Take Courage

Book Review: Missional Moves

Missional Moves by Rob Wegner and Jack Magruder

This is a part of the Exponential Series of books for the modern church. It is intended to encourage and equip church leaders and others who are serving in their churches. This book contains three main parts and fifteen chapters. Both of the authors serve on the staff of the same church and seem to know each other pretty well.

There is a chapter for endnotes and the authors have done some research but most of it is with modern writers. There is a quote from Roland Allen in chapter 2 and personally I was glad to see it and wish there were more from practitioners like him or from his era to the present. There is a wealth of information available for the reader.

The research is not very deep; academic or based in theology. Most of the book is experiential. There is very little balance here. I am sure the authors mean well, but I would choose building off of Roland Allen rather than Alan Hirsch.

They describe their style as “a quirky mix of metaphors and pictures that they use to help us make sense of all of this.” They close by using an illustration from The Book of Five Rings (yes, I have read the book) and I was surprised to see its use here. I am not sure that I agree with their final closing point, but I will give them credit for trying. A reference to samurai always gets my attention.

Here is the table of contents:

PART 1// PARADIGM SHIFT

Missional Imagination

1. From Saved Souls to Saved Wholes
2. From Missions to Mission
3. From My Tribe to Every Tribe
4. From OR to AND
5. From the Center to the Margins

PART 2// CENTRALIZED SHIFT

Local Churches on Mission

1. From Top Down to Bottom Up
2. From Diffused to Focused
3. From Transactional to Transformational Partnerships
4. From Relief to Development
5. From Professionals to Full Participation

PART 3// DECENTRALIZED SHIFT

The People of God On Mission

1. From Formal to Fractal Leadership
2. From Institution to Movement
3. From Mega and Multi to Mega, Multi, and Micro
4. From “We Can Do It; You Can Help” to “You Can Do It; We Can Help”
5. From Great Commission to Great Completion

Notes

The book will challenge your thinking and in the notes concerning a quote and position in chapter 12 they use the words, “we know this is a massive claim. You’ll need to dig in and decide for yourself.” I appreciate the honesty and there is much that the reader will have to think about and decide for themselves.

Overall I liked Part 1 the best. A lot of what they are saying has been said in other books, but I think they are sincere in wanting to get the “church” to live or act like the “church.” I cannot give this book a favorable recommendation. In the subject of “Mission of God” or “missional” there are better books available for studying and applying. I received this book for free from Cross Focused Reviews and was not obligated to give it a favorable review.