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Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

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I promised to review this book on my blog in exchange for a free copy, so let me begin by saying thanks to the author and publisher for that opportunity. I'm not enthusiastic about Off-Road Disciplines (I don't think I would have read it had I come across it in a bookstore), but I appreciate what I perceive to be the motivation of its author, which is his love for the Body of Christ and those who minister in it. While I share that love, I think this book simply doesn't fulfill its promise. "Missional leaders," Dr. Creps writes in the introduction, "see the world through the eyes of Jesus." The rest of the book, however, seems aimed mostly at helping leaders to see Jesus through the eyes of the world. So while not wanting to be simply pragmatic, Off-Road Disciplines ends up being ultimately pragmatic, seemingly built on three faulty assumptions:

The first is: Relevance is king. The "truth" Creps is most concerned about is the cultural environment of the Church. There is a lot here about what we can do to understand and fit into what he calls our "tiempos mixtos" or mixed times. There is very little about how the message of the gospel might address and challenge contemporary culture. For example, in his chapter on Reverse Mentoring, Dr. Creps notes that there is plenty of opportunity for older folks to learn from younger folks, especially when it comes to utilizing the technological gadgets of our day. Nothing wrong with that; the scripture calls the Church to a relational strategy of ministry. But we also need to take a prophetic stance--what Vanhoozer calls a disputational stance--against the ills of human culture. So while I get to know young people who are technologized, I'm also concerned about how technology may be dehumanizing them in the way it allows them to escape the sort of face-to-face interaction that real discipleship requires or in the way it facilitates the development of virtual personalities while ignoring the development of character.

The Christian message unavoidably criticizes human beings and the societies we form. If we ignore that reality in order to attract people to Christianity, we must inevitably either spring the trap, at which point people would justifiably feel misled, or continue to let people believe in an uncritical gospel, which is no gospel at all. Dr. Creps occasionally gives hints that he is aware of this problem. The chapter on "Reflection" is a good example, but even there, theological reflection is ultimately aimed at ministry effectiveness rather than personal knowledge of God in Christ and the resulting worship.

This leads me to the second bad assumption: The mission is being "missional." After reading through Off-Road Disciplines, I find it troubling that I can't remember a clear statement of what the mission of the Church or of the Christian is, even though this book is about being missional. The problem here is that the mission of the Church is quite particular and it has particular propositional content. The Christian and the Church are called to embody a particular message. The ultimate purpose of that message is not the redemption of people, but the redemption of people into proper worship of the true God. John Piper makes this point most excellently, by the way, in his book on mission called Let the Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions. Our problem is not that we are inadequate in our attention to and understanding of human cultures so much as it is that we are inadequate in our attention to, understanding of, and appreciation for God himself as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ himself.

One might respond that these things are acknowledged as given, and simply not within the scope of Off-Road Disciplines. This implies what seems to me to be a third bad assumption: Ordinary Christians in America have been well taught the content of their faith. Perhaps Dr. Creps knows better, but my own observation is that in spite of unprecedented opportunity, our generation is as theologically illiterate as any in history. This is the result of the pragmatic orientation of 20th century evangelicalism, an orientation which this book does little to correct. This is the problem I have with most of the "emergent" stuff I've read. It is critical of the pragmatic approaches of the Seeker Sensitive movement, or of the Church-growth movement before that, but fails to recognize that it is simply the latest version of the pragmatic Church.

Finally, I have to say that there's nothing particularly "off-road" about Off-Road Disciplines. All of these things seem to me to be better described as ordinary tactics of biblical disciple-making. The principal advice--not the only advice--in this book is: spend some time getting to know people you plan to communicate with. That's good advice, but there's nothing radical about it. I found that as I read this book, I kept hoping for the fresh insight the title seems to promise. I'm sorry to say that hope remains unsatisfied.

