The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church

by Dave Gibbons, Pulitzer Prize Winner J. J. Brazil (Foreword by)

Overview

Our world is marked by unprecedented degrees of multiculturalism, ethnic diversity, social shifts, international collaboration, and technology-driven changes. The changes are profound, especially when you consider the unchecked decline in the influence, size, and social standing of the church. There is an undercurrent of anxiety in the evangelical world, and a hunger for something new. And we’re sensing the urgency of it. We need fresh, creative counterintuitive ways of doing ministry and church and leading it in the 21st century. We need to adapt. Fast. Both in our practices and our thinking. The aim of this book is simple: When we understand the powerful forces at work in the world today, we’ll learn how something called The Third Culture can yield perhaps the most critical missing ingredient in the church today—adaptability—and help the church remain on the best side of history. A Third Culture Church and a Third Culture Leader looks at our new global village and the church’s role in that village in a revolutionary way. It’s a way to reconnect with the historical roots of what Jesus envisioned the church could be—a people known for a brand of love, unity, goodness, and extravagant spirit that defies all conventions. This book is part of the successful Leadership Innovation Series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310574552
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	05/26/2009
Series:	Leadership Network Innovation Series
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	808 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dave Gibbons is crazy about his beautiful, misfit family in New York City, Irvine, Los Angeles, Southeast Asia, China, India, Seoul, Mexico City, London, and Brazil. He’s a creative, futurist, activist, and strategist.  Dave serves as an adviser to artists, business persons, and community development specialists throughout the world. He also is the Lead of a global alliance of churches and networks. He is the author of the award-winning book on culture and leadership, The Monkey and the Fish, and of XEALOTS.  You can learn more about the XEALOT life at XEALOT.net and davegibbons.tv. Follow Dave at http://twitter.com/davegibbons

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A powerful and compelling invitation to a ministry that embraces pain, suffering, and the cross. — Peter T. Cha

Dave Gibbons has the unique bicultural heritage and global exposure to give us penetrating perspectives on the gospel, church, and culture. The Monkey and the Fish speaks through clear and simple stories whose implications are profoundly compelling. — DJ Chuang

Dave Gibbons is an revolutionary thinker, a big dreamer, and a thought leader that we should all pay close attention to. I'm positive 'Monkey and The Fish' will disrupt your current understanding of culture as it did mine. This is not simply a book but a brilliant field guide to the future. — Mike Foster

Dave Gibbons thinks differently that the rest of us. With eyes wide open to the new global village in which we now live, he calls us to a new way of being the church, a third-culture way that stands in sharp contrast to big, brash, rich, and comfortable American-way churches. Dave is a reliable guide because he walks, courageously, the third-culture way. This is an important book which comes to us in the midst of tumultuous times, filled with stories, wisdom, and a challenge to be the people of God in this new world. — Richard Peace

Dave has not given us another formula for Christian community and Christian leadership. Instead, he has given us a renewed vision of our calling. What the world needs most is the same thing that the church needs most—third-culture Christians. Anyone who wonders about the relevance of church—in their own lives or in the global community—should read The Monkey and the Fish. — Bill Clark

Dave is a breath of fresh air, leading the way in a new and important movement that thinks globally and lives locally. When Dave writes a book, I read it! — Jim Orred

Don’t read this book. Tear it open! Chew on it. Get it down no matter what it takes. Some of the flavors will be unfamiliar and some of the textures a little too gritty, but this is nourishing stuff. Dave Gibbons goes way beyond providing new ideas for ministry and instead challenges us to new ways of encountering, imagining, and living in the world. My life is likely to be a lot messier and hopefully way more faithful to Jesus after my collision with The Monkey and the Fish. — Dr. Stephen A. Hayner

In days marked by huge cultural shifts, we can't afford to worship our methods and traditions. We have to embrace adaptability. The church must begin to write new stories to reach a new world. In The Monkey and the Fish, Dave Gibbons delivers insight that will challenge your view of our world and the role of the local church. — Tony Morgan

It is thoroughly refreshing to read a book that seriously considers the impact of global shifts like the third-culture milieu upon the life and mission of the church. Dave Gibbons provides several innovative insights with concrete examples that will most definitely initiate meaningful conversations and movements among those who desire to become tangible (or “liquid”) expressions of the gospel to an ever-changing culture…. — Charles Lee

The message of the gospel will always remain the same, but the methods will change from generation to generation. Pastor Dave Gibbons embraces the message “to love God and love our neighbor,” and he is willing to do whatever it takes to live out this message to reach today’s globalized culture…. The Monkey and the Fish shares his humble journey and will open your eyes to a new way of being and doing church as a third culture. — Jaeson Ma

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