The Monkey & the Fish
I’ve just finished reading The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church by Dave Gibbons. It has been such a refreshing and challenging book to read on so many different levels.
The title refers to an eastern parable about of a well-meaning monkey who sees a fish struggling in the water after a typhoon. Having a kind heart, the monkey with considerable risk to itself reaches down precariously from a limb of a tree to save the fish snatching him up from the water. The monkey lies the fish on dry land. For a few minutes the fish showed excitement and activity but soon it settles into a deep and peaceful sleep. According to Gibbons this is an apt metaphor for the church in the 21st century- doing the wrong things but with good intentions.
Gibbons, who is part Caucasian and part Korean, is the founding pastor of Newsong, a multi-site megachurch with campuses in the US, Mexico City, Bangkok, London and India. In the book, Dave Gibbons shares the story of how he was building his megachurch and was struck with the thought of building a big box that would not be used most of the week to entertain people who for the most part would not change the world. He was a well-meaning monkey thinking he was saving a fish. This realization challenged him to go on a journey that eventually led him to embrace the realization that the world is changing to a third-culture were we need to be willing to cross lines to reach people where they are.
Gibbons argues that the Christian message is timeless and unchanging – Christians are called to love our neighbor (which is defined as someone not like us – of a different race, with different beliefs and values). We are called to love, to act, to serve – to be and live like Christ rather than just talk about Christ.
What we really need to change are our forms. Gibbons challenges the church to be more liquid, i.e. when you pour water into a container it takes the shape of that container. Water can flow. Water is liquid. The church needs to be more liquid. Open to changing its shape and its form to share the message of God’s love. We need to be adaptive. We need to be open to change. We need to be open to the cultures around us to better share the love and the hope of the Gospel.
So, in closing, here are some quotes and points that spoke to me and challenged me:
“More than ever, our churches and ministries need to stand for something bigger than the prospects of our organizations and focus on summoning our people to live for something beyond themselves.” p.98
“I’m discovering that most people can’t relate to our achievements or success. However, most people can relate to our pain and our losses, our disappointments and our suffering.” p.116
“In ministry, I’ve seen how easy it is for us to focus on what we lack: money, the right staff, encouraging supporters, mentors, education, buildings, healthy family history, the right experience, communication skills, knowledge. The list could go on ad infinitum. I’ve learned that our focus too often drifts toward what we don’t have, and we overlook what is already in our hand.” p.121 – 122
Gibbons also identifies and talks about “key third culture principles” (p.197 – 198):
1. Listen more than we speak. Americans, in particular, are known for our loudness and inability to listen respectfully and well.
2. Believe that the locals know more than we do and be eager to learn from them. They live there. We’re visitors.
3. Understand that Jesus is already there. We’re not bringing Jesus to them.
4. Be open to redeeming or giving new meaning to cultural practices or customs that we may not understand or even be comfortable with.
5. Respect the forms and practices of a given culture. Just as we are sensitive to learn the language of a foreign culture, so we must learn the non-verbal language of the culture.
6. Recognize that what is offensive to much of the world is Christianity, especially cultural Christianity, and not Jesus himself. Jesus is pretty irresistible to most people around the world and, I almost every case, is intriguing in the most positive way.
And in case you were wondering, Dave Gibbons defines “Third Culture” as….
“… the fusion of multiple cultures, the art of adaptation, dialogue rather than dictation, diplomacy over strong arm tactics, and the embrace of discomfort as part of the journey to real community. Third culture is the mindset and will to love, learn and serve in any culture even in the midst of pain and discomfort. In short, 3rdCulture is PAINFUL ADAPTATION.” (from davegibbons.tv)
