Will Mancini

While my mind is on CAVE dwellers from yesterday’s post, I thought I would pass on this top ten list I saw on Josh Reich’s blog, a young pastor in Tuscon. Below is his post on a book by Bob Franquiz entitled, Zero to Sixty. It has a chapter on
Church Hoppers. Here is how to spot a church hopper and what they
mean (my favorite is the last one):

1. “But my old church…” This usually means they want your church to be like their old
church.

2. “I just need time to be fed.” This means, “I don’t want to do anything. I’m here
just to sit and see what I can get out of this church, so don’t expect me to
serve in any way, shape, or form.

3. “I’m looking for a church that teaches the Word.” This means, “I’m looking for a
church that dispenses lots of information without challenging me to do
anything.”

4. “We came here because we are looking for deep teaching.” This usually means their
last church focused too much on actually obeying the Word. They want a church
that just talks about the Rapture, the Second Coming, who the Hittites were and
the identity of Theophilus.

5. “I should know my pastor.” This means, “In my last church, I got to know the
pastor, but when the church grew, and the pastor couldn’t have dinner with us
every Tuesday night, I left and came here.”

6. “We want a church that’s focused on discipling people.” This means, “I want a
church that’s focused on me, not people who are lost.”

7. “I wish you wouldn’t focus so much on what people need to do.” This means they
don’t like commitment, they don’t like to be told the Bible actually tells them
how to live and follow Jesus. They want to come to church, live in their sin
and have no one tell them this is wrong.

8. “I wish you wouldn’t talk about money.” This is the best way to tell a pastor “I
don’t give.”

9. “My old church/pastor was…” The way people come to your church is how they will
leave. If your first conversation with them is all about their last church and
pastor, that is how they will leave your church and how they will go to their
next church.

10. “Pastor, I’ve been talking to a lot of people and they all say…” Translation: “Me, my spouse and my mother think…” If they start this way, 99.9% of the time they have no one else who thinks this way, it is just the best way to complain. If someone has a complaint and uses this line with me, they need to list all of the names or my best assumption is they talked to the same person 10 times.

C.A.V.E. dwellers are people Consistently Against Virtually Everything and they are alive and well in most churches. In fact a recent study by a Gallop guy named Albert Winseman says that 17% of the average church is made up of these "actively disengaged" people. 

The troubling observation for me is that church leaders get so accustomed to these people, they take them for granted and live with toxin in culture rather than dealing with it. I am often asked to advise on tactics- worship or small group or technology best practices.  Leaders look for right answers to advance their vision.  The newsflash is: If you don't know how to deal with CAVE dwellers it doesn't matter how good your tactics might be, because there will always be an enthusiasm drag and energy drain holding the vision back. 

Winseman in his book, Growing an Engaged Church, advises. "Your job as a leader is not to placate the actively disengaged.  It is to create and grow disciples." His answer is to focus on the engaged- don't get distracted trying to please the squeaky wheels! 

But ignoring these negative folks is not enough. Great leaders know how to dialogue with wisdom and grace until one of two things occur.  Either disengaged people must convert and eventually become contributors or they must leave (in an effort to find somewhere else they CAN engage.)

It's the leaders choice to let people sing off key, or to bring beautiful harmony into the world.  

Max Lucado says that writing a book is like giving birth to barbwire. His words as a prolific author encouraged me through the pangs of writing Church Unique.

But as hard as it is to write a book, the hardest thing to do afterwards is reading a poorly written one. Writing forces you to think differently about how you read. Recently, I have been excited about a few books, only to put them down, discouraged by a lack of coherent thought and skilled writing.

That observation sets the stage for why I am posting a Church Unique endorsement from a particular pastor who is a great writer himself- Bruce Miller. Bruce pastors McKinney Fellowship and has written The Leadership Baton and Your Life in Rythm. Bruce leads with great thoughtfulness and discipline.  As a long-time protege of Gene Getz, he launched from Fellowship Bible Church in Dallas years ago to plant McKinney Fellowship- a church that grew to 2,000 in weekend attendance in 10 years.

Today Bruce shot over an endorsement for which I am grateful:

Having read many books on church life, mission and strategy, I wondered if Mancini would offer anything new. He surprised me. Church Unique is outstanding. Frankly, at first, after a quick scan, I wrongly dismissed it as one more lightweight marketing/branding book.  In fact I was not sold on the need to focus on being a unique local church.

However, chapter after chapter took me deeper than I anticipated, challenged me more than I expected and inspired me more than I expected. Well done. I am convinced that we need to discover our uniqueness, clarify it and magnify it. Mancini’s Church Unique deserves a wide reading by thoughtful church leaders passionate for the cause of Christ.

My journey into Frank Viola’s writing began a few months ago when I met Frank at a gathering of authors and thinkers. Today there is a “blog circuit” happening where dozens of thought leaders are posting on his important work, entitled From Eternity to Here

The best thing about Frank’s work is way he both challenges and inspires.  Frank knows how to stretch your mind and poke your heart.  He brought fresh insight in From Eternity to Here that had my spirit buzzing in worship.

He says that this book “embodies the central burden of my life and ministry,” as it looks at the mission of God in four unique ways:

1. It defines the mission of God from God’s eternal purpose
2. It emphasizes the corporate aspect of divine mission over the individualistic
3. It presents a fresh look at the motive and source of Christian service
4. It expands our vision of mission beyond the sense of “voluntary association for the saved”

There is a lot I could say about this work, but for now, I will share some thoughts from other you may know as a way to celebrate this book today.  The first section on the church as the bride of Christ is worth 10 times more than the price of the book.

“Of all the sticks of TNT that Frank Viola has launched into a sleepy, status quo church, this grenade has the most explosive potential to make the church unashamed of the gospel and to release God’s dynamic power for salvation.” Leonard Sweet, Drew University, George Fox University

“Frank continues to challenge the church-at-large with a powerful mind, an impassioned voice, and a love for the Bride of Christ. You need to get this book and wrestle with Frank through the biblical passages regarding our identity in Christ as His body and the mission our God has entrusted to us.” Ed Stetzer, author of Breaking the Missional Code

“As Viola unfolds the glorious story of God’s quest for a bride, readers will find their imaginations inspired and their lives transformed. The sheer beauty of God’s magnificent plan compels our allegiance and revolutionizes our lives. This re-telling of the ‘old, old story’ is a much needed gift to the church today.” Greg Boyd, pastor, theologian, and author of Letters from a Skeptic, Myth of a Christian Nation, and God at War

A few months ago I was in a circle of thought leaders that included Skye Jethani, one of the editors at Christianity Today and author of a recent book called The Divine Commodity.