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Step Into the Chaos

'Missional Leader' book review.

The movie World Trade Center offers us a picture of what it means to be a missional leader: the world is in chaos, everything has collapsed, countless souls are trapped. The only thing to do is head into the mess. The missional leader is that lone Marine who climbs into the rubble with a flashlight shouting "Tap or yell if you can hear me!" and exhorting those who would join him, "Once you step up there's no going back." Leadership in this environment is not for the faint of heart.

To this type of world Alan J. Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk posit The Missional Leader (Jossey-Bass, 2006). Most any church with the proper patience, perspective, and point man (or woman) can become missional. The authors offer perspective without too many "oughts," which is good considering the book's premise that "oughts" defeat growth.

The book first describes this new term "missional." Leaders no longer view themselves as heads of a hierarchy, and church members no longer look only to the "professional" Christians ...

March
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