Surprise the World
The Five Habits of Highly Missional People
By: Michael Frost
ISBN: 978-1-970102-33-8
READ: June 2020
RATING: 6/10
Summary: This book is worth reading. It was difficult for me to rate because I disagree with the premise that some have the gift of evangelism and those who don’t have a different role to play in reaching non-Christians. After that premise the bulk of the book is helpful, practical, and in line with my view of Scripture. What it does best is emphasize the need for believers to develop measurable habits that move conviction into action. This is sorely needed in the church today—especially amongst church leaders. I’m not excluded here. The book has personally helped me and my family to take next steps in living lives that are marked by missional habits. It’s this reason that I wanted to rate it more highly, but the reasoning in the opening doesn’t square with my view of the gifts or the responsibility of those who don’t have a certain gift—all believers are to teach, to love, to have faith, etc. The same is true with evangelism (presuming we grant it gift status even though it doesn’t show up in Rom. 12 or 1 Cor. 12). But, other readers won’t have that trouble and those that do I hope will still pick up the book to get from it missional habits that lead to missional lifestyle.
Chapter titles are: Introduction 1. Living “Questionable Lives” 2. A New Set of Habits 3. Bless: The First Habit 4. Eat: The Second Habit 5. Listen: The Third Habit 6. Learn: The Fourth Habit 7. Sent: The Fifth Habit 8. Discipleship, Nurture, and Accountability
Introduction:
“The fact is that we all recognize the need to live generous, hospitable, Spirit-led, Christlike lives as missionaries to our own neighborhoods. We want to live our faith out in the open for all to see.”
“Surely there is a way we can see the church as ‘an army of ordinary people,’ sent out to announce and demonstrate the reign of God through Christ, without expecting ourselves to be something we’re not or something less than we should be.”
Chapter 1: Living “Questionable” Lives
“Evangelistic mission works effectively when we are living generous, hospitable, Spirit-led, Christlike lives as missionaries to our own neighborhoods—and when the gifted evangelists in our midst join us in sharing Christ with our neighbors. That’s not just good evangelism strategy. That’s the biblical model.”
-I fundamentally disagree that evangelism is a gift. It’s listed as an office/calling of some in Ephesians 4:11, yet never appears in the “gift lists” of Romans 12 or 1 Corinthians 12. He builds out much of the book from this foundation.
“When it comes to the spoken aspect of their ministries, evangelists are to proclaim, and believers are to give answers [previously referenced Col. 4:2-6].” Pg. 4
“In other words, the biblical model is for leaders to 1 identify, equip, and mobilize gifted evangelists (who then take a leadership responsibility for the church’s evangelism) and 2 inspire all believers to live questionable lives.” Pg. 5
“I think gifted evangelistic leaders bear the responsibility to equip their congregations to be able to tell others about Jesus, but the opportunities for faith sharing will emerge from questioning unbelievers.” Pg. 6
“This twofold approach literally transformed the Roman Empire.” Pg. 7
“These ordinary believers devoted themselves to sacrificial acts of kindness.” Pg. 7
“[Emperor] Julian was concerned that the Christians’ acts of hospitality and philanthropy were winning too many of his subjects. He decided to launch an offensive against them by mobilizing his officials and the pagan priesthood to out-love the Christians.” Pg. 9
“Moreover, Christians opened their fellowship to anyone irrespective of ethnicity, and they promoted social relations between the sexes and within families. They were literally the most surprising alternative society, and their conduct raised an insatiable curiosity among the average Roman.” Pg. 10
“Instead, Paul insists that Christians live this way in order to ‘make the teaching of the church attractive.’” Pg. 12
“To fulfill the evangelistic mandate that Paul and Peter and the gospel present us with, we need to be propelled outward, in the lives of our neighbors, but also upward, into deeper relationship with Jesus.” Pg. 14
Chapter 2: A New Set of Habits
“The links between our (inner) spirituality and our (outward) action are far greater than many believe.” Pg. 17
“Indeed, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung once said, ‘You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do’” pg. 18
“As Aristotle said, ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.’” Pg. 18
“We need to be fostering a set of habits among Christians that will in turn shape their values and beliefs. That’s what BELLS is; more on that to come.” Pg. 19
“South African missiologist David Bosch wrote, ‘Mission is more than and different from recruitment to our brand of religion; it is the alerting of people to the universal reign of God through Christ.” Pg. 21
“When our lives become questionable, our neighbors invite us to proclaim the reign of God.” Pg. 21
“The trick is to develop habits that unite us together as believers, while also propelling us into the lives of others.” Pg. 22
“My point is this: If you want ot be a generous, hospitable, Spirit-led, Christlike missionary, don’t just try to learn those values—foster those habits!” pg. 24
