Category Archives: Book Reviews

Book Review: The Promise of Despair by Andrew Root

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Quite the title, isn’t it? Yes, The Promise of Despair: The Way of the Cross as the Way of the Church by Andrew Root has quite the suggestive title, but that is part of the point. This is a book about death, in both a literal and symbolic sense. Death is not limited to people physically dying, but is also present when we lose a job, are debilitated by illness, or a slave to addiction. Death lurks all around us. Root contends that the church usually tries to avoid death, but that a true church can only be found in the midst of death, by facing it and owning up to it because we worship a God who also can be found in death, facing it, and not turning and looking the other way: “Christian faith is a faith that has as its central event the cross, the reality of death” (xxvii).

In a way, this book is a kind of practical theodicy. It does not so much answer the question Why is there evil, pain and suffering in the world? as much as it tries to answer What does the church do about evil, pain and suffering in the world? For Root the source of pain and suffering is the “monster” of death, and he carries this personification of death as a monster throughout the whole book.

The book is divided into two parts. The first sets the groundwork regarding our current cultural situation, an environment where we must deal with things like the death of meaning, authority, and identity. Although postmodernism seems like a topic that is starting to become overhyped, Root gives one of the most succinct and philosophically robust accounts of the current postmodern landscape. The first part of the book functions well as a primer on postmodernism. Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean Baudrillard, and Anthony Giddens are some of the philosophers who weigh heavily in these discussion.

On of the best chapters in the book, especially for youth ministry, is the final chapter in Part One that deals with the death of identity. In this chapter Root explains how identity used to be formed by work and love: what one did for a living and one’s family. Today, he says, identity is defined by consumption and intimacy. It is no longer what we do or produce that form us, but what we have and consume. Root defines intimacy as “feelings of closeness” (60) as opposed to love, which is a commitment. In youth ministry, where we are dealing with adolescents constructing their own identities, this chapter has much for us to ponder.

Part Two outlines the reasons why the church must face the reality of death and enter into it as a central practice. He draws from Luther’s theology of the cross, arguing that the God of the Bible is encountered in Jesus Christ on the cross: “The church is the community that seeks to live from the new order–not from life to death, but from death to life” (88). When the church faces death, the church faces reality. The church must be with people in death because we are a people who hope in a future when death will be no more; we are a people moving from death to life. This hope that the church can offer to those in the midst of death is not to be confused with optimism:

The problem with an optimistic church is that it spends all its energy on creating optimistic artificial light, seeking to pull people who know so well the darkness into faux light. An optimistic church seeks to cover the darkness. But the church of the cross seeks to make its life in what is, in darkness, hoping for the day when darkness is no longer covered but is overcome completely by the dawn of God’s future. (147)

It should be noted that Root is not speaking about death in the popular sense of “dying to self.” Instead, he is speaking more about passages like Galatians 6:2: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” In fact, he uses the word sacramental to suggest that God is particularly present in a special way, conveying his grace, when we encounter someone else in their despair. If this is the case, then the church should not shy away from ministering to those facing the monster of death in their lives.

Though this book is a weighty book simply because of the subject matter, it is a fairly concise and accessible book (160 pages or so). And while I think that Root might be a bit repetitive at times, this is such a unique book that there is no where else to go for a treatment of this subject. For Christians and church leaders trying to lead lives and churches where we deal with people’s lives in reality (and not in an idealized state), this book is a must-read.

For another review, see Jake Bouma’s review of the book in the American Theological Inquiry .

Disclaimer: This book was provided as a review copy free of charge from the publisher.

Best Youth Ministry Books: Teen 2.0 by Robert Epstein

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Teen 2.0, like all books that I try to reserve for my small group of “Best Youth Ministry Books,” is a game-changer. On reading this post by Mark Ostreicher, I decided it was time to pick up this book by psychologist Dr. Robert Epstein. The premise of the book is pretty simple: adolescence, defined as a period of turmoil (and that word is particularly important to the definition) between childhood and adulthood, is an unnecessary social construct and not a required developmental or biological life stage. He goes even further, and spends 400 pages arguing, to say that not only is adolescence not necessary, but it is actually harmful. For those, like me, in youth ministry who have devoted lives to ministry with people in this very stage of turmoil, that’s a pretty big assertion.