Earl Creps is a splendid communicator. I have often admired his verbal acumen and ability to engage my imagination and emotions with a carefully turned phrase. His literary skills are equally impressive. "Yet, though Wanda was spiritually transparent she was religiously opaque" flies off the paper on page 19 and lands on the canvas of my mind, painting a picture of Wanda I might not have otherwise contemplated.

When Earl speaks, I listen. Not because he is a clever communicator, but because when Earl speaks, he has something to say. Earl believes that missional leadership is the defining issue as the church explores the twenty-first century topography. His simple but profound observations capture what the Spirit seems to be saying in many ways about the importance of keeping our compass pointed on the main thing, both individually and organizationally.

I'm personally tired of "how to be successful" tomes of the religious leadership genre. Earl goes beyond the typically medicinal "ten easy steps or five hard ones" to provide a refreshing blend of authenticity, humility, humor and insight. Off-Road Disciplines reads less like a road map and more like a Rick Steves travel narrative. Earl is a fellow pilgrim on the journey, simply pointing out what he has learned along the way and passing his experiences for the benefit of all. It deserves a read with a highlighter in hand. Buy it; you'll be glad you did.

As a leader in a campus ministry, I really enjoyed reading Dr. Creps's
insights into ministry in today's culture. The book is a mixture
between scholarly endeavor and thought-provoking, down-to-earth
conversation with the reader. It is not always clear if the target
audience is ministry leaders or any Christian, but there are useful
observations and challenges in the book that any believer can grow
closer to the heart of Christ. Off-road Disciplines provides many good
challenges to conventional thinking about ministry in today's society
- you don't have to agree with every thought to enjoy the book and
these challenges are very needed to encourage creative thinking about
such a relevant topic.

Dr. Earl Creps published a study guide for this book on his website
(www.earlcreps.com), and I highly recommend it as addition to the
book. It contains great summaries of each chapter from a fresh angle,
and challenging questions to further think about the topics. There are also
endnotes to each chapter at the end of the book. While common in
scholarly publications, I find endnotes less helpful as
footnotes. However, the decision for endnotes was probably editorial
and having to look for them is just a minor inconvenience.

In the first half of the book, Dr. Creps is investigating personal
disciplines, such as the willingness to learn and being transformed,
and finding a pragmatic trust in God. The third chapter, discussing
the term postmodernism, is surprisingly disappointing - maybe I just
expected more from such an expert like Earl Creps - the chapter's
theology seems stuck in a modern worldview. To make up for it, the
next chapter is the books best, introducing the concept of reverse
mentoring. I can't wait to learn more about it in Dr. Creps's next
book. The first half of the book finishes with talking about effective
ways of connecting with "the sought" (thanks for introducing this
wonderful term), and about how real humility is not self-depreciation.

The second half of the book is investigating corporate
disciplines. After a chapter on how to honestly evaluate a ministry,
the next chapter discusses trying to find unity between innovation and
preservation drives. Different ministry types on the
innovation-preservation-spectrum are described by comparing them with
TV shows and Biblical cities. While I like this idea, I think the
comparisons could be stronger and are too generalizing. The remaining
chapter are all very strong, talking about the need to combine
theology and practical ministry, about the three dimensions of ministry
(heart, venue, Spirit), about sacrifice and the surrender of personal
preference, giving Timothy's circumcision as example, and, finally,
about passing the baton and transitions.

Anyone who likes to be challenged to think about Jesus's call to
ministry, will find good observations and food for thought in Off-Road
Disciplines.

"Missional" apparently is the new buzzword in many denominations as I hear it a lot. After reading this book I finally figured out that a missional leader, as defined by Dr. Creps, was basically someone who was culturally relevant (of course - the only holy grail of ministry today), wasn't afraid to try new things, and was willing to admit that they could be wrong doctrinally. While some great thoughts and ideas were in the book, this appeared to be a conservative authors attempt to be hip and make friends with the Emerging church movement. As a result I agree with the reviewer below that the bulk of this book instead of helping us see the world through the "eyes of Jesus", seems aimed mostly at helping leaders to see Jesus through the eyes of the world. I only need to read the newspaper to discern the latter.

