I love the six tough questions that Reggie Neal posses in his book "The Present Future". First, he gives us the wrong question, then he asks the "right" question. This was a very thought provoking book for me. I would strongly recommend this read to elders, ministers and members alike - then, come together and have a round table discussion!
First wrong question: How Do We Do Church Better? The tough question is "How do we deconvert from Churchianity to Christianity? Quote, "North American Christians think in terms of its institutional expression, the church, as opposed to thinking about Christianity in terms of a movment."
Second wrong question: How Do We Grow This Church? (How do we get them to come to us?) Tough question: How do we transform our community? (How do we hit the streets with the Gosopel?)
Third wrong question: How do we turn members into ministers. (Watch out, Rick Warren!) Tough question: How we turn members into missionaries?
I love this quote, "The first Reformation was about freeing the church. The new Reformation is about freeing God's people from the church (institution).
Fourth wrong question: How do we develop church members?
Tough question: How do we develop followers of Jesus?
Fifth wrong question: How do we plan for the future?
Tough question: How do we prepare for the future?
Sixth Wrong Question: How do we develop leaders for the work of the church?
Tough question: How do we develop leaders for the Christian movement?
Now, as with any book, I don't agree with everything the writer says. Few books have made me think out of the box has this book did.
Do you have a book to recommend?
1 comment:
Funny, we just asked some of the wrong questions this month. Perhaps I/we can read this book and gather some more healthy perspective.
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