Assuming we accept his thesis, how did we get here? How did we create a life stage called adolescence? In Chapter 2 Epstein gives his account, saying that adolescence as we know it today did not exist until modern industrialization, between 1880 and 1920. Child labor laws and public education systems began to isolate teens from adults, causing the aforementioned turmoil that is common during adolescence. When teens started acting out, the reaction was further laws, further restrictions, and further separation between teens and adults. We have lived in a society with this vicious cycle ever since. Epstein says that for most of human history people have gotten married and started working to support themselves soon after puberty. We have come to the point in America when the median age of first marriage is 27.7 for males and 26.0 for females (p. 30). By treating teens like children (Epstein calls this infantilization), we are creating this stage of turmoil. In one of the most provocative sections of the book a study is given which says that modern teenagers have less significantly freedom than prison inmates or soldiers (p. 11), a recipe for rebellion and turmoil.

Each chapter of the book seems to debunk myth after myth, mostly based on competency tests:

  • A high percentage of adolescents score above the average adult on a test of “adultness.”
  • Intelligence peaks in the teen years and steadily declines throughout life.
  • Teens are just as capable as adults to love each other, and there are no studies which indicate getting married at a young age is more likely to lead to divorce.
  • Peak physical condition often occurs in the teen years and then diminishes for the rest of life.
  • Creativity peaks in early childhood, diminishes slightly, and then peaks again in the teen years, again to decline steadily throughout life.
  • Young people have the potential to be as responsible as adults when it comes to things like employment.

In sum, we are not utilizing the capabilities of our most intelligent, strongest, most creative, most responsible citizens by limiting teens to a life where they are required to go to less-than-ideal schools, are not allowed to be significantly employed, and cannot legally make any decisions for themselves. We are not treating teens according to their potential, but are restricting them in a way that is harmful.

Against this, Epstein wants all people to be judged not on age, as in our current system, but on competency. If someone has the wherewithal to work 40 hours a week, they should be able to, regardless of age. If someone is able to understand contracts, they should be able to sign them, regardless of age. If someone understands how our country works, they should be able to vote. I think you get the idea. The implications and suggestions in the book are staggering.

If you are thinking, like I did, about all the research devoted to adolescence and all the studies that talk about the development particularities in adolescence, Epstein provides a fairly broad rebuttal to that body of evidence: almost every single study out there shows correlation, not causation (195 ff). Of particular interest in adolescent research is brain development, and Epstein spends a few pages dissecting a fairly typical teen research study. He concludes with these words:

But it’s also the case that a wide variety of behaviors–meditating, reading, drinking, having sex and so on–literally change the brain. It’s fundamentally wrong to say that all behavior is caused by the brain, and it’s fundamentally wrong to blame all teen behavior on a teen brain. (p. 197)

I’ve only touched on a few of the assertions and implications that Epstein gives in his book. There are many more worth pondering, not the least of them dealing with our education system (if you want a chapter-by-chapter review and discussion, you can go to Joel Mayward’s blog). I need to do a bit more research on my part before jumping in and assenting to everything Epstein says, but he does give some weighty arguments that challenge almost every popular preconception our culture has of teenagers. If you are someone who works with teens, you simply must read this book. We must. There may be a bounty of untapped potential just waiting to bust forth.

Book Review: Relationships Unfiltered by Andrew Root

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Relationships Unfiltered: Help for Youth Workers, Volunteers, and Parents on Creating Authentic Relationships by Andrew Root is a condensed and popularized version of his groundbreaking first book Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation (read my review here). Just a look at the subtitles reveals the shift in emphasis in this second book. While Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry billed itself as a way for youth workers to develop a theology of incarnation, Relationships Unfiltered is touted as a practical book that will provide help for volunteers and parents to develop relationships with teenagers. For those who were fans of the first book, you may be worried that this second book is full of fluff and doesn’t have as much theological prowess as that original work.

You will likely be surprised. Although the book is obviously shorter than Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry (148 pages versus 221 pages, and the new book even has larger font ), the new book is still primarily a theological examination of relational youth ministry. Root has used more popular language and used a more casual tone, but the basic thesis and argument of this new book is identical to the first (which is why I am not really addressing the thesis of the book in this review; read my review of Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry for a summary of his thesis in both books). Just as his first book forged a new genre in the niche of youth ministry literature by deeply probing a single theological topic, this book may be the first popular level youth ministry book that seeks to ground its argument in theology. Most youth ministry books for laypeople do not contain as much theology as this one.

In my mind, this is the book that every small group leader and mentor needs to read. I have said before, and this book confirms it, that although youth ministry is not easy, it is not complicated, either. In fact, it is fairly simple. It has to do with loving Jesus and loving teenagers. What Root does in this book is tell us what it looks like to love teenagers: focus on the who instead of the how. Root says that the first questions for youth leaders is not How do we get kids to church? or How can we influence kids to be better Christians, but the first questions should always begin with who: Who is this teenager in my small group? Who are the marginalized in our community? Who is Jesus Christ in the lives of these students? Root says that How? questions do not properly attend to the humanity of the individual and instead focus on method. Root argues persuasively against this by grounding his approach in the theology of the incarnation.

