with some other folks on the Christianity Today staff, Marshall Shelley and Kevin Miller. I’ve been reading Shelley and Miller for years, as I’ve been a devoted reader of CT since I was in my early 20s (I, of course, am only 29 now, but that’s beside the point). J
Meeting these men in person was a neat experience. Shelley and Miller were delightful, and as can be imagined, they were both incredibly sharp and insightful.
I was also impressed by Skye. And I’m not *only* speaking of his fantastic hair cut — which is striking in its own right (may his tribe increase!). But what he brought to the table in our meetings resonated very strongly with my own heart.
On the last day of the event, Skye handed me his new book, The Divine Commodity.
Two things stood out immediately. First, the cover - it’s absolutely gorgeous. Hardback with a killer design imprinted instead of on a paper sleeve (I never liked those sleeves).
Second, the endorsements. When influential authors like Greg Boyd, Alan Hirsch, and Brian McLaren all endorse the same book, you’d be very wise to take notice of it. And you’d be wiser to secure a copy and read it.
I began reading the book on the plane on my way back home.
Before I plunge in here, people who know me can testify to the following. 1) I’m not easily impressed. In fact, I’m the guy who airs on the side of being monumentally UNimpressed by most things in the Christian world today. 2) I’m not inclined to be complimentary unless I feel it’s deserved. You won’t find me pouring butter all over anyone (the exception being Mr. Lobster).
I’ll leave it to the other bloggers to write a blow-by-blow review of the book. Instead, I’d like to make a few observations on how the terrain looks from my hill, a few personal reactions, and then my question to Skye.
OBSERVATIONS
1. The writing style. It’s excellent. Skye’s book scores well above average here. It’s well written, clear, and holds the attention of the reader. That latter part is not easy to do with someone like me. I’ll shamelessly admit that I move into ADHD mode whenever a book is in my hands. It takes A LOT for a book to grab me … and even more for to keep me.
2. The subject. Hugely important and so little talked about. I’ve been saying it for years: The church of Jesus Christ is dying for a lack of creativity and imagination. We Christians, as a whole, are the most unimaginative people on the planet. The creativity and imagination of Divinity is resident within us, but it’s rarely expressed as a whole. I believe there’s a hidden obvious reason for this (which I’ll discuss in a minute), but in short, it’s a problem of huge proportions. Especially since our God is the most creative Person in the universe.
3. The point. Skye does a great job unfolding the problem and identifying some of the nuances surrounding it. He makes great use of quotations by other authors, and uses van Gogh as a template for each chapter. You will learn a lot of things you didn’t know before reading this book, and it will provoke you to think.
4. The rating. I give it 5 stars, and I hope that both of my blog readers will go out and purchase a copy of the book. JYou can get it from any Christian bookstore or from Amazon.com. I suspect that Amazon has the best prices.
PERSONAL REACTIONS
Beyond enjoying the book, I want to state what I believe to be one of the greatest obstacles and hindrances to unleashing the creativity and imagination resident in the Body of Christ today.
It’s the perfunctory way that most of us do church. The 500-year old Sunday morning Protestant order of worship has been set in concrete for the last five decades and most Protestant and evangelical churches simply will not change it.
To my mind, this is one of the most uncreative and unimaginative things that’s been invented by the minds of mortal men. I realize that some pastors may think they’ve broken with it by substituting pews with chairs, having the worship team sing 5 songs instead of 10, trimming down the sermon from 50 minutes to 20 minutes, having coffee before the service starts, not using bulletins, etc. etc.
But let’s be honest. These are minor tweeks. The fact is, this ritual renders most of God’s people passive for the entire event. (And God’s people call it “going to church.”) The ritual is more akin to a spectator sport than anything else. Yes, you can worship God and sing songs in your pew or chair, but beyond that, there’s little to no participation. The creativity of the Body is quite limited as a result.
I live in a world where God’s people gather for church meetings that have endless variety in them. Open participation is present in these gatherings. It’s the norm, not the exception. And the kinds of meetings to express Jesus Christ are endless. There’s no static ritual that the churches are stuck in. The variety is as vast as the unsearchable riches of our Lord Himself. Further, the creativity of God’s people is constantly encouraged and watered. And the results are exciting, dramatic, and often unpredictable.
I’ve discovered that to the average church going Christian, what I’ve just said above has no points of contact with their experience. They can’t even imagine meetings like this. (That’s the confession of many whom I’ve talked with by the way.)
