Movements That Change the World [Paperback]

The Forgotten Ways surveyed church history, systems theory, and the practices of adaptive leadership in the context of recovering a missional ecclesiology and missional practice. Movements That Change the World eschews the systems perspective for a social-historical survey of missional movements that have changed their world. It also incorporates some organizational theory, in particular the adaptive leadership perspective.

Addison is working at integration of theory and practice and does an admirable job. Overall his work is both inspiring and convicting: we in the west are in deep trouble and the maps we used in the recent past do not show us the way forward. Will we relearn dependence on the Holy Spirit in this liminal place?

Steve is intent on driving home his message: our task is to make disciples and to transform our world. And that is done primarily by means of living, vibrant and dedicated individuals who are part of dynamic movements. While Steve comes close to denigrating theological education, he never quite tips over that edge, but instead simply points to the data: an educated and professional clergy has always limited the expansion of the church. Dynamic movements, Hirsch or Roxburgh would remind us, always surf the edge of chaos. The balance between design and emergence, Word and Spirit, is not achieved in classrooms but by risky adventurers who are out there on the edge following the cloud.

Steve describes five common features of vibrant moves of God, and these also comprise the five chapters of the book: a white hot faith; commitment to a cause; contagious relationships; rapid mobilization; and adaptive methods. In contrast to modern trust in technology, reason and sociology, it is not money, great plans and strategies, large numbers, or academic qualifications that will ensure the spread of the gospel and the transformation of the places we live. Rather it is radical dependence on the Spirit, radical commitment to Jesus and a passion for his kingdom that will produce expansion.
Steve notes numerous individuals and groups which exemplified these traits. These include the Moravians under Zinzendorf, St Patrick, Floyd McClung and the Dilaram House movement, Wesley and the Methodists, William Carey, Tim Keller, Ralph Moore, persecuted but thriving believers in Communist China, and many others.

I was struck again by the parallel between LTGs, Zinzendorf's bands, and the triads being employed by groups like Life on the Vine. FORGE Canada will also use triads to anchor discipleship and formation on mission. There is no better way to grow people than putting them face to face.

The last third of the book engaged me the most. It consists of two sections: Rapid Mobilization and Adaptive Methods. Steve opens with a quote from a contractor who is less interested in the buildings than in building builders. This kind of vision and passion is the sort that forms dynamic movements.

Steve relates a conversation with Des Nixon, who added an extension on his home. "I don't build buildings, Steve.. I build builders." Des has a kingdom vision and a plan to multiply himself. Steve follows this conversation with a look at the Methodist circuit riders and the explosive growth of the movement in the United States up to 1850. Then he summarizes some of the work of Roland Allen in The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church (a primary missions document and if you haven't read it, find it).

Roland Allen describes seven ways to inhibit growth and expansion.
1. when paid foreign professionals are primarily responsible to spread the gospel, causing the gospel to be seen as a foreign intrusion
2. when the church is dependent on foreign funds and leadership. "How can a man propagate a religion which he cannot support and which he cannot expect those whom he addresses to support?"
3. when the spread of the gospel is controlled out of fear of error, and both error and godly zeal are suppressed
4.when it is believed that the church is to be founded , educated, equipped, and established in the doctrine, ethics and organization before it is to expand
5. when emerging leaders are restricted from ministering until they are fully trained and so learn the lesson of inactivity and dependency
6. when conversion is seen as the result of clever argument rather than the power of Christ
7. when professional clergy control the ministry and discourage the spontaneous zeal of non-professionals. They may protect the new believers from charlatans (Acts 8:9-24) but they also block unconventional leaders like Peter the fisherman.

This section closes with a look at Ralph Moore and the Hope Chapel movement. I love this, "we're not smart, we're relentless." I was also caught by the simple little formula employed in the mini churches of Hope Chapel while reviewing bible material, echoing the Great Commandment:

What did you learn (head)
What did God say to you (heart)
What will you do (hands)

The final section, Adaptive Methods, opens with this great quote from Eric Hoffer (I had previously attributed to Al Rogers, so who knows?)

In times of drastic change, it is the learners
who inherit the future.
The learned find themselves well equipped
to live in a world that no longer exists.