For small churches with only a handful (or even less!) of teenagers, this book is good news! If Root is right, that means that the small church of 50 people with 2-3 teenagers is equipped to do youth ministry just as well as a larger church with full-time staff and buckets of volunteers. Success is not grounded in results, but in the relationships that can be built between loving adults and the teenagers in their midst. Surely any and all churches are able to pay attention to and value whatever teens are among them.

All that being said, this book is quite difficult for me to review. As someone who read, and enjoyed, Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry, it is hard for me to project how this book will be received by its intended audience, especially volunteers and parents. Some may find it impractical and still very dense theologically for their taste. Root repeatedly talks about the “mystery” of “the other” and “sharing in another’s humanity” all over the place and without a whole lot of explanation, especially early in the book. My fear is that people unfamiliar with such language will see it as superfluous or confusing, while in actuality is really drives his whole thesis. Perhaps more explanation of terminology like this earlier in the book would help the layperson unexposed to such language.

The real test for me will be how my volunteers respond to this book. When that happens, I will likely report back. Until then, I think this book is worth the risk. Buy it for your volunteers, parents, and mentors. Even if the book is a bit confusing, it will push them to think theologically about their method of doing youth ministry and likely challenge conventional wisdom. There are even discussion questions at the end of each chapter to guide groups as they reconsider their approach to ministry. Any time you get people talking theology, that is a good thing. And if this book does anything well, it is talking theology.

I would welcome your comments if you have read this book or if you have given it to volunteers or parents. What feedback have you received? If you have reviewed the book on your blog, feel free to post a link in the comments section.

From Eternity to Here Blog Tour

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Frank Viola is promoting his latest book, From Eternity to Here: Rediscovering the Ageless Purpose of God, on a multitude of blogs today. I have chosen to review the book, but others are featuring guest posts or posting an interview with Frank. To see a full list, scroll to the bottom of this post.

Frank Viola started rocking the boat with his book Pagan Christianity, which explores the pagan roots of many of todays accepted church practices. He followed that book up with Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity which, as the title suggests, seeks to deinstitutionalize the church and foster organic communities of faith. I have never read any of Viola’s previous books, but have only read about them (they were on my “to read list” but I never got around to them).

Viola says that From Eternity to Here is a much different kind of book:

Out of all of the books I have penned, this volume embodies the central burden of my life and ministry. My other volumes on radical church restoration… are dedicated to the practical outworking of the timeless insights contained in these pages. Consequently, this volume can rightly be regarded as my flagship book and a primer for all my previous works. (14)

The book is billed as being three volumes in one, but in reality none of the “volumes” stands to well on its own. To really understand the thrust of Viola’s argument you need to take the book together as a cohesive whole. Each section of the book develops a particular metaphor of the church, the first being the church as the “bride of Christ.” In this section Viola used romantic imagery, perhaps excessively so, to tell a cohesive story of romance as God pursues his Bride from Genesis to Revelation. In section two, the theme of the “house of God” is addressed. Drawing from Old Testament imagery of the temple as God’s dwelling place, Viola contends that the current dwelling place of God is in his church. This makes the church more than just a collection of individuals:

What the Father was to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is to His church (John 6:57, 20:21, etc.). The church is the habitation of God in the Spirit. This lifts the church out of “the mutual admiration society” up to the level of being the very body of Christ. The church has never been nor will it ever be a human institution. (163)

The final image that is explored is the church as the “body of Christ” and the “family of God.” The angle that Viola takes is to speak of the church as a “new species” of human beings, an alternative community, a peculiar people. This community is central to being a Christian, not an optional activity:

I cannot fully know Christ on my own. Neither can you. I must know Him through His body. I must know Him through my sisters and brothers. And so must you. But in order for us to know Christ through the members of His body, we have to get close to them. Christian community is God’s answer to that requirement. (264)

From Eternity to Here is a book that I desperately wanted to like. If you know me and my deep interest in ecclesiology and the nature of the church, all of this sounds right up my alley, and it is. In fact, most of the conclusions that Viola draws are spot-on in line with my ecclesiology. I loved how he was not afraid to put the level of emphasis on the church that he did. Many might shy away from saying some of the radical things that he does, but I think he is right in most places.

Unfortunately, there was simply something that left a bad taste in my mouth when it was all over. I did not much care for the way the book was written and his arguments were constructed. The first section outlining the bride of Christ went a bit too far in my estimation. He used overly romantic language and imagery where, in my opinion, it was not warranted. There was a mishmash of scripture translations quoted, something that always raises my eyebrows because it suggests that the translation that best makes the author’s point was used.

