Issue No. 622 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting predicts that the hot-off-the-press book, Faith for the Curious, will be a Very. Important. Book. Curious? Plus, click here to see book recommendations in all 20 management buckets (core competencies), and click here for more book reviews. Also, read my recent review of Dynamic Drive: The Purpose-Fueled Formula for Sustainable Success. BONUS! Read Scott Anderson’s color commentary on the song, “Rock the Boat,” by The Hues Corporation.
Mark Matlock, author of the new book, Faith for the Curious, writes, “The institutional church has needed an update: the pandemic offered an opportunity to have a massive garage sale."
Mark Matlock doesn’t hold back! Whew! He writes, “COVID-19 gave the church an opportunity that we likely haven’t fully leaned into. I conducted hundreds of hours of webinars during the pandemic, many with concerned church leaders wanting to know when we would get ‘back to normal.’ I implored leaders to take advantage of the moment.”
He adds, “The institutional church has needed an update: the pandemic offered an opportunity to have a massive garage sale. Instead of ‘getting back to normal,’ I argued that this was a chance to create a much-needed new normal—one better equipped to meet the challenges of today.” This is a must-read:
How an Era of Spiritual Openness Shapes the Way We Live and Help Others Follow Jesus
by Mark Matlock (Sept. 24, 2024)
OLD WINESKINS GAME! Mark Matlock is one creative guy! During the pandemic, he “…facilitated numerous workshops with church and nonprofit leaders, and one of the games we played was ‘keep it, curb it, refresh it.’ Never before has the church had an opportunity to ‘curb’ so many relics we have accumulated over time.”
“Enough with putting new wine into old wineskins. Let’s start thinking about what new things God is interested in doing through us.”
You could just stop reading—right here—and facilitate an entire day with your team using the Mark Matlock exercise on your products, programs, and services:
• KEEP IT!
• CURB IT!
• REFRESH IT!
(Or, if you prefer a few more instructions, try the “Stars, Hearts, Money Tree, and Stop Sign” exercise from the book, Nonprofit Sustainability. See the mini-review below.)
But back to the big idea of Faith for the Curious. Matlock has two aims for his book:
1) “The first is to help us understand who the Spiritually Curious are in a deeper way.” He adds, “These people differ from each other in many ways, but curiosity is always a distinguishing factor that draws them together.”
2) “The second goal is to help us make a shift in the way we are personally and collectively practicing Christianity. We have a lot to gain from becoming more curious ourselves, from realizing there may be something we are missing in our own spiritual life that needs tending to, and from embracing the idea that we can’t take people somewhere we haven’t been.”
He adds, “Spiritual curiosity isn’t a fire to be extinguished; it’s a garden to be cultivated.”
How effective are you at communicating across the wide spectrum of spiritual views? Matlock leverages Barna’s research and identifies important segments that your church and your own observations may be missing. One helpful chart, “Supernaturalism x Curiosity” illustrates the “Curiosity” continuum (Low to High) with the “Supernaturalism” continuum (No Belief to Strong Belief), and features these segments: Naturalists, Curious Skeptics, Spiritually Curious, and Practicing Christians. Examples:
The Spiritually Curious: “These are adults who are not part of the Christian church (meaning, they are non-Christians or Nonpracticing Christians), yet they believe there is a real spiritual dimension and show high levels of curiosity.”
The Curious Skeptics: “These non-Christians and Nonpracticing Christians also show high levels of curiosity. When it comes to spirituality, big questions loom; they are uncertain if there is a spiritual dimension, or they believe there is no way to know for sure.”
While reading Faith for the Curious, I sensed that this is a Very. Important. Book. David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group, writes in the foreword, “Get this: approximately three-quarters of adults in America say they believe in a higher power, and a majority say they’re interested in exploring spirituality.”
Describing Matlock’s expertise as a “data storyteller,” Kinnaman notes that “Mark authored this book under the Barna brand, which means he included reliable charts, infographics, and statistics, and he unpacks them for those who share our love of a good data story.” (The charts and stats are both eye-opening and soul-opening.)
Kinnaman assures us, “But this isn’t your typical quantitative Barna research book.” So he urges readers and leaders to “…pause for a moment and ask God to meet you where you are in your own faith life: to humbly ask him to soften your heart so it will be open and receptive to what you’re about to experience in the pages that follow here.” (Who writes a foreword—with humility—and asks you to pray before reading the book? Who does that? Oh, my.)
Kinnaman, by the way, is the coauthor with Matlock, of Faith for Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon (read my review). That book provided “hopeful news and handrails to help guide our own kids and other young adults on how to cultivate a resilient faith.” Matlock builds on that research and Faith for the Curious focuses on “this current cultural moment.” Kinnaman writes: “Massive receptivity to the possibility of God exists today.” He adds, “We’re living in a cultural moment full of enormous evangelistic opportunities.”
