Book Review

I picked this book up last month. I was initially drawn to it by its title, “the monkey and the fish”. Leafing through it, I discovered it was about an area of church that I have been doing a lot of reading and teaching on, culture (not ethnicity), and how culture gets created and formed, and how to understand the culture we live in and connect with it, and the importance of developing a church culture that in outward thinking (instead of inward focused).
This is a pretty short read, just over 200 pages, and the author uses one word to connect his thoughts: liquid. We live in a different world, and the author talks about the cultural shifts at work in the world, and of how important it is to understand these shifts so we can communicate the gospel effectively in our day.
For many years our church culture’s only means of communicating the Gospel has been informational, yet the culture of today, driven by younger generations, learns best relationally. Being liquid is about adaptability, adjusting and communicating the Gospel in a way that resonates with our culture today. The author also use the term, third culture. First culture is the dominant homogenous culture we live in. Second culture is about how folks live who are not comfortable with the first culture. But, third culture is "the mindset and will to live, learn, ad serve in any culture, even in the midst of pain and discomfort." This reminded me of Matthew 5:16, 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Jesus reminded us that information sharing is not the best avenue to sharing God, our good deeds, our actions are. The author also asks three questions that liquid, third culture Christians should be asking:
(1) Where is Nazareth (Can anything good come from Nazareth)? Where is that area in our town or city where nothing good is happening and how can we serve there?
(2) What is my pain (where he talks about prosperity theology versus the value of pain)?
(3) What is in my hand (what has God given you to do or contribute)? There is so much here for pastors in this short little book. The chart of what the church is known for versus what Jesus was known for is worth the price of the book.