In places Viola was a bit sloppy theologically. He would say things like, “through [Christ's] death and resurrection, He became a life-giving Spirit” (161). In other places he affirmed the Trinity, but such quotes seemed to contradict that. As I said, he was not heretical, but I think places like this are simply sloppy and could mislead people to the real point that he is trying to make.

I could go on, as there were lots of little places as I read that I scribbled a question mark out in the margins because I questioned his exegesis, theology, or method of argument. While the conclusions that he draws are right on, wading through the rest of the book to get there is cumbersome. I’m afraid to say it, but there are really better books with which to spend your time on this topic.

OTHER BLOGS PARTICIPATING IN THE “FROM ETERNITY TO HERE” BLOG CIRCUIT

Today (June 9th), the following blogs are discussing Frank Viola’s new bestselling book “From Eternity to Here” (David C. Cook, 2009). The book just hit the May CBA Bestseller List. Some are posting Q & A with Frank; others are posting full reviews of the book. To read more reviews and order a copy at a 33% discount, go to Amazon.com. If you live in the USA, you can also visit your local Family Christian Store to grab a copy. They are having a special promotion this week.

For more resources, such as downloadable audios, the free Discussion Guide, the Facebook Group page, etc. go to the official website: http://www.FromEternitytoHere.org

Enjoy the reviews and the Q and A:

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Out of Ur – http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2009/05/viola.html

Shapevine – www.Shapevine.com (June newsletter)

Brian Berly – http://www.brianeberly.com

DashHouse.com – http://www.DashHouse.com/

Greg Boyd – http://www.gregboyd.org/blog/

Vision Advance – http://vision2advance.blogspot.com/

David Flowers – http://ddflowers.wordpress.com

Kingdom Grace – http://kingdomgrace.wordpress.com

Captain’s Blog – http://www.captainestes.blogspot.com/

Christine Sine – http://godspace.wordpress.com

Zoecarnate – http://zoecarnate.wordpress.com

Church Planting Novice – www.churchplantingnovice.wordpress.com

Staying Focused – http://kimmartinezstayingfocused.wordpress.com/

Take Your Vitamin Z – www.takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com

Jeff Goins – http://jeffgoins.myadventures.org

Bunny Trails – http://bunny-trails.blogspot.com

Matt Cleaver – http://216.172.176.119/~mattclea/

Jason T. Berggren – http://blog.jasonberggren.com/

Simple Church – http://www.simplechurchjournal.com/

Emerging from Montana – http://wordofmouthministries.blogspot.com/

Parable Life – http://www.theparablelife.blogspot.com

Oikos Australia – http://www.oikos.org.au/blog/

West Coast Witness – www.WestCoastWitness.com

Keith Giles – http://www.Keith.Giles.com

Consuming Worship — http://www.consumingworship.org

Tasha Via – www.tashavia.blogspot.com

Andrew Courtright – www.andrewcourtright.blogspot.com

ShowMeTheMooneys! – http://www.showmethemooneys.com/

Leaving Salem, Blog of Ronnie McBrayer – http://leavingsalem.wordpress.com/

Jason Coker – pastoralia.missionaltribe.org

From Knowledge to Wisdom – http://isthistheway.typepad.com/

Home Brewed Christianity – http://www.homebrewedchristianity.com

Dispossessed – http://kblog.kevinjbowman.com

Dandelion Seeds – http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Dandelionseeds

David Brodsky’s Blog- “Flip the tape Deck” – http://flipthetapedeck.blogspot.com/

Chaordic Journey – http://jeffrhodes.wordpress.com

Renee Martin – http://www.reneemartinmusic.com/profiles/blog/list

Bob Kuhn – http://organicchurchnola.wordpress.com/

Real Worship – http://therealworshipleader.com

Fervent Worship – http://ferventworship.blogspot.com

Julie Ferwerda Blog – www.JulieFerwerda.com / www.OneMillionArrows.com

What’s With Christina?! – http://w2christina.blogspot.com

On Now to the Third Level – www.080808onnowto.blogspot.com

Irreligious Canuck – http://www.irreligiouscanuck.com

This day on the journey – http://guychmieleski.blogspot.com

Live and Move: Thoughts on Authentic Christianity – http://liveandmove.blogspot.com/

Spiritual Journey With God – http://www.elvineve.blogspot.com/

Dries Conje – http://www.echurch.co.za / http://www.thejesusfeed.com / http://www.bookdisciple.com
Journey with Others – www.welcometomybrain.net

Breaking Point – http://marybethstockdale.wordpress.com

Hand to the Plough – http://www.handtotheplough.com.au

Jon Reid – http://gzmproductions.com/dlwebster

Searching for the Whole-Hearted Life – wholeheartedlife.blogspot.com

Book Review: Effective Youth Ministry by Roland Martinson

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Rollie Martinson’s book Effective Youth Ministry: A Congregational Approach offers a snapshot of leading youth ministry thought from the past. Published in 1988, the material contains both timeless foundations for youth ministry alongside some now anachronistic suggestions for implementation. Though he is currently Academic Dean at Luther Seminary, Martinson was Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at the time of the book’s writing. This works draws from his insights as a Lutheran pastor and as an academic within the field of youth ministry.