I can’t possibly showcase the depth, width, and wisdom of Faith for the Curious in one review. I hope you’ll read it—or at least delegate your reading to someone on your team. More teasers:
INSIGHTFUL. Matlock’s commentary on “post-Christian culture” is so, so helpful as he unpacks “A Christmas Sermon for Pagans,” by C.S. Lewis (1898-1963). Lewis, author of more than 30 books including The Screwtape Letters, wrote that “there are three kinds of people in the world.” Lewis described them: “(1) Those who are sick and don’t know it (the post-Christians). (2) Those who are sick and know it (Pagans). (3) Those who have found the cure.”
JOY. Matlock: “To journey with a Curious Skeptic is one of the greatest joys we can have as a believer. This unique type of skeptic can often help us deepen our own faith, because we find we have to trust Jesus as we help them do the same.”
LESSONS LEARNED. Matlock is pretty transparent in his final chapter, “Lessons Learned.” Here are two of his six lessons:
• “God is at work in places where I don’t think to look.”
• “There are fewer people hostile to Christianity than I thought.”
Did I mention? This is a Very. Important. Book. Now...do you need a garage sale at your church or organization? Keep it? Curb it? Refresh it?
TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for Faith for the Curious: How an Era of Spiritual Openness Shapes the Way We Live and Help Others Follow Jesus, by Mark Matlock. Listen on Libro (5 hours, 22 minutes).
GENEROUS! Wes Taber, Global Ambassador for Life in Messiah, emailed me last week. He had just forwarded Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews to a team member—with a very generous offer. Wes said he would cover the cost of any book recommended in my eNews—if that staff member, or any other “LIFEr,” would commit to two requirements:
1) Read the book.
2) “Report back…with two things they found helpful and one thing they are putting into practice immediately.”
That’s both brilliant and generous! Wes Taber also noted that the book reviews in Your Weekly Staff Meeting “are more than worth the cost of subscribing (it’s free!).” (Thanks, Wes! LOL!)
2) In the Customer Bucket, we highlight “The Engel Scale,” named by an appreciative grad student who studied under Prof. Jim Engel. (Read What's Gone Wrong With the Harvest? by James F. Engel and Wilbert Norton.) The scale begins with a -8 (a person with an awareness of a supreme being, but no effective knowledge of the gospel). It moves down to a -1 (repentance and faith in Christ), and then to a +1, +2, +3, +4, +5 and beyond (demonstrating growth in being a Christ-follower). QUESTION: How are we communicating to the spectrum of spiritual views? See Matlock’s chart contrasting “Curiosity” with “Supernaturalism” and these segments: Naturalists, Curious Skeptics, Spiritually Curious, and Practicing Christians.
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books
Part 17: “Nonprofit” Is a Tax Designation, Not a Management Philosophy!
Book #92 of 100: Nonprofit Sustainability
For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by spotlighting Book #92 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
Nonprofit Sustainability:
Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability
by Jeanne Bell, Jan Masaoka, and Steve Zimmerman
Books #92 through #96 spotlight five helpful books for nonprofit CEOs, senior staff, and board members. Nonprofit Sustainability’s “Dual Bottom Line” matrix map addresses mission impact and financial sustainability—with four easy-to-remember icons.
• Read my review.
• Order from Amazon: Nonprofit Sustainability
• Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson).
Use the matrix in the book and plot your products, programs, and services in the appropriate quadrant:
• Stars: High Mission Impact, High Profitability
• Hearts: High Mission Impact, Low Profitability
• Money Tree: Low Mission Impact, High Profitability
• Stop Sign: Low Mission Impact, Low Profitability
Gut check! What are you going to do this month about those programs in the “Stop Sign” category?
For more, read “Focus on Mission Impact and Sustainability. The ‘dual bottom line’ equips boards to address dead horses and sacred cows (or goats).” Lesson 23 is featured in the book, Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: 40 Insights for Better Board Meetings (2nd Edition), by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Order from Amazon. Read the blog by Steve Moore. Read the lesson on ECFA’s website.
Song #33 of 45: “Rock the Boat”
Listen to "Rock the Boat,” by The Hues Corporation, Song #33 of 45 in our blog series, Johnny Be Good. Learn why the song was so "memorable" to a 16-year-old Scott Anderson, “The Disco Dishwasher!”
Reminder: Guest bloggers invited! More info here.
“God Was Not on My Radar”
While reading Faith for the Curious, by Mark Matlock (see above), I also read a gutsy and transparent autobiographical look-in-the-mirror, The House at Channing and Moonsail, by Mark Ellis. I’d like to host both Marks for dinner at the San Clemente Pier sometime. The conversation would be fascinating. (Read both books and join us!) And for more book reviews, visit the Pails in Comparison Blog.
Join John Pearson on Oct. 18, 2024
The 4 Big Mistakes to Avoid With Your Nonprofit Board
While space remains, The Barnabas Group/Orange County invites nonprofit CEOs and board members to their board governance seminar, led by John Pearson, Oct. 18, 2024 (Friday 7:30 - 11:30 a.m.) in Irvine, Calif. The complimentary seminar includes a continental breakfast and the 100-page workbook, The 4 Big Mistakes to Avoid With Your Nonprofit Board (3rd Edition): How Leaders Enrich Their Ministry Results Through God-Honoring Governance. More info here.
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