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The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church | 
 enlarge | Author: Reggie Mcneal
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 7253
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0787965685
Dewey Decimal Number: 262.0017
UPC: 723812471409
EAN: 9780787965686
ASIN: 0787965685
Publication Date: October 3, 2003
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Product Description
In this provocative book, author, consultant, and church leadership
developer Reggie McNeal debunks these and other old assumptions and provides an overall strategy to help church leaders move forward in an entirely different and much more effective way. In The Present Future, McNeal identifies the six most important realities that church leaders must address including: recapturing the spirit of Christianity and replacing "church growth" with a wider vision of kingdom growth; developing disciples instead of church members; fostering the rise of a new apostolic leadership; focusing on spiritual formation rather than church programs; and shift, from prediction and planning to preparation for the challenges in an uncertain world. McNeal contends that by changing the questions church leaders ask themselves about their congregations and their plans, they can frame the core issues and approach the future with new eyes, new purpose, and new ideas.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 35 more reviews...
 right symptoms, wrong cure January 1, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In diagnosing an illness, a physician must look beyond the symptoms for the simple reason that many diseases may present the same or similar signs. The doctor will run a series of tests to rule out one or several possible diseases, narrowing the list of possibilities until he reaches a final diagnosis. If he treats a patient based only on the presenting symptoms, the result could be catastrophic. In The Present Future, Reggie McNeal has the symptoms down pat: the church is in decline and the church culture is about to collapse. Churches are filled with "club members" who may know all the pertinent facts about Jesus and Christianity, but who have no real intimate relationship with Christ. There is no personal transformation in their lives, no excitement, no reason to talk about their religious experiences outside the confines of the local church. Outsiders are not attracted to the church because the church looks no different than their workplace or the rest of the culture. Why should they get up early on Sunday only to get more of the same stuff they put up with all week long? Who needs more assignments and people begging for their money?
The problem with McNeal's solution is that his diagnosis is wrong to begin with. He attributes all these symptoms to the "club member" mentality that exists in the church and offers solutions that will train the club members to become more outwardly focused. In doing this, he manages to come up with solutions that sound Christian, but are not biblically based. He mentions scripture only in passing a few times, but never supports his main ideas with scripture at all. Underlying his entire philosophy is the idea that churches have to stop focusing on the church and focus instead on the community. He is extremely critical of churches that focus on the church. He says, "The target of most church ministry efforts has been on the church itself and church members. Just look at how the money is spent and what the church leadership spends time doing. ...The church that wants to partner with God on his redemptive mission in the world has a very different target: the community...In the future the church that "gets it" will staff to and spend its resources on strategies for community transformation."
According to scripture, the church has several responsibilities. These responsibilities are to preach the gospel, disciple the flock, and care for the widows and orphans. In New Testament times, when churches had excess money, they sent it to churches in need. They sent missionaries and evangelists to work outside the church. But Paul enjoins Timothy to "Guard what has been entrusted to your care." In other words, Timothy is to focus on one thing--his flock. He is to protect it and carry out God's design for the church. Likewise, Christians are commanded to do works of service for the body of Christ. This is the function of the church.
The community is another sphere entirely. It is also inhabited by Christians who are commanded to work for the Kingdom within this sphere. This can only be done by individuals who have been transformed themselves. McNeal bypasses this transformation. He doesn't even ask the question of how the club members came to be club members. He simply says that the key to changing from a consumerist church to a missional church is to focus on ministering to others outside the church. It is key, he adds, to minister in Jesus' name. We have to show people the love of God, and that will "change their behavior"! Do you see what McNeal has done? Untransformed people who are (by McNeal's own admission) already living a lie are supposed to go out and do good works in Jesus' name? McNeal's solution only exacerbates the sickness.
In Matthew 7, Jesus warns about this very thing: "Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" Before we can send people out to the community, we have to address the problem that the church is filled with people who are headed for hell. Just a few verses prior to the above, Jesus says, "...wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Many people in the church have entered by the wrong gate and are standing on the very brink of hell, and McNeal does not even address this issue!
Pastors, beware. God will certainly hold you accountable for letting people in through the back door, promising grace and hospitality before repentance has taken place. Jesus warned the lawyers of his day, "Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge." What is the key to knowledge? Solomon says the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. According to John, fear has to do with punishment. Jesus says, "...be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell." The cure for the church starts with recognition of sin and consequent repentance. It does not start by doing good works in the community.
It is frustrating that McNeal can be so right about identifying the symptoms and so wrong about the cure. He is profoundly critical in this book toward those who feel they need to "convict people of their sin and cause them to repent," because he feels this is not loving. People who have not been convicted of their sin will never repent. How loving is it to withhold the truth? We do not tell people about their sin in order to get them to change their behavior, as McNeal suggests. We tell them about their sin so they realize how completely hopeless their situation is in the hope that they will fall before God in repentance so that he can transform them. This is what changes their behavior. Only then will they be able to go out and transform their communities. And they won't need the church to motivate them. There will be no stopping them.
 McNeal is On-Point December 26, 2008
I love this book. If you are tired of playing church and really want to make a difference in someones life, read this book. I have read it 4 times and it is marked up by my highlighter. McNeal's book is easy to read, but his insights are profound. I recommend all church leadership to read this book. I purchased a copy for my pastor. Great book!
Rarely Shocked October 30, 2008
I read quite a bit. I would say about 2 to 3 books a week sometimes and they are all Christian. So suffice it to say that I am not easily impressed and very often I think that what I have read is a real "waste of paper". This book is not one of those. McNeal writes without compromise. Don't be fooled by the cover. This is not one of those "get big and better" books on the church. This is a very real and honest look at the way things are from a strategist who writes well and engages the reader. It is worth every penny.
Must Read April 20, 2008
This book is a must read for Christians who are not satisfied with their spiritual life and a MUST READ for those in churches considering major capital expenditures that will serve only the members. It will change the way you think about how you and your church can best serve Jesus.
It's about time! February 18, 2008
For many years I have felt disenfrancised from the church, even though I have spent my entire life in it and even raised my family in it. Now that I am nearing fifty, I have found myself seeking ways to spread my faith that are real and substantive. This Present Future has given verbal affirmation to what I've felt all along, and to what I've always known to be true. But in Churchian circles, the only truth is the one they tell you, and to think outside the box is frowned upon. But now I understand why, and I understand what I must do to change and effect my world for Christ.
Thank you Reggie McNeal.
Lonnie Friesen
The Homeless Heart
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