In the book Martinson seeks to provide a primer for a theologically grounded approach to youth ministry. He begins his opening chapter by stating that

Youth ministry starts with an “intentional” theology. This means that perspectives and programs need to be constructed on the foundations of the Christian faith. The results of this construction will vary from tradition to tradition and church to church. Universal agreement is not the goal. The goal is a youth ministry shaped by the gospel as understood by one’s own theological tradition and its interpretation to Scripture. (11)

Because of this theological foundation, youth ministry is foundationally no different in any other ministry of the church: it seeks to be constructed upon the pillars of the Christian faith first and foremost and then secondarily adapted and crafted towards nurturing faith in youth. In setting a theological foundation, the first chapter contains ten myths and corresponding foundations to help set the stage for the rest of the book. This initial section could be the most helpful for congregations whose conceptions about youth ministry involve isolating youth from the rest of the congregation, making sure youth keep “busy,” and trying to hire the perfect youth minister. For example, “Myth six suggests that youth ministry must be done by individuals who have youthfulness, charisma, and magic!” (16). He counters this myth with the foundation that youth ministry is best done by a diverse group of people rooted in the theological premise that the Spirit gives different gifts to different people, and youth would benefit from ministry amidst all of these gifts. The opening chapter really breaks down popular misconceptions and builds up theological foundations in their place, which will be the crucial building blocks for long-term success. The second chapter lays out further theological foundations for ministry after this initial brush clearing.

Martinson also includes what seems to be the obligatory chapter on adolescent development, mining from the fields of biology, sociology, and psychology. Stalwarts in adolescent theory like Erik Erikson, Carol Gilligan, and James Fowler are summarized and then translated into implications for ministry. Since the adolescent is wrestling with the questions of “Who am I?” and “Where do I belong?” Martinson suggests that ministries and churches are uniquely positioned to let teenagers know they are unique and valuable long before they realize their own worth (47).

The importance of understanding youth culture is also highlighted, and parts of this chapter date the book (Martinson informs us that “The ‘box,’ a large, portable stereo, has become a symbol of their culture” [60].) But on the whole, Martinson’s assertions are still applicable to today: youth still have their own culture and are still a highly marketed demographic. The only change might be that youth culture has actually gained in its wider cultural influence and significance in the past twenty years.

Practical suggestions fill the book, and are most prominent in the final six chapters as Martinson outlines strategies for organizing a youth ministry, getting a youth ministry started from scratch, and providing suggestions for possible activities that will reinforce his desire for theologically grounded ministry. From how long Youth Committee chairs’ terms should be to getting youth involved in worship, Martinson offers nuts-and-bolts ideas that can be developed and implemented right away. In the appendix he offers helpful tools and surveys for processing some of his suggestions.

One of the most striking drawbacks to the book is its lack in many places of tying together the importance of the theological with the practical. Both sides are present in the book, no doubt. But their relationship to one another seems a bit distanced. It could almost be read as two separate books: one book on a theology of youth ministry and another on youth ministry ideas. There are times when he seems to simply be listing practical suggestions for the sake of practicality but not grounding them in any sort of theological convictions. One such case is in his suggestion for the use clown ministry. Though he uses the theological justification of getting youth involved in ministry to children, and thereby integrating them with the rest of the congregation, he does not engage the practice of clown ministry itself theologically. What does it communicate to children about God when you have a clown ministry? Might you unintentionally communicate through clown ministry that God is not to be taken seriously? Questions such as these are theological engagements of the elements of ministry. Had he taken this next step in illustrating that we need not just theological principles, like integrating youth into the congregation, but also showed us how to evaluate our practices by making us question how we integrate youth into the congregation, Martinson would have offered a deeply robust theological treatise for youth ministry. Perhaps for brevity’s sake he did not make this next step, which is unfortunate.

Another critique lies in his admonition to study youth culture. It would have been helpful for him to emphasize more explicitly the value of knowing the youth in your congregation before studying youth culture. Years of youth ministry have made it clear to me that knowing the youth in my midst and spending time with them is much more fruitful in cultural insight than watching popular TV shows and listening to music popular among youth. This is a common admonition in youth ministry texts that could stand some correction.

