I am just in the middle of watching one of Seth’s talk on Tribes from the latest TED conference. And it finally struck me (sometimes I’m slow) that the church has had it backwards. What Seth has discovered to be true in the business world has always been true of the Christian church (including the Old Testament church): tribes are the foundation of getting a message out.

As I’ve also said before, I love irony. So here’s the beautiful irony in this: the church is jumping all over this concept of Tribes, and saying “thank you, Seth”. The reason it’s startling to find this “new” way of “marketing” in the business world is because churches also chased the business world when it was heavily into mass-marketing. (And many still do, admittedly.) Really, Seth should be saying “thank you, Jesus” (in more ways than one ).

Really, when the REVEAL project revealed that churches would do best to focus on Jesus and the Bible instead of performances, comfort, and slick packaging, and when the business world realizes that small groups and relationship-building are the best way to get a message out, why should anyone in a Christian church be surprised at that? It’s what the church has been about since the beginning of time.

For anyone who is in Christian ministry and who has a vested interest in making disciples of younger generations (read: for anyone who is a church leader, especially those on staff), this is a must-read book. Though the research is focused on those in their 20’s, many of the results and suggestions will apply to every generation. Things may look a little different for different ages, but the core ideas are universal.

The book is divided into three parts: part one looks at the stats from the research; part two draws some implications from those stats; part three looks at some churches that the authors consider to be doing a good job at reaching those in this demographic. In true post-modern style, each chapter concludes with a fictitious story about 4 friends that weaves together the principles from that chapter, and runs through the book as a story-within-a-story (how very Watchmen of you, gentlemen! )

Obviously you’ll need to read the book to get all of the insight and wisdom it contains, but allow me to share some of the things that really stood out for me.

The #1 stat by far is that they found that 89% of unchurched people aged 20-29 are willing to listen to a friend of theirs talk about God, Jesus, and the Christian faith. Yup, 89%. With all the hand-wringing these days about how our culture is so anti-Christian and so anti-church, 89% of those younger people are willing to listen. But of course the key is this: listen to whom and under what circumstances? A friend within context of a relationship. 89% of younger unchurched are open to listening to the Gospel. And to go even further, 60% said they’d even be open to studying the Bible if a friend asked them to.

That should be cause for church leaders everywhere to celebrate. And the obvious implication then is that we also need to equip our people to be comfortable sharing The Story with their friends within the context of relationships. This is hard work; it is not a program or method. It is pouring ourselves into others, so that they will then pour themselves out to others. And so the Gospel goes forth and multiplies.

Of course, this is not new information. That’s how the Gospel has always gone forth: by the speaking of God’s people to others, both in public worship and in personal conversation. But it is a surprising statistic because we so often perceive that young people are more and more “secular” in their thinking and acting, and more and more resistant to “church” and “Christians”. The hope that this research brings is that there are great ways to break down misperceptions that the unchurched have about “church” and “Christians”. The book addresses some of those stats as well.

The other key insight for me was the four-fold breakdown of principles (what the authors call” Markers”) this generation is seeking – those things that characterize a healthy ministry to and with today’s young adults. They are Community, Depth (and Content), Responsibility, and Cross-Generational Connection. A very brief look at each…

Community involves not just “fellowship” with potlucks and coffee between worship services. It is doing life together. Depth and Content involves wrelsting with what theologians have called “the full counsel of God”. Previous philosophies of reaching the unchurched de-emphasized this, leading to all sorts of issues. But today’s young adults aren’t buying shallow and hollow Christianity. They are attracted to richness and depth in all areas – preaching, service, groups, all of life. Responsibility involves the church being concerned about things outside their own walls. One of the most engaging things for young adults today is seeing Christians care about the people and the world around them. A faith that doesn’t reach out is a hollow, selfish faith. Cross-Generational Connection may come as a surprise to some. Plenty of churches seek more to divide people generationally than mix them. While there is always some worthy age-appropriate ministry, young adults thrive in an environment where they can interact with others and learn from their life experience and wisdom.

There’s so much more to say – so much to chew on. But that’s what the book is for!

It’s tempting for church leaders to see those principles and then ask, “So how do I do that?” And one great thing about this book is that it doesn’t answer that question. In part three the authors share some insight from pastors and leaders who are doing it, but it does not suggest a forluma for re-creating it in your church. You need to grapple with what that means in your local context, and how to best apply those learnings.

Which is exactly how it should be.

It’s definitely worth the read. If anyone’s already read it, I’d be most interested to hear your take on it as well. Comment below!

I’ve got some projects I need to work on, but I will have some time to contribute to other projects that I might not normally be able to take on. So while I’m here, I want to offer to work on developing some resources that might be helpful to you and your church. This next little while will become a bit of a sabbatical time for me. So to help me learn and sharpen my skills, while at the same time contributing to the mission of God’s church, I’d like to be able to share some things with you.