I was slightly confused by one point in the book because Creps says that a missional leader also has doctrine worth "smuggling", but then proceeded to make fun of a preacher he heard on the radio who was apparently conservative, orthodox and passionate about his doctrine. That didn't square with me.

Save your money on this one and buy Os Guinness' book Prophetic Untimeliness - you will get much more out of it.

Of the dozens of books I've read pertaining to emerging church/postmodern ministry/missional leadership, "Off-Road Disciplines" is the one that makes real-life application in my ministry context. It's not another hollow theoretical treatement on ministry philosophy, nor should it be mistaken for another "how-to" book on character development through spiritual disciplines. This book gave me real, thoughtful direction in formulating a plan for teaching/doing ministry in this ever-changing culture.

If you are a highlighter (as I am), you may be frustrated with "Off-Road Disciplines"...you can't pick out a single line! Each chapter points to a central thought that leaves the reader with sense of connection, rather than a quotable bullet point. Dr. Creps has drawn on decades of observation, as well as research, to produce an exceptionally well-written, witty, reasoned work that I will recommend to my peers.

As I closed the book after reading the last page, my initial impulse was to applaud. I suspect that anyone who reads this humble man (whose definition of true spirituality always includes a good cup of coffee) will enjoy a similar response.

The American church is in crisis. Sunday morning worship attendance figures are declining. But interest in God and spiritual matters is increasing.

A typical pastoral response to this crisis asks, "How should we do our worship services?" In Off-Road Disciplines, Earl Creps suggests a better question: "How can I be changed so that others will find me worth following in mission?" (3, emphasis in original). The former question focuses on technique, while the latter question focuses on spiritual formation.

Off-Road Disciplines addresses the spiritual formation of missional leaders, that is, people who "see the world through the eyes of Jesus and see Jesus in the world" (xiv). Books on spiritual formation usually outline what the Bible (or a particular Christian tradition) teaches about spiritual disciplines such as prayer and Bible study. For Creps, "an experience is a spiritual discipline if it has the potential to form God's heart in me, and if it functions as one because I embrace it as such" (xvi).

The book consists of two parts. Part One, "Personal Disciplines," examines six disciplines that form the heart of missional leaders: death, truth, perspective, learning, witness, and humility. Part Two, "Organizational Disciplines," examines six further disciplines that form the practice of missional communities: assessment, harmony, reflection, opportunity, sacrifice, and legacy.

The context in which Creps wrote this book is the struggle of the North American church to respond to the issues of postmodernism and its emerging culture. For him, every church must negotiate the "impulses" of "preservation" and "innovation" (100-5), regardless of whether its "brand" is "traditional," "contemporary," or "experimental" (105-11).

Creps's eschewal of technique in favor of spiritual formation is both helpful and frustrating. Helpful, because it entails that any brand can be missional. Frustrating, because technique problems are much easier to solve than spiritual formation issues. In other words, it's easier to change a church's style of worship than to change the hearts of its leaders. No amount of tinkering with contemporary styles will result in missional effectiveness. What is needed is a change of heart. As Creps puts it, "My best practice is me" (14).

That change of heart begins with death, that is, the death of the technique way of thinking and the level of personal control it offers leaders. "A missional life, then, experiences the centrality of Christ as our failures expose the illusion that we merit the center position. Failure, among other forces, reveals this illusion for what it is, crucifying it and giving us the chance to invite Christ to assume the central role in practice, instead of just in doctrine" (10).

Truth-telling, what Creps calls "sacred realism: the discipline of holding the truth in one hand and faith in the other" (26). In other words, missional leaders fearlessly face the church's demise without despair, because they know God is bigger than their problems.