The practical suggestions in the book were a bit too prescriptive at times. Especially when talking about the structure of the youth ministry, Martinson left little room for imagining a structure without youth committees, elected officials, and chairpersons. Even going so far as to tell how long the Youth Committee Chair should serve, he uses words like “legislative” and “judicial” to describe the functions of various bodies and committees at the church. He mentioned almost no room for creativity or adaptation depending upon one’s context. It could be argued that such structures today are often more of a hindrance than a tool to train, equip, and release people for youth ministry.

Though the book is now over twenty years old, the majority of the book is based off of theological insights that transcend time. As far as introductory primers on youth ministry, it is nearly as good as popular youth ministry books published during the past five years. With some minor updating the book could be a timely contribution to the growing body of literature that is helping to reshape and re-imagine youth ministry in the twenty-first century. The book is valuable because its anachronisms force the reader to focus on the foundational principles rather than whatever the latest trends in culture might be. Perhaps Martinson should consider writing “Effective Youth Ministry 2.0.”

Book Review: The End of Christendom and the Future of Christianity

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I just finished another book I have to read for class, and this time it is Douglas John Hall’s The End of Christendom and the Future of Christianity. I believe this class is more skewed towards ecclesiology, so I assume the instructor assigned this brief book (it’s only sixty-six pages, and has small pages at that) to get everyone on the same general page regarding the state of Christendom in our world.

For most of you who read my blog regularly, this book is likely not worth your time. Written in 1997, he is making the argument that Christendom is over and that its demise will be a good thing for the church. Since I think that most of us already know and agree with that, the book will likely be preaching for the choir. I am more interested in books that assume the demise of Christendom and are helping us to think about new ways of approaching the church in such a context.

Not only is the book a little dated, but it is quite dry. This book is a collection of four short lectures, and they read about like someone presenting at an American Academy of Religion meeting. I was disappointed in this book because I thoroughly enjoyed reading another of his books, The Cross in Our Context: Jesus and the Suffering World. In fact, this later book written in 2003 is much more helpful in regard to guiding us in the midst of a Christendom-less world, so buy it instead. The End of Christendom might have been helpful in its day, but it is much less so now.

Book Review: Strengths-Based Leadership

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I recommend Strengths-Based Leadership over Strengths Finder 2.0

Quick Summary:

  • Strengths-Based Leadership includes a code to take the StrengthsFinder inventory, the exact same one you take when you purchase StrengthsFinder 2.0.
  • Strengths-Based Leadership teaches you how to lead with your strengths and how to lead others depending on their strengths. It also gives overviews of all the different strengths.
  • Because of this, Strengths-Based Leadership offers the basic value of StrengthsFinder 2.0 plus insights into leadership. So, I recommend Strengths-Based Leadership to people over StrengthsFinder 2.0.

I just finished reading Strengths-Based Leadership for a class I have to take in June, and I must say that, though brief, the book provides some great insights into leadership. What made the book more interesting is that it confirmed some of my suspicions of my own leadership abilities.

The book is one of many based off of Gallup’s research in personal strengths, a popular business and management tool. The idea behind the “strengths movement” is to help people play towards their natural strengths, not their weaknesses. Gallup’s research shows that most people will always be bad at certain things. The key to effective work is to maximize your ability to use your strengths. Though it is not a distinctly Christian book, you can see how such an idea lines up with the conviction that God has created and gifted individuals in a unique way.

Whereas StrengthsFinder 2.0 helps individuals to discover and maximize their personal strengths, Strengths-Based Leadership takes it one step further and applies your strengths to leadership. The idea is to take Gallup’s StrengthsFinder assessment (a unique access code is provided in every book), discover your top five strengths, and then understand how those strengths influence your ability to lead. The discoveries of Gallup’s leadership research are quite interesting. A few tidbits:

  • There is no ideal makeup of strengths in a leader. Rather, it is more important that people know themselves and surround themselves with people that have complementary, not similar, strengths.
  • There are four main styles of leadership: executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking. Gallup categorizes the 34 possible strengths into these four styles of leadership. The more strengths you have in each category, the more likely you are to lead in that particular style (I’m a heavy strategic thinker according to the assessment).
  • Great leaders understand their followers needs.
  • People look for four main traits in a leader: trust, compassion, stability and hope.

Though the book is listed as over 250 pages long, only the first 95 pages are worth reading as you would a normal book. These pages contain brief chapters on broad trends and application of the leadership insights broken down into three sections: investing in your own strengths, maximizing your team, and understanding why people follow. Included is also an interesting section that highlights four highly influential leaders who lead in each of the four different leadership styles.