Why are adaptive methods so important? Steve writes,
"A key to the success of Pentecostalism has been its ability to bring together super-naturalism and pragmatism in a curiously compatible marriage. The intense religious experiences that vie rise to new movements would remain fleeting unless they are embodied in some form of human organization. This presents every new movement with a dilemma - how to give the "charismatic moment" expression in social forms without extinguishing it." (107)

This is the problem addressed in part by Howard Synder in The Problem of Wineskins, and later by Charles Hummel in Fire in the Fireplace. It is the ongoing tension between design and emergence, Word and Spirit. Steve points out that sustaining a dynamic movement requires that we live in the tension between passion and discipline. A little later he notes that the decline of movements is often due to the "failure of success." It simply becomes too costly - too risky - for some organizations to adapt. There is too much to protect - position, rank, authority, etc.

Steve closes the chapter with a note on the Adaptive Methods of Jesus.

In the conclusion (121ff) Steve relates a meeting with Oscar Muriu, pastor of the Nairobi Chapel in Kenya. This man was so successful at raising up and equipping new leaders that he faced a problem: his church of four thousand was filled with leaders. He knew that they would become bored and frustrated unless something happened, so he divided his church of four thousand into five churches, and sent many of the best interns out as church planters. He sent experienced elders, most of them in their thirties, to support the church planters. This was the birth of a church planting movement that now has more than 25 congregations eight years later.

Steve asked Oscar how he figured this out. Oscar's reply: "You don't have to be clever. I just copy. I look at Scripture and ask, `What did Jesus do?'" Then he made a statement that Steve won't forget: "Steve, I don't plant churches. I grow sons." And some of his best "sons" are daughters - about half his interns are women.

The author, Steve Addison, is passionate about movements. Addison has been a student of movements for more than a decade - and it shows in this book.

Addison approaches Christianity as a movement, not a static religion. He uses a wide variety of sources - historical, contemporary, sociological, and the life of Jesus Himself - to develop 5 pillars that movements rest on:

1. White Hot Faith - movements begin with men and women who encounter the living God and surrender in loving obedience to his call.

2. Commitment To A Cause - movements require a high degree of commitment from themselves and from one another.

3. Contagious Relationships - movements spread rapidly, through preexisting networks of relationships.

4. Rapid Mobilization - movements grow leaders from the people reached - usually unpolished, non-funded, or centrally-controlled.

5. Adaptive Methods - movements keep the heart of the Gospel but adapt the forms to fit the context.

Each chapter explores one of these characteristics. The stories are fascinating. Addison includes historical examples from Saint Patrick, John Wesley, Zinzenforf and the Moravians, Azusa Street, Francis Asbury, and William Carey. Contemporary examples include, Ralph Moore, Neil Cole, Floyd McClung, Sydney's Anglican diocese, Chinese church planters, and "Des the builder." Addison also takes a close look at how Jesus modeled and lived out each of the 5 characteristics of movements, after all, He started the largest movement in history.

One last note, the bibliography in the back of the book is hugely helpful for anyone wanting to study deeper about movements. Addison divides the resources into sections on biblical/missiological, historical, sociological, organizational, and contemporary.

Easy to read and with a brilliant mix of researched "meat" and inspirational stories, Movements That Change The World will have broad appeal.

I give this book a "highly recommended" not just for the rich story-telling and inspiration. It puts the spotlight in the right place by examining the core of what the church really is: something that is powerfully and organically alive; something that loses its very essence when it is no longer a Spirit-led movement.

The book is filled with stories that keep the pages turning with a message that is both simple and profound: the church--in it's essence--is a movement: "Jesus did not come to found a religious organization. He came to found a missionary movement that would spread to the ends of the earth."

The author offers five characteristics of missionary movements and illustrates each of these points with wonderful story-telling. He brings to life Wesley and Methodism, Patrick and the Celtic missionary movement, the Moravians, as well as many other known and not-so-known movements and movement-starters. From these stories he brings clarity to the five characteristics of movements that the book focuses on: white-hot faith, commitment to a cause, contagious relationships, rapid mobilization, and adaptive methods.

This is a book for today, for those who long to see the church unleashed.