Missional leaders also cultivate the discipline of "perspective" or "POV," i.e., "point of view." Rather than answering the question, "Where are you a missionary to?" they answer the question, "Who are you a missionary to?" North American culture is often defined as "postmodern" or "emerging." Pastors tend to respond to these abstract trends with emotional extremes, either passionate embrace or equally passionate contempt. But as Creps writes, "The Father did not send Jesus to redraw maps, or refine worldviews, or redeem music. He came for people, spiritual beings who sin and hurt and die" (38).

This way of framing mission, as personal and concrete rather than theoretical and abstract, leads into the chapter on "learning" or "reverse mentoring" (41-53). If the mission is personal, then we must listen to the people whom God is seeking to save in order to better understand how to serve them. "Reverse mentoring involves a specific form of friendship based on trust" (48).

This friendship extends beyond relationships with Christians to relationships with unbelievers. Creps's chapter on "witness," or "the discipline of spiritual friendship," begins with an interesting discussion of "mental models" of unbelievers. Are they "souls with ears," "barbarians to civilize," or even "invisible people," that is people the church never even talks about? Or are they, in keeping with Jesus' three parables in Luke 15, "the sought" (57-61). And if "the sought," do missional leaders make time for them and listen to them?

Humility is the last of the personal disciplines Creps discusses. Technique entails control and engenders pride. Spiritual formation engenders humility. "Negative humility" includes attitudes such as, "I am not omniscient," "I am not omnipotent," "I am not omnipresent" (73-7). "Positive humility" includes attitudes such as "I don't know," "I'm sorry," and "I need you" (77-82).

To be missional effective, spiritually formed leaders must lead spiritually formed organizations. The first spiritual discipline Creps discusses is "assessment." Creps distinguishes between "what we are not measuring (others' spirituality) and what we are measuring (our own responsibility)" (93).

A second organizational discipline is "harmony" or "the blending of differences." Every missional organization must negotiate the impulses of preservation and innovation, regardless of what brand of church (traditional, contemporary, experimental) they promote. Creps suggests harmony happens when we focus on "commonality" of mission, allow variety on matters of "conscience," focus on the "cultivation" of healthy members rather than the palliation of unhealthy ones, focusing "concentration" on what's good about other brands, and celebrating the "contribution" each brand makes (117-21).

"Reflection" or "discernment" is the third organizational discipline. Theologians often work with a "theory-practice" model, in which they determine theory and pastors put their theory into practice. This leads to a huge divide between disciplined theological reflection on ministry (in seminary) and more pragmatic practices of ministry (at the local church level). Creps advocates a "theological reflection" model, in which missional leaders "attempt to cooperate with God in ministry," "process the event," "use Scripture as a mirror," and "respond in renewed cooperation with God" (133-4).

"Opportunity" or "making room" is the fourth organizational discipline. Here, Creps encourages missional leaders to think of mission three dimensionally. "Missional space" consists of "heart dimension," "venue dimension," and "Spirit dimension" (145). In other words, do we love God and neighbor, do we create space for love to grow, and do we leave room for the working of the Spirit? Missional space contracts whenever one of those dimensions is not working.

"Sacrifice" or "surrendering preferences" is the fifth organizational discipline. Healthy relationships in general, and missional relationships in particular, require that both sides make personal sacrifices. Creps illustrates that with the New Testament story of Paul circumcising Timothy for more effective missionary service among both Jews and Greeks. Surrendering preferences is "voluntary," "sacrificial," and "missional" (169-72).

The sixth organizational discipline is "legacy" or "passing the baton." For an organization to have an enduring life cycle beyond its founding moment, it must cultivate and empower new leadership. Drawing once again on Paul's relationship with Timothy, Creps argues that baton-passing must be characterized by "love," "integrity, "and faith" (176-82).

Off-Road Disciplines challenged me to the core of my pastoral being. It forced me to address my need for control, my preference for technique, and my avoidance of spiritual formation both personally and organization. By that, I don't mean that I neglected prayer and the Bible. Rather, I mean that I neglected to let God's Holy Spirit form my own leadership. Whether I--or you--agree with all of Creps's recommendations, his book is a timely reminder that missional leadership is the work of the Holy Spirit, with whom we cooperate or without whom we simply spin our wheels.