“To pastors I say, you don’t have to preach these values if you’re fostering the habits.” Pg. 24
“If it is our habit to eat with unbelievers every week, the interaction with those unbelieving friends will serve to remind us of the reason for the habit in the first place.” Pg. 27
Chapter 3: Bless: The First Habit
“When we live unexpected lives (which clearly includes blessing strangers), we find ourselves being questioned by others. Then we have the best opportunity for sharing the hope of Christ within us.” Pg. 35
“We are called to bless in order to bless, because we were made to bless the nations.” Pg. 36
“We need to develop a rhythm of gift giving, time spending, and affirmation sharing as an end in itself because it fosters a spirit of generosity, it mirrors the character of God, and it alerts others to his reign.” Pg. 36
“…the key to successful blessing is that the recipient must feel blessed.” Pg. 36
Chapter 4: Eat: The Second Habit
“More than that, eating with others can be perceived as a profoundly theological practice.” Pg. 43
“When we eat together we discover the inherent humanity of all people. We share stories. And hopes. And fears. And disappointments. People open up to each other.” Pg. 47
Chapter 5: Listen: The Third Habit
“Fear and laziness are mission killers.” Pg. 58
“Laziness tells you that you don’t have the time; laziness whispers to you that you need to take care of yourself first. In fact, fear and laziness will motivate you to come up with a dozens of reasons why you can’t or shouldn’t open yourself to others.” Pg. 58-59
“What we need to learn as missionaries is found not only in books but also in the Holy Spirit, who gives us the gift of knowledge to answer others’ questions and deal with the challenges they pose.” Pg. 60
“Thomas Merton once remarked that ‘it is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers….Solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say.’” Pg. 61
“…St Therese of Lisieux [said], ‘If you are willing to bear serenely the trial of being displeasing to yourself then you will be for Jesus a pleasant place of shelter.’” Pg. 64
“The difficulty for many people seeking to live missional lives is negotiating the spectrum between being withdrawn and judgmental on the one hand and entering fully into a social setting that might be considered ungodly on the other.” Pg. 67
Chapter 6: Learn: The Fourth Habit
“We need to know him if we’re going to share him as the reason for the hope we have. In fact, when we’re living questionable lives, both the devotional and missional purposes for studying the Gospels intersect.” Pg. 72
“…We are taking our lead from C.S. Lewis, who wrote: ‘In the same way the Church exists for no other else but to draw [people] into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself are simple a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose. It says in the Bible that the whole universe was made for Christ and that everything is to be gathered together in Him.” Pg. 72-73
“My concern is that many Christians seem to have developed merely a passing knowledge of the Gospels (what I call Jesus’ greatest hits—his birth, his death, his resurrection, a few miracles and a couple of parables.)” pg. 74
“The term mission (from the Latin mission) means ‘to be sent: to be propelled outward.’” Pg. 75
“But the term incarnational refers to another dimension of mission. It describes not simply going out but also the difficult work of going deep with others.” Pg. 75
“We should be able to speak about Jesus the way surfers speak about Kelly Slater: with energy and enthusiasm, with reverence and awe, with delight and wonder.” Pg. 83
Chapter 7: Sent the Fifth Habit
“But it does mean that every believer needs to take seriously his or her calling to alert others to God’s reign and rule.” Pg. 86
“We are able to both announce reconciliation (champion it, describe it, explain it, advocate for it), and demonstrate it (be reconciled to others, broker reconciliation among others).” Pg. 87
“The more you journal this stuff the more you find yourself living it out.” Pg. 88
“Whether you’re simply donating to a cause, signing an online petition, or opening petition, or opening your home to the poor, start journaling the ways you were sent to show justice in your world this week.” Pg. 89
“If beauty is an expression of God’s reign, we need to think about ways to invite our friends to encounter it. Take them hiking. Climb mountains. Walk along beaches.” Pg. 90
“They include a sense of majesty, unapproachability, ability, and a feeling of fascination, including bother fear and attraction.” Pg. 91
“But more than just enjoying natural beauty, I think we should commit ourselves both to creating beautiful music, art, craft, and food and to inviting others to join us.” Pg. 91
“Therefore, it should be reasonable to suggest that wholeness, the healing of broken people, is primary evidence of that reign today.” Pg. 92
Chapter 8: Discipleship, Nurture, and Accountability
“But missional effectiveness grows exponentially the longer we embrace these habits and the deeper we go with them.” Pg. 99
“My suggestion is that you build a triad of accountability, a microgroup of three people that meets weekly to hold each member accountable to the habits, as well as encouraging and nurturing each other and helping each other learn from their experience of living out the habits.” Pg. 101