So let me start by asking, what would you and/or your church find helpful in this time to help you in fulfilling our mission to be salt and light in the world? I have a variety of interests and experiences, and could offer some skills in a few different areas:

• writing resources (studies, devotionals, reflections on various church issues, etc.) for church leaders and members
• theological, musical, technical, and other practical helps for corporate worship
• graphic design (curriculum logos, “branding”, etc.)

There may be some opportunity for short-term travel in Canada as well (for something like leading a workshop/seminar/retreat/etc.), but I’d have to play that by ear and look at any of those possibilities on a case-by-case basis.

So please let me know – post a comment, send an email through my Contact page, or through any of the various “inboxes” I have. If your church might be looking for some short-term help, I’d love to be able to explore with you.

The big catch, though, is that, while it can be very easy for users, you really need a very tech-savvy person or team to put it all together. The basics are easy to grasp, but because it’s so powerful and modular, the “under-the-hood” work can get complicated very quickly.

The second-biggest catch is that, because it’s open-source, it relies on a multitude of maintainers to keeping things working smoothly. It works on the concepts of modules, which are like puzzle pieces that contain features, and are arranged all together to complete the picture. There is a “core” set of modules, and all kinds of optional ones that enhance and deepen the framework.

And the biggest problem with the modules can be the documentation. Because this software is written “by developers for developers”, the module instructions often assume a prior level of knowledge, and even assume things within the documentation, which can lead to a lot of missed steps and frustration for site administrators. Not that prior knowledge isn’t good, but by assuming it, you can actually miss the point.

Church leaders, does this ring a bell at all?

The church can be very much like this. Like Drupal, there is no cost to the “end-user” (though it cost Jesus everything). It is the most powerful force in the world, moving forward by the work of Gospel proclamation and the Holy Spirit-directed response in people’s lives. It takes multiple people with multiple gifts to fulfill its mission.

But it also can be very confusing and frustrating for people when church leaders (read: people like me) make assumptions about what people should know and/or do. Because we so often treat church as “by church leaders for church leaders”, we can very quickly turn our communication of the Gospel into vague platitudes, or worse, miss the point altogether because of the assumptions we make.

There are multiple examples: preaching, music, how we approach discipleship, church government, and more. Now please hear me – this is not the same argument as being “seeker-friendly” or “dumbing things down”. It’s actually the opposite. As a church leader, I’m not at all in favor of being seeker-friendly, because I believe that the Gospel creates intrigue in the hearts of people, and leads people to want to know more (just like in Acts 17:16-34). Being “seeker-friendly” has as its goal wanting to make people comfortable and not offend them, which, IM(NSH)O, misses the whole point. (Ok, tangent over.)

Since that’s maybe a little abstract, let me use a concrete example from church leadership. Referring to the story of David and Goliath by saying “and we all know the story of David and Goliath” makes certain assumptions; namely, that people know the basic premises of the story, and what the point of the story is. But those are not assumptions we can make, especially in this era where Biblical illiteracy is growing quickly. Rather, by taking a minute to explain that we simply think (and sadly, our culture thinks simply) of this being the ultimate underdog story, where the little guy faced the big bad giant and prevailed. Well, that’s true in the Biblical account, but now every sports matchup or lawsuit where there’s a “little guy” and “big guy” is described as a David-vs-Goliath story. Which misses the whole point.

I understand why we tend towards speaking like this. We don’t want to exclude anyone. If someone didn’t know the story, it would allow them to smile and nod along with everyone else just like Joey does on Friends, even when most of the time he doesn’t get the jokes. But, like Seth Godin points out, exclusion isn’t a bad thing, it’s a reality. And the goal of the church is not to exclude, but to expand the tribe of people called Christians, so that fewer and fewer people are excluded (1 Timothy 2:1-4). But by trying to be inclusive, we miss an opportunity.

See, the whole point of David’s victory over Goliath is not that David got lucky, or that small=good and big=evil. It’s that God delivered His people from their enemies. There was no earthly way David beats Goliath; it was only by the hand of God. This is a story of grace and God’s power, not about human effort and taking down the “big bad” things of the world. It leads us to then speak of Jesus, whom David typifies in this story, who saved His people not from an earthly giant and enslavement to a nation, but from a spiritual enemy and enslavement to sin.

Because most people think of David-and-Goliath in our culture’s human terms, not assuming people know the story doesn’t insult anyone’s intelligence. It deepens their understanding. And the great irony of this is that, by not making the assumption, one can actually help both “seekers” and strong Christians deepen their understanding at the same time. Whereas, by making the assumption, not only do we not teach the “seeker” anything, we reinforce the “insider” mentality of the church.

So what church leaders (and Drupal module writers) need to realize is that, by not making these assumptions, it’s not dumbing things down. It’s the very opposite; it deepens and strengthens those we intend to reach by allowing them to discover the fullness of what the Gospel is (and what their module can do). By not assuming things, we actually reach both the seeker and the Christian. In the Drupal world, not assuming things actually helps deepen my understanding of what the module does and how it works together in the whole Drupal system. The same is true of the church, and can help us as church leaders as we seek to help people to grow and mature in Christ, together with the whole body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16).