As a college professor and campus pastor, by far the most memorable section in Creps' book for me was his chapter on "Learning: The Discipline of Reverse Mentoring." This he defined as "a very specific form of friendship in which the junior instructs the senior, not as a replacement for other forms of mentoring but as an essential complement to them."

I am assuming that Creps is close to my age (45), so I could relate to the growing sense of obsolescence that he describes so graphically in trying to keep up with new developments in technology, culture and spirituality. But I love his assertion that "the act of asking for help always serves us well. Humility is wisdom's constant companion."

How often do I approach students as the expert-in-residence, and how often do I approach them as a fellow learner, humbly asking for their advice on topics that I am grappling with myself (which includes just about everything!). Creps hits the nail on the head (no pun intended) in his summary of the difference that our attitude makes upon learning, and life in general: "A soft heart makes everything else work, while the need to appear knowledgeable and powerful pumps poison into the relationship. Remember, you are being crucified, not just educated."

ORD is a promising place to start a much needed dialogue. Many people have commented that this book seems to be written to the Boomer generation but I feel that it's all about how you engage in the dialogue. When I started the book, I must confess that I took the stance that it was written for another generation and I walked away several times. But Earl has a way of conveying the "how and why" in a manner that is more than informational, I see it as an invitation. It's an invitation to rediscover what it means to be missional. Earl provides practical insights to what this life could actually look like if we embrace the necessary change that is in the air. This book is about a journey that we, as disciples with a missional mandate, should embark on together. To write as though we, old and young alike, have arrived would have been detrimental. Instead ORD faces off with the realty that we risk irrelevance if we don't work together. The last two chapters (Surrendering Preferences and Legacy) where profound for me because at any given point in my ministry, I'm going to be in either position bouncing back and forth and in need of the discipline and humility to see the mission through. Will I choose to lay my preferences down and believe in the work of the Holy Spirit to fills the gaps that will always exist? I think it was meant to provoke and to prod and to push the limits of what we believe the mission to be. It can serve the academic, the poet, the theologian, the revolutionary, all because it's only the beginning. I think that this book could be an incredible tool to bridge the gap between what we know and where we want to go as leaders and as disciples of Jesus. I would recommend this book to the leaders that I love and that are closest to me as well as the most different from me because I am eager to engage in this conversation. It may get messy and I risk offending and being offended but these leaders I work alongside, the mission, the sought and the Seeker, are all worth it. See these writings as an invitation and embrace each chapter as a challenge to dive in.

This book was an excellent must-read for anyone serious about reaching those Christ came to seek. Earl Creps has hit the proverbial nail on its head in describing the condition of the church in America, where I have grown up, and in the same denomination which Creps now works. In this book I find all my thoughts, feelings, and frustrations about church, the things I have wanted to scream out and have cried over. But I also find hope that there are those willing to try and translate the message of God into a language that the world of today will understand. Creps talks of many things on a personal and institutional level. He challenges young and old to embrace humility, supporting one another, and focusing on the mission of Christ instead of our own preferences. If you want to learn more about what it will take to fulfill Christ's mission today, this book will be a great asset to stretch and grow yourself. Go, read it! Grace is free, but missional living is not.

"off Road Disciplines" is a book that is challenging, but offers solutions and insight to living a missional life. Even though there are several thoughts that can be highlighted in the book, I think the reoccuring theme was discovering how God want to use you individually to bring about necessary change to the body of Christ. This involves removing ourselves out of the "center" and allowing Christ to really be the "center" of what we do. There is a tendency to imitate success in our culture, but this book challenges you to take a different approach. The book makes the point that the generational gap between "boomers" and "postmoderns" has to work together in order to make the church what Christ desires it to be. Thank you Dr.Creps for taking a positon of humility and hope in which we desperately need.