Revolution

I recently completed Revolution by George Barna. Up front I want to say that I did read it interspersed across several weeks and did not soak in the message of the book perhaps as well as if I had read the book in a more concentrated time. Nevertheless, I want to provide my thoughts on the book.

Barna's main assertion is that there is a revolution that is taking place in the faith life of the United States. Increasingly, deeply committed followers of Christ are leaving their local church to live their faith radically in ways that do not involve the current structure of local church. Barna puts forth an assessment of the local church in America and some of the characteristics and habits of those to whom he refers to as revolutionaries. Barna offers guidance for individuals seeking to be revolutionaries in their faith and for local churches seeking to respond to the revolution

My Response

This book challenged my understanding of what is the most effective way to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ. As a pastor in a local congregation, I am not sure that I am ready to say that the local church will continue to increase in irrelevance in enabling people to reach their greatest potential as deeply committed Christians. However, this does seem to hold true with some of the findings of Reveal: Where Are You? In any case, I found myself desiring to live as a revolutionary as Barna described and helping others to live in a similar way.

Revelance and application for The United Methodist Church

The content and themes of this book have application and relevance for The United Methodist Church. I think that Barna's assessment of the state of many local congregations is relevant and holds true for many congregations of the UMC - effectiveness is not increasing and people may be seeking other places to live out their faith in radical ways. One possible application for the denomination might be to recognize that discipleship, worship and other resources need not always be targeted toward utilization within the local church. In addition, I think that there will need to be the willingness to recognize and resources communities of faith that look significantly different than the majority of United Methodist communities currently.

Revelance and application for The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection

The themes of this book are relevant to Resurrection in that they address the environment in America in which we live. Resurrection, like other local congregations, will be affected by the changes that Barna puts forth in this book.

I see at least two ways that the themes of this book could be applied at Resurrection. I think that there is a great potential for Resurrection to provide resources for revolutionaries. These revolutionaries may be currently within or outside of the Resurrection community. My impression is that efforts to renew the mainline church have been targeted to local congregations. I think that it would be possible to add revolutionary groups, as Barna describes, to the targets of resourcing. This might happen through an Internet campus as well as other types of resources.

Recommendation

I recommend this book to those who are interested in living their faith in radical ways and to those interested in seeing spiritual revival both within and outside of the local church.

What did you think? Questions? Comments?