[rating:4.0]
( Boise: Russell Media, 2012)
267 pgs
I have been looking forward to this book! I have known Jeff since we were both youth (In other words, a long time!). He has always been somewhat unconventional. As a church planter, I watched him mature. I listened as he evaluated the current way “church” was being done. I also saw him “take one for the team” when he had the courage to try things others wanted to do, but didn’t yet have the courage to do. This book is about being a kingdom minded Christian and about being a church that is kingdom-focused rather than self (or brand) focused.
Jeff lays out the problem up front: “Sure, we may now have more large churches than any other time in Christian history, but if you dig a little deeper you discover there are fewer people attending church today than before the church growth movement began discipling our leaders en masse thirty years ago. We are working hard. What is wrong?” (17). He asks: “What about the disciple? Maybe that’s the wrong descriptor. How about “church member” or “church attendee” or, perhaps, consumer?” (17).
Jeff was reared under men like my father and my father’s first mission pastor, Jack Conner. So it is not a surprise he stays God-focused. Throughout the book, Christopherson challenges the church growth movement assumptions. He claims: “He (God) assumes the entire responsibility for His kingdom plans” (18). In the first chapter, Jeff tells a marvelous story about his father Alan (19-23). The book is worth the purchase price for this story alone. He tells about an ordinary businessman who sought to invest in God’s kingdom. Yet it took him over 40 years before he learned about how much his investment had paid off.
The first section of the book addresses “Deconstructing Christian Mythology” (25ff). In the following pages Jeff challenges common assumptions by the church that have been crippling its effectiveness. These include: The myth of the third kingdom, the myth of church growth, and the myth of kingdom turf.
Jeff has never been very “wishy washy” in his opinions! Concerning the “third kingdom” he states: “At any given moment I am either expanding the Kingdom of God or the Dominion of Darkness. Period” (27) He adds: “Every decision we make is inspired by, and advances the agenda of one of these two Kingdoms. There is no neutral territory” (28).
Concerning the “myth of church growth,” he notes: “It is possible to participate in church expansion and unintentionally be an agent for shrinking the Kingdom of God” (43). He offers a devastating critique on those pastors, driven by ego, who focus on the numbers sitting in their pews, while they are actually harming God’s kingdom instead of expanding it. Jeff was the lead pastor at The Sanctuary, a church planting network in the Toronto area. In his first year, his team simultaneously planted four churches (49). They built it into their DNA to give themselves away. He understood that the local church was not meant to be the “goal” but the “tool” (50). He takes the customary swipe at Constantine and notes that “Hell’s solution to the problem of the Christian revolution was consolidation. In 313 A.D. we became a world-class religion. The movement was over in one edict of preservation” (64).
Throughout the book, Jeff uses charts and systems (hence the term “Matrix”). For some like me, who like ideas, the charts can at times seem a bit much. But Jeff balances those with his sardonic wit and withering critique of the status quo. He has a number of thought-provoking comments such as; “Prayer is a channel, not a source. I don’t believe in the power of prayer. I believe in the power of our omnipotent God who spoke a universe into existence” (97). Jeff also challenges the simplistic “sinner’s prayer.” He notes: “In all of our evangelical fervor, we have made a costly error in our theology; for many, we have reduced the cost of discipleship to a mere rehearsing of a magical prayer” (99).
Once Christopherson deconstructs current church practices, he seeks to construct it in a more biblical model. He uses four quadrants for his “kingdom matrix (109 ff). He lists two kingdoms: The Dominion of Darkness, and The Kingdom of God. He then has two additional categories of “Sacred” and “Secular.” He then shows how these four categories intersect. He discusses what a “Kingdom Seeker” is (118). He also claims that the church needs both “orthodoxy” as well as “orthopraxy” (124-125). I also naturally appreciated his references to my father, Jack Conner, and Experiencing God (150-151). Jeff witnessed Henry Blackaby and Jack Conner freely giving themselves and their resources away, and dramatically impacting God’s kingdom in the process!
Jeff tells some great stories throughout the book. His story of his church giving its last $5,000 to another church, even though they could not make their own payroll, will challenge readers to consider how “radical” they are about giving themselves away (158). He argues: “Individualism is much too self-centered of an aspiration to be fanned by a Kingdom Source” (193).
Once Christopherson has presented a better way, he notes: “Like emaciated prisoners of war, our churches too often lack spiritual fortitude to be a healing agent to its own constituency let alone a preserving force to the communities it claims to serve” (230-231). But then he concludes: “How can we experience the Power of this Truth?” (231). He offers several suggestions including: “We must toss our plans in order to know God’s plan” (231). “We must resist the dark temptation of Good Stewardship” (231). “We must cooperate with the spiritual reality of death ushering life” (232).
Jeff offers a number of suggestions on healthy, kingdom focused, churches. He notes that there are four marks of a “Kingdomcentric church” (264). These are: New believers, new disciple-makers, new communities of faith, and transforming communities.”
This is a great read. If you have grown up in the traditional “church culture” of the Bible belt, you will feel pushed and pulled throughout the book. You might even be offended by this Yankee meddling in your church affairs! If you have been functioning in a more post-church culture, then you will find that his comments resonate with your experience and you will be grateful that someone has stated what you have experienced so clearly and compellingly. But for every Christian who is legitimately concerned with the expansion of God’s kingdom, this is a book you need to read!
by Richard Blackaby