I'm melting!!! Melting!!! (aka: turning into a liquid)

So today I dove into the Monkey and the Fish.  I was delighted. I was challenged.

Dave Gibbons tells a bit of his story as the book progresses, about how he had this huge church in the OC with lots of attenders yet he was missing the presence of God until he went to Thailand.  I love his honesty here.

I started to read things that I knew would be uber challenging to the majority of church attenders, even the majority of pastors in the United States.  Yet they were things that have been deep inside of me for sometime, even before I read the Bible.  I knew that what he was writing was the truth because it almost seemed ingrained into my soul.  I don't know how to describe it other than these things have been on my heart.

What things you ask?  Well, that being a Christian isn't about being comfortable and catering to other middle-class suburban folk.  Its about loving, and embracing those people that make you uncomfortable.    Oh how different the church would be if we actually could love our neighbor (and he also explains all of that!)

Third-culture is the term used here, but what that really means is accepting culture.  I accept and embrace your culture without trying to change it.  Different, right?  Radical love.  Kind of, okay, well exactly like the ministry that Jesus ran when he was on the earth, hanging out with lepers, prostitutes and slimy tax collectors, not the safe folks in the synagogue. 

I love how Gibbons weaves the Bible stories right in to support his claims and beliefs.  I love how he boldly states just exactly how he feels, and his hope for the Church.  I have finished chapter 3, and look forward to diving more deeply into this manifesto for change, and mostly applying it to my life.  I wish to be a monkey no more.

Being a liquid leader is in the subtitle, which is why I said I am melting.  A liquid takes the shape of the object that holds it, so you think about that for a little bit and chew hard.

I have to leave you with this quote, because if I could write a statement off of my heart even before I read this book, I would write this one from page 83:

This is the type of church and kingdom I want to be a part of -- a band of people who are messy, have addictions and shortcomings, make mistakes, get rejected, and are screwed up, but are so fully aware of the Master's grace and love for them in spite of who they are or once were or will be someday; people who embrace discomfort knowing there is so much to be gained for all of us and for all of our churches.  How?  In passionately pursing a biblical love for those whom the Bible defines as a neighbor.