The reason: They’ve been given only one experience of “church,” and it’s the only grid through which to understand the meetings of God’s people. That, or a Bible study or prayer meeting. And those are fairly typical as well.
Of course, there’s a price to pay for having the kind of rich, open-participatory church meetings I’ve described. It requires that every member put their hands to the plow and prepare spiritually for their gatherings and take responsibility to express their portion of Christ in them.
Attending a typical church service with the 500-year old order of worship in place is far easier and much more convenient. Nothing is required except showing up. The show will go on nonetheless.
I realize that many people enjoy the Sunday order of worship. And that’s fine. But we’re talking about *hindrances* to the creativity and imagination of the church of Jesus Christ. And we shouldn’t be afraid to face this one question head on:
“Is it POSSIBLE that the way we typically do church has hindered the creativity of God’s people to think outside the box?” Is that possible?
Last month, I was speaking at George Fox Seminary and I made the following statement: “I think we should take Sunday morning church service out behind the barn and shoot it dead.”
To my surprise, the audience began to applaud.
Point: There’s restlessness in the Body of Christ today. There’s a certain boredom that a significant number of Christians are experiencing with the typical way church is done today. And lack of imagination and creativity = boredom. And there’s nothing boring about Jesus Christ when He’s being expressed in His fullness by His people. He’s anything but boring.
That said, I believe Skye’s book will help to show us the problems in our lack of creativity, and it will help us to begin to explore new and fresh ways to be church in this generation. And hopefully, to take the risks of thinking outside the box and doing church differently than it’s been done over the last 500 years.
Not to put too fine a point on it: The church of Jesus Christ is the most glorious woman on the planet. Right or wrong, I see her in the main today hiding her glory under a bushel. Her spiritual instincts, which includes her creativity, have been largely deadened. As a result, she has been veiled to most of us.
If we can entertain the possibility that there just may be a better way to unleash the native creativity in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ today, then I believe the Lord will be able to gain more for Himself and His eternal purpose. And He will be able to express His glory through His much loved Bride in multi-splendid ways. Or to quote Paul, “that the multi-splendored wisdom of God (which is Christ Himself) might be made known through the church …”
Note those last three words … “through the church.”
MY QUESTION TO SKYE
I was asked to submit a question to Skye about his book. Here it is. Check back in a few days to see Skye’s answer, which I will be posting on this blog.
Skye, Suppose that the leadership team of a local church of 100 committed members comes to you and asks, “We want to *fully* unleash the imagination inherent in the members of our congregation to express Jesus Christ in creative and effective ways, and we are willing to do ANYTHING you prescribe to accomplish this goal, no matter how drastic or radical it may be.” What would you tell them?
Visit some of the other blogs below that are blurbing about the book. Some important news follows this list.
Out of Ur (OutofUr.com)
Flowerdust.net (http://www.flowerdust.net/)
Stuff Christians Like (http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/)
Ragamuffin Soul (www.ragamuffinsoul.com)
Monday Morning Insight (http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/)
Mark D Roberts (http://www.markdroberts.com/)
Ben Arment (www.benarment.com)
Church Relevance (http://churchrelevance.com/)
Bob Franquiz (http://bobfranquiz.typepad.com/)
Bob Hyatt (http://bobhyatt.typepad.com/)
Cole-Slaw (http://cole-slaw.blogspot.com/)
The Forgotten Ways (www.theforgottenways.org)
Reclaiming the Mission (http://www.reclaimingthemission.com/)
The Shlog (http://www.shaungroves.com/shlog)
Frank Viola (www.frankviola.wordpress.com/)
The Gospel-Driven Church (http://www.gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/)
Christina Meyer (http://w2christina.blogspot.com/)
Lee Coate (http://leecoate.wordpress.com/)
Preaching Today (http://blog.preachingtoday.com/)
Gathering In Light (http://gatheringinlight.com/)
Off the Agenda (http://blog.BuildingChurchLeaders.com)
Take Your Vitamin Z (www.takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com)
Staying Focused (http://kimmartinezstayingfocused.wordpress.com/)
ZonderFann (http://zonderfann.com/)
NEWS:
- Listen to the FromEternity2Here podcast and a new radio interview on the book - http://www.frometernitytohere.org/podcast.htm
- You can now download all podcasts, interviews, and spoken messages from iTunes. Search for “Present Testimony Ministry” at the iTunes store.
- New: deep discounts on all books at http://www.FromEternitytoHere.org
- FAQ on “From Eternity to Here” - http://www.frometernitytohere.org/FAQ.htm
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