In a land far, far away there lived a monkey. This monkey actually lived on an island. One day there were torrential rains that never seemed to end and the island began to flood. The rain and the waters kept coming and coming until one day, the monkey was left with only a little bit of land and one tree. As he was sitting up in his tree, he noticed another animal in the water. It was moving back and forth. The monkey was so worried about the little animal and wanted to rescue it. So, the monkey risked its own life to go out to the end of the branch and snatch the animal out of the water to prevent it from drowning. He put the animal on the ground to dry out under the sun and get warm. The animal flopped around and the monkey thought he looked so happy and was jumping around in excitement. Then, the animal was lying perfectly still and the monkey thought it looked so peaceful. Of course, the animal was a fish…..
Dave Gibbons pastors a remarkable church in California called Newsong. This multicultural, margins reaching, spread across the globe church has shown some incredible initiative and creativity in embracing the fullness of the Gospels call to reach all people and be a blessing to all the world. I encountered Dave for the first time at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit this past summer. While there I picked up his book The Monkey and the Fish. I will be offering some posts and offering some questions and comments as I do.
(I am still working my way through Deep Church as well and will have a post later in the week continuing that conversation)
Dave Gibbons named his book after this parable because in his own estimation the church is the monkey. The world around us is changing rapidly, and despite good intentions, we are struggling to keep up with our changing world and to carry out God’s purpose for us. Dave says, “To effectively carry Jesus’ gospel to various places around the globe today – more important, to be Jesus’ gospel – listening is required. We need to be sensitive to lead with an eager learner’s resolve. Those who follow Jesus embody fluidity, adaptation, and collaboration. It’s what we call the third-culture way. Adaptable to changing circumstances. To challenging cultures. To complex crises and problems.”
The focus of the book is on what Dave calls becoming third-culture Christians. What does it mean to be third-culture? Sociologists talk about third-culture as the creation of a new culture out of the adaptation of two other cultures. For example a parent working in another culture will bring their first culture into a second culture. The children of that parent will grow up in both cultures and create a third one, with respect for and understanding of both of the cultures. This cultural sensitivity and adaptability, Dave contends, is vital at this moment in history for the church.
For the church Dave defines third-culture as :The mindset and will to love, learn, and serve in any culture, even in the midst of pain and discomfort. This is the only way, he contends that we will be able to bride the increasing divide between the culture of the church and the globalized world around us.
So what do you think? Do you see a cultural divide between the North American church in particular and our culture around us? What about between the church and cultures around the world? How much does Jesus expect us to adapt our culture or to embrace another culture to share his gospel with the world? What is the hardest part of actually doing this?
December 9, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I understand the concept of third-culture kids (as I am about to be raising 3 of them), but could you walk through Gibbons’ explanation of the three cultures. I understand the adaptation piece that TCK’s have and that we as Christians should have. But what are the two “home” cultures that divide Christians’ time and interests?
December 9, 2009 at 7:19 pm
If I understand this correctly, there is the culture of the world and the culture of the Church as it is? I love the idea of third-culture. I am often embarrassed by other Christians because of their total disconnect from the world around. But on the other end, some Christians struggle to be “in the world, but not of the world” and compromise their Christian convictions for the sake of fitting in. I have been trying to unpack the idea of “being all things to all people (1 Cor 9:22)” recently and this concept helps.
I think that the Church is scared of getting dirty by interacting with the world. Many Christians get offended when they hear a cuss word or angered when there is sex or violence on television. They turn and run because they are afraid of getting dirty rather than going to the lost fearlessly knowing Christ has washed them clean and set them free.
December 10, 2009 at 8:19 am
One critique I have of the book thus far are the terms he uses to introduce his philosophies. Third Culture sounds like it is defining different cultures, but really he is just focused on a mindset. It is a mindset that makes us culturally aware, allows us to celebrate our own unique culture, and to communicate God’s love in any culture. It took me three readings of the same chapter to fully get what he was talking about and that isn’t a compliment. But, having finally grasped his idea I could see where he was taking it.
The other term he uses a lot, and this is something that I will talk about in my next post is being “liquid”. This is all about adaptability and our ability to fit into any culture, but once again talking about being liquid can be difficult for people to understand.
December 10, 2009 at 11:14 am
I think the term he is looking for is: missionary. The mindset and will to love, learn, and serve in any culture, even in the midst of pain and discomfort. That is what missionaries are supposed to do, but TCK sounds cooler.
However, I think Andy Crouch has made an excellent point that perhaps it is not our job simply to love, learn and serve a culture, but that we could actually create something in the midst of a culture as well. You’ve read Crouch, are they saying different things?
December 10, 2009 at 11:35 am
Crouch’s book was far better at the big picture idea of culture. Gibbons isn’t really saying something different, just looking more at our interaction with culture and our awareness of culture for all its beauty and brokenness than at creating culture or changing culture. I am only about half way through, so I will have to report back when I am done.
This book really feels like it was written by a guy from Orange County California, as far as the terminology and feel of it. You can probably relate to that better than I, I find some of it a little unwieldy for a book that is not on a philosophical or theological realm like Crouch’s was.
December 10, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I met Andy Crouch today!