The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time (Paperback)

~ (Author), Shane Claiborne (Foreword)
Key Phrases: making globalization work, global neighborhood, emerging church planters, United States, New York, Coming Home (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Organized as a series of conversations, this book explores the lively edge of Christianity in the U.S. and the U.K. Sine, who wrote The Mustard Seed Conspiracy in the early 1980s, has always championed Christian subversives and exiles who act in small but significant ways to care for the poor and marginalized. This book begins by delineating four streams of Christian expression that greatly challenge the norms and assumptions of traditional churches. These streams—emerging, missional, mosaic and monastic—frequently flow into one another, and Sine does a fine job of defining them as separate but interdependent entities. Sine looks to these streams for tentative answers to several difficult questions, such as Did we get what it means to be a disciple wrong? and Did we get what it means to be the church wrong? As he explores these questions, Sine considers the context, particularly what he calls the global mall, in which the church must define and distinguish itself. Sine is unflinching in his assessment of Christian consumerism, but his tone is never angry. Rather, he exudes childlike enthusiasm as he shares example after example of Christians all over the world who are expressing their faith through profoundly countercultural acts of mercy, justice, love and compassion. (Mar.)
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Review

"As I travel around the world I am noting that even the most insensitive are sensing that something is happening! The question is, what is happening? The thing that most people in the church and in the community are grappling with is, what sort of future can we help create? In The New Conspirators Tom Sine has gathered a collective of understandings and has woven them together to give an emerging image of what the future could look like. It is insightful and essential reading for anybody wanting to make a difference and live out the prayer that God's kingdom might come on earth as it is in heaven." -- Fuzz Kitto, director, Spirited Consulting, Sydney, Australia

"Perhaps you are like me and sometimes wish the world would stand still so we could catch our breath, figure out where we are going, develop a travel plan, and then enter back into the global community all fresh and ready to enter its busiest places. Tom Sine reminds us that the world is not slowing down but we can still map where it is headed. Some of the most imaginative, courageous Christians are already on the path into the emerging edge, and Tom Sine maps what folks are already doing. Let's join this veteran Christian futurist as he maps where these young Jesus-following conspirators are journeying." -- Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University

"This book is vintage Tom Sine: Always grounding us in the biblical narratives and never allowing us to domesticate our reading of them. Always highlighting the holistic nature of the gospel, never allowing us to diminish and privatize its reach. Always keen to highlight the role of the small and local but never allowing us to lose the global perspective of the kingdom. Always reminding us of the fundamentally communal nature of the faith but never for a moment diminishing our individual role and responsibility in God's plan of redemption. A great book from a great teacher and genuinely wise guide." -- Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways and The Shaping of Things to Come (with Mike Frost), and founding director, Forge Mission Training Network

"Through the years, Tom Sine's writing has repeatedly knocked me out of my comfort zone and challenged me to see the good news of God in richer and deeper dimensions. He repeatedly inspires me with hope and encouragement, both through his writings and his friendship. His new book is rich with challenge and inspiration, and it's full of signs that the tide is turning, a warm spring sun is shining, and good things are afoot in the church and for the good of the world. If you've never read a Tom Sine book before, here's the one to read, and if you have enjoyed his previous works, you'll want to come back for a second helping." -- Brian D. McLaren, author/activist (brianmclaren.net)

"Tom Sine lays bare the church's Inconvenient Truth. Taking a broad overview of the challenges that we have to address in the twenty-first century, Tom has sounded a wake-up call that beckons us to reassess the way we have sold out to the values of modernity. Laying out an alternative future, this book is a bold challenge to all who think that the kingdom of God can be built from the starting point of compromise and comfort." -- Andy Harrington, executive director, Youth for Christ: Vancouver

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (March 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830833846
• ISBN-13: 978-0830833849
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #260,108 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful New Directions, April 4, 2008

By	S. Lewis "Steve Lewis" (Kirkland, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been looking forward to reading this book ever since I heard it was coming out. Tom Sine's work has been widely cited for quite some time, and for good reason. He's smart, encouraging, witty, engaging, and kicks your butt, all at the same time.

There are aspects of The New Conspirators that will seem redundant to folks who swim in the emerging church stream. You'll get similar summaries of the emerging movement as you'll find in Robert Webber's "The Younger Evangelicals," Bolger and Gibbs' "Emerging Churches," or Dan Kimball's "The Emerging Church." However, what this book gives you that the others don't is a sense of how the emerging church thing fits in with other kinds of movements, that aren't necessarily "emerging church" in nature.

Sine traces out four streams: emerging church, missional, mosaic, and monastic. Admittedly, some of the differences in categories are a little artificial, as there is significant overlap between several of them. But I think the separations actually helps the book a little in the sense that there are many people who could read this and think, "Oh, you mean, I can be engaged in new kinds of thinking and creative expressions of the way of Jesus, without being affiliated with the emerging church? That's great - because I've heard those emerging folks are a little wacky."

