McManus, An Unstoppable Force

Erwin Raphael McManus, An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind. Group Publishing, 2001.

Referenced in:

• Congregational Culture, Church Identity
• Leadership and Organizational Culture
• Missional Strategies – First Read

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

It is hard to know exactly how to categorize this resource. This may be its value. McManus is Lead Pastor of Mosaic, an intentionally diverse Christian community in Los Angeles. In this book, he conveys his leadership philosophy behind the building of this church. As Brad Smith says in the Foreword, “An Unstoppable Force provides great wisdom on building the internal culture, or ethos, of a church without succumbing to a faddish role.” (8) McManus is deeply committed to biblical authority and orthodox faith. He says of himself, “I live in Los Angeles, and I pastor a Southern Baptist Church.” He offers a model of leadership and ministry that is biblically attuned, culturally aware, missionally engaging, organizationally adept, and spiritually inspiring. He is appreciated by traditional, attractional, and missional/emergents alike.

It is hard to “summarize” McManus. His words are carefully crafted, and while there is a discernible sequence, to truncate his concepts into a few brief paragraphs would not have the compelling effect of actually reading selections and getting a feel for his message.

He begins with a section, “Zero Movement,” by describing the church as a living system that has fallen into “atrophy,” or a loss of forward movement. Ironically, the church’s decline is not due to outside forces, but to the church’s own succumbing to secularism. However, the church is designed to prevail, and can if it will “raise her sails and move with the Spirit.” (34) The next several sections are entitled “First Movement,” “Second Movement,” and “Third Movement.” Each highlights how to rebuild momentum.

This is a fascinating read, one that I have required several times in my classes. McManus has shaped much of my thinking on a variety of issues. The list below is just a start.

Friction traction: The major shifts we think create friction for the contemporary church – radical migration, urbanization, population explosion, technical revolution, information explosion, the global mosaic, hyper-modernism – are the same ones that can generate traction if we will discuss them honestly and engage them more confidently.

Spiritual velocity: “When you move with spiritual velocity, with a clear sense of God’s calling, with clarity of vision, and with a heart that moves with immediate obedience to the Spirit, the environment that once overwhelmed you with its rate of speed can now be experienced in slow motion. The way not to be overwhelmed by the radical changes and speed in our world is to know where you’re going, to know why you’re going there, and to do it with urgency.” (74)

Entrepreneurs and catalysts: An apostolic kind of leader who facilitates this will be both entrepreneur and catalyst, because “velocity without mass equals zero momentum. Momentum requires both speed with direction and people going along. The apostolic leader is more than a spiritual entrepreneur; he is a spiritual catalyst. The first moves quickly; the second moves others quickly with him.” (75)

Ethos: The invisible force at work in churches. It is the way a community feels reality, or a tribal emotion. “Laws cannot control unsupervised activity. Only ethos has this kind of effect on decision making.” (100) “One of the mysteries of the first-century movement was that it was both unifying and expanding at the same time. Every single day the church expanded. It grew outwardly, reaching new people and bringing new complexity to the situation. And at the same time, the church is described as growing together with common purpose, common values, common vision, and common movement. They had a common e-motion. Their hearts were wrapped around the heart and values of God. Their minds were being shaped by the mind and perspective of God. Everything else recorded in the book of Acts is the outcome and overflow of this apostolic ethos.” (102-103) “I know it may sound like heresy, but it is more important to change what people care about than to change what they believe.” (110)

Cultural Architecture: “There is no more significant reason to be a pastoral leader than to awaken an apostolic ethos. To embrace the God-given task of connected the local church to the first-century church is an extraordinary responsibility. But God has already placed within the body of Christ everything we need to ignite the flames of spiritual revival and revolution. If local churches are essentially spiritual subcultures waiting to become culture revolutions, then we as spiritual leaders need to engage our environments as cultural architects.” (112-113) “The stories you choose to tell inform your emerging culture.” (121)

Cultural Architect: This chapter six is one of the best on church leadership I have ever read. It is one well-crafted expression after another on the leader as one who creates and shapes congregational culture. “Ethos emerges from the lives of individuals, and whether you realize it or not, you’ve been shaping the ethos of your congregation from the first moment you gave a message or made a decision.” (140). He then defines six different areas in which a leader has a direct impact on the ethos of a congregation: character, stories, experiences, reward, battles, and advancement.

Below are a few other important concepts from McManus:

1. Spirit Design Theory: “I am absolutely convinced that where an apostolic ethos prevails, people move toward optimism; where it is lacking, despair creates pessimism.” (163)
2. Soul Environments: “The world looks different when you understand yourself to be a child of the wind. You realize that when your sail is up, God’s wind blows you to places you never imagined, at just the right moment for someone else.” (168)
3. Re-formation: “The prophetic leader must root the call to change in the fundamental essence of the church and God’s calling to her.” (189) “If the root issues or core problems are not identified, a church can spend too much time and energy addressing the wrong issues.” (191) “Too many times, pastors begin a radical transition process without solidifying key spiritual leaders necessary for healthy transition.” (194)
4. A Radical Minimum Standard: “The measure of an apostolic community is not in the legends created by heroic acts but in the quality and texture of what that community considers ordinary living.” (212)

From the Publisher

Winner of the Gold Medallion Book Award

In An Unstoppable Force, author Erwin McManus offers a vision of the church taking its rightful place. An unstoppable force created to change the world. A church that is active and engaged with its community. A church that dares to cut itself free from atrophied practices and programs to flourish in creative and compelling worship. Where teachers of the Word risk reaching out to our multi-sensory, multi-layered culture with music, the arts and other unique expressions of love and faith. A church that prospers in the life of Christ.

New life comes into a church – an apostolic ethos – when it realizes its destiny is found in its early church origins. A living part of the body of Christ. Driven to find its uniqueness beyond being a cookie cutter copy of the “successful church.”

An Unstoppable Force will:

• Challenge you to see God’s vision for the mission and purpose of the church.
• Help you to explore specific changes in the culture that call for immediate change in the church.
• Offer practical ways for your church to find its unique voice and identity to express Christ’s love and faith to your culture.
• Present interactive questions in each chapter to foster discussion about the life of your church, its focus on Christ, and how it can be a richer influence on your culture.

Never settle for church as usual again! Let An Unstoppable Force excite and inspire you to be part of the Church that GOD had in mind!

About the Author

Erwin Raphael McManus serves as Lead Pastor of Mosaic, a uniquely innovative and international congregation in Los Angeles, California. A national and international strategist and speaker on culture, change, creativity and leadership, Erwin also serves as Distinguished Lecturer and Futurist for Bethel Theological Seminary.

***For additional information on this resource, including reviews, click the bookstore links. Check the reference at page top or the links below for resource guides on related topics.***

See Resource Guides on Related Areas:

• Missional Perspectives, Introduction
• Missional Church Resources, Introduction and Index
• Church Leadership and Renewal, Index to Resources

See Resources on Over 100 Areas of Ministry Leadership:

• Ministry Resource Guide Index