The rest of the book is mostly an explanation of how to lead using each of the thirty-four strengths. I found some of their suggestions to be a bit cheesy and almost obvious. If the idea is to lead from your strengths, you will likely be doing what they suggest in the first place because it comes naturally. The really helpful parts are the sections that tell you how to lead someone with a particular strength, since most people will have different strengths than you.

Though the book is filled with a bit of fluff, the price isn’t bad ($16.47 at Amazon.com) since it gives you access to their very helpful StrengthsFinder assessment. Some companies run their businesses and offices with huge emphasis on this assessment: requiring employees to take the assessment, posting people’s strengths on office doors, hiring people according to what strengths a department is lacking, etc. While I don’t think a church or ministry should go quite that far, there is some good insight to be gained from the strengths movement. This assessment does remind us that God has created and wired us differently and gives us a tool to name exactly how God has done that. I would suggest you pick up the book and apply it where it makes sense, but use it discerningly. Starting a strengths-based ministry would likely be taking it a bit too far.

Book Review: Enough by Will Samson

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I’m quite conflicted about this latest book by Will Samson, Enough: Contentment in an Age of Excess. It has all the makings of a great book, including a forward by Shane Claiborne and blurbs by Brian McLaren and Matthew Sleeth. The structure and premise of the book are quite promising: Samson attempts to use eucharistic theology to critique the west’s addiction to consumption. He begins the book with a brilliant metaphor about what it would feel like if people were wasteful with communion at church one Sunday, over-consumed their fair share, and because of that they ran out of bread and wine before you got your chance to partake. Essentially, Samson is saying that there should be enough resources for everyone to go around, just like there always is at the communion table (or in the communion plate). He goes back to this Eucharistic theology often, but I feel like he could have made clearer, more detailed tie-ins to how eucharist should shape our lives. Most assertions are simply that the eucharist should mean this or that, but it seems as if the why is left out at times.

The book is immensely readable and strikes at deep and important topics, but I feel that many of them do not get the treatment they deserve. As someone who feels fairly familiar with the arguments Samson is making in the book I caught some of the undercurrents of various topics that he skims over, but I wonder if someone unfamiliar with this conversation will be persuaded. I really think the book could literally be twice as long as it’s current 160 pages and still be just as readable and even more helpful.

Samson outlines some possible reasons why we have gotten ourselves into the mess we are in (well, he also lets people know we are in a mess, in case you didn’t already know), giving a bit of a historical and theological big picture of the consumption problem most of us find ourselves in. Then he moves on to give some practical tips to helping combat this problem, which is one of the sections that could easily be expanded. He then offers us a picture of what it might look like if our churches lived in such a way that we really did believe that we have enough. All three sections are done quite well, but they almost all left me wanting for more.

The one thing I do appreciate about Will is his integrity. He was living the American dream, and then decided what he was doing wasn’t sustainable. This book is sort of a capstone of moving away from certain values of suburban America and trying to live faithful lives dictated by values of the kingdom. For this reason, I think the book is likely worth your time, especially if you are looking for a brief, readable primer on a Christian perspective on consumption.

Book Review: Tell it Slant by Eugene Peterson

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I think just about everyone needs to read Eugene Peterson, especially if you are in professional ministry. He speaks with a wisdom and levelheadedness that few possess. Especially for those of us wide-eyed, idealistic, naive, young youth ministry types, his perspective is a necessary balance.

Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers is the fourth book in his five-part series on spiritual theology (others being Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading, and The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way). If you have not read the others, I would start with at least the first one, as I think it is the best out of the four written so far. But Tell It Slant may just be the second best out of the four. It is Peterson at his best: taking both common and obscure passages of scripture (sadly, there are such things as obscure passages) and putting an imaginative spin on them. His style is not exactly exegetical; he captures the narrative and the emotion inherent in most biblical texts, and this book is no exception.

The title of the book comes from a poem by Emily Dickenson (Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places is also titled after a poem), and Peterson takes “telling it slant” to mean a gradual, tangental approach to speech, because “There are many occasions when the imperious or blunt approach honors neither our God nor our neighbor. Unlike raw facts, truth, especially personal truth, requires the cultivation of unhurried intimacies” (4). In the book, he has one main objective:

I want to tear down the fences that we have erected between language that deals with God and language that deals with people around us. It is, after all, the same language.

He does this in two ways: first by examining Jesus’ parables as he travels through Samaria in Luke 9:51-19:27. Many of these parables are familiar, some less so. But in every case he opens up a unique, fresh, imaginative perspective. The prodigal son, perhaps the most famous parable, is among those Jesus tells in this Samaritan journey, and even it is spoken of creatively, yet faithfully.