The areas of overlap are primarily concerning the missional, monastic, and emerging thrusts. But I really think that the inclusion of the mosaic element is what makes this book shine. Sine takes the time to discuss the exciting expressions of church that are taking place within the North American multicultural context, but he also highlights the movements taking place in the global South and East. That's the part of this whole "conversation" that's been missing for a long time. We in the West have (predictably) assumed that we've got it all figured out . . . meanwhile the Spirit is alive and moving in places we've barely heard of.

The New Conspirators serves as a really terrific primer and conversation starter for people who are new to a post-Christendom thought process, and it represents a good "next step" for those who are already in sync with that.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Future With Hope, February 20, 2008

By	Scott Smith (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

We have journeyed a mere eight years into the third millennium, and the church is facing a profound crisis of relevance. Do we have anything to offer a creation that is groaning in travail? Tom Sine speaks to this crisis when he asks the question, "Does the future have a church?" "The New Conspirators" is his hope-filled answer. Tom offers convincing evidence that, yes, the future does indeed have a church. It just doesn't look the same as it used to.

The church of the third millennium is not a church of "bricks and mortar." It is a church of "poets, monks, clowns, prophets and other conspirators" who are sowing seeds of redemptive compassion throughout the world. These "small, small seeds" are sprouting, growing, and bringing new life and new hope to our groaning world.

In these pages, Tom Sine has assembled a compelling collection of stories of people of faith who are living out the good news of the kingdom of God in their lives. Through their stories, he reminds us that God really does love this world, and more importantly, God is fully invested in redeeming it. These new conspirators of hope are the evidence that God is indeed at work in the world, and Tom Sine invites us to become a part of this divine movement.

This book is particularly good news for those whose souls are aching under the weight of the shallow, trivial, and mundane. It is a book for those who are hungering and thirsting for something of substance in the unsatisfying realm of virtual reality. It is a book for those who want to spend their lives on something that will endure the test of time.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Challenged by an imaginative view of what the Church can be, November 18, 2008

By	Michael Dalton (Eureka, CA United States) - See all my reviews

When I asked to review The New Conspirators by Tom Sine I thought I was getting a critique of the emergent church and its related expressions. I had just finished a book that was extremely critical of reimagining the church, and I thought that I was getting another that might validate or modify the concerns raised in the first book.

I quickly discovered that Tom Sine is not only sympathetic to a new kind of church life but is a key player. This book is like a primer for the emerging, missional, mosaic and monastic movements. He introduces the dominant thoughts of each group and some of the most influential people. Those already immersed in this worldview may not find a lot that is new, but the material is so comprehensive that it is a valuable resource for those on either side of these issues.

This book is well-written, but it is not formulated as a defense of these movements. It does not delve deeply into doctrinal concerns and does not provide an in-depth Biblical basis for what is taking shape.

The focus is on encouraging people to adopt a lifestyle that is consistent with the manifestation of God's reign here on earth. Sine sees his book as an invitation to a simple but radical lifestyle when he writes, "This book is an invitation to a part of something `really, really small,' a quiet community that is destined to change our lives and God's world. We will particularly focus on what God is doing through the emergent, missional, mosaic and monastic streams of the church. But we are all invited to the join the creative edge by more fully discovering how God might use our mustard seeds to be a part of this conspiracy of compassion and hope."

In many ways this is a challenging read. Anyone reading this with an open mind will have to think hard about the repeated call to examine whether our way of doing church and living the Christian life has been shaped more by our consumer culture than we may have realized. It's ironic that in some areas these new forms of Christian expression seem to be more aware than their critics of how the church and the lives of Christians have been shaped by the world.

There is much here that is praiseworthy. The book is particularly strong in advocating a discipleship that encompasses our entire life rather than just segments of it. The author shows how believers can develop statements of calling to help them live more intentionally. The idea is to live in the reality that God's new order is here now and breaking into our world.

The author frequently touches on issues of global concern, and it's amazing how relevant it all is to our current situation. It's as if he was peeking into the present when he wrote this book. He accurately portrays some of the discouraging challenges that the church and the world face today. It's probably the most sobering part of the book.

Whether you view these new expressions of the church with suspicion or are an enthusiastic participant, this book is worth reading for the ideas and realities that are presented. Christians must grapple with these concepts and decide which way to go.

Hopefully, those leading these movements will be willing to engage their critics rather than just dismiss them. It's understandable that they have no desire to go about doing church as usual. But for the sake of truth, being accountable to other members of the body of Christ, and for the sake of those they lead, they should carefully weigh criticisms and be open to dialogue with their opponents.

On the other hand, it would be a mistake for critics to say these new expressions are all wrong. How many of us, and how many of our churches, are all right or all wrong? We might like to think we are right all or most of the time, but pride deceives us when that is our attitude.

Whether these movements are faithful in doctrine and practice to the standards of Scripture will remain a source of debate. How much better it would be if both sides could respectfully speak the truth in love. It shuts down communication when people resort to derogatory comments.

It might help if we look for what's good and right in each other's words. I wasn't looking to find fault, and I discovered truth worth considering.