Secondly, Peterson examines Jesus’ prayers, prayers like the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, and the prayers from the cross. The second to last chapter is one of the finest, as it takes the last seven recorded sayings of Jesus and presents them as prayer. This is a highly unusual way to see these final words of Jesus, but they drive Peterson’s thesis home:

I want to participate in prayers that don’t sound like prayers. Prayers that in the praying aren’t identified as prayers. Praying without ceasing. I don’t mean to say that all our words and silences are, in themselves, prayer, only that they can be. (268)

I have never read a book by Eugene Peterson that was not worth my time. This one is no exception.

Best Youth Ministry Books: Youth Ministry 3.0 by Mark Ostreicher

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Yesterday I finally read Youth Ministry 3.0 by Mark Ostreicher, and since I’m one of the latecomers to the conversation I won’t summarize the book too much. Marko has linked to tons of reviews on his blog if you are interested in more in-depth summaries.

If you are fairly in-tune with a lot of the latest conversations around the ineffectiveness of youth ministry then this book will not be much of an eye-opener. You could actually turn to page 78, read the chart on that page, and then pick up reading from there without missing too much. However, if you think youth ministry is rockin’ along, you just finished polishing the 60-inch plasma in the youth room, and are stoked you booked David Crowder to come to your DiscipleNow weekend, then start reading with the forward.

In the sixth chapter, Marko talks about some ways in which to get to a Youth Ministry 3.0 and suggests things like:

  • Contextualize
  • Get Small
  • Help Students Experience God
  • Be Communional (hey, read the book if you don’t know what it means)
  • Be a Missionary
  • Help Students be Missional
  • Don’t be Driven

I am in almost total agreement with Marko’s description of the past and where we are currently and his prescription for a move into the future. This is a down-to-earth, readable, brief (125 pages with largish print), imaginative book that should begin to move youth ministry in the proper direction.

For this reason, I’m including it in my “Best Youth Ministry Books” category. The book succeeds at doing what it has set out to do, which is convince us that youth ministry is failing and we need to set a new course. This book would be a great way to get parents, volunteers, church staff, or even older youth involved in the conversation of moving into a 3.0 style of ministry.

So, this book is helpful in that respect. Now, here’s where the book let me down.

As I read it, the book was structured in such a way to say that youth ministry’s forms have adapted to the culture. The reason that we are failing is because youth ministry has not moved along with adolescent culture into the third epoch. Thus, the effectiveness of youth ministry is tied to its ability to make changes in line with the culture.

I have a problem with this cultural definition of success. Essentially, the book seems to be saying that our ecclesiology needs to be informed by the culture. I disagree, and I’m going to get nit-picky here.

Yes, postmodernism has created a cultural shift, but the reason it has done so is because our assumptions about modernism were faulty. Modernism failed. Postmodernism is a critique of the modern emphasis on a scientific, objective, rational epistemology. Why this matters for the church is because we cannot separate epistemology from our hermeneutics, which means we read the Bible differently than before (and I would say, better). Our assumptions are changing about what it means to do and be the Church. This is as much an ecclesiological shift as it is a youth ministry shift.

I wish the book would have spoken more towards some of these deeper issues. We are literally rethinking some of the ontological assumptions about the church, not just how to change the medium through which we proclaim a timeless message. Part of the message is changing. The gospel is no longer a message the the church proclaims, but it is a message that the church bears in it’s essence. We are relearning what Paul meant when he said the church was the Body of Christ and that we are a people of the Spirit. The radical quote by Bonhoeffer that “The church is the presence of Christ in the same way that Christ is the presence of God” is starting to take root.

By making the argument a cultural one, we can say that youth ministry 1.0 was a good thing, youth ministry 2.0 was a good thing, and youth ministry 3.0 will be a good thing because they were simply cultural adaptations. No one’s toes get stepped on that way.

To make the claim that there are ontological shifts occurring in our ecclesiology is to suggest that part of the old way was wrong. I know it’s a bold thing to say, but I think it needs to be said.

That’s not to say that youth ministry 3.0 and the wider ecclesiology that it fits into will be perfect. But I am saying that we won’t be wrong in the same way that the modern church was. The movement that comes after us will likely show us where we were wrong and missing the boat.

Marko has written a book that does a good job for most of our churches at getting people up-to-speed in only 126 pages. Because of that, I will likely buy it in bulk and hand it out. But I will also push people beyond the cultural argument made in the book and try and get at the deeper theological issues that are changing the way we think about our faith.