A Review

As I journeyed through Off-Road Disciplines, I found myself mentally applying these principles in every aspect of my life.  Currently, my wife and I lead a small, married couples class at a local church with a small circle of influence outside of that.  Aside from utilizing the book in this community (which, I assume is its primary purpose), I found myself applying certain principles to our family situation.  As step dad to two wonderful boys, I have found that, in order to be relevant to them, I have to be mentored by them.  I have to readjust my focus from what I want them to learn and be to how do I affectively communicate to them that I love them and in forming that relationship, hopefully, I will have a greater influence.  In all of these situations, I have to decrease and adjust to being others-centered.

I found myself trying to figure out how I could implement the ideas presented to me.  Is our present situation permissive enough to allow us to become the type of missional leader, or are there too many restrictions for someone in our position? Do we need to transition from our well-established community and partner with a brand new community in order to challenge ourselves and become missional leaders?  Do my wife and I need to transplant our family in order to lead a community of faith?  My perspective as to the purpose of this book, it is to provoke these questions.  The challenge of this book speaks to my complacency.  It asks if I am really doing enough to perpetuate the mission of Christ. 

The strength of this book is its timeliness.  It seems that the religious culture in the early part of the 21^st century is on the cusp of a radical transformation as the emerging leaders yearn to do church differently.  However, the weakness of this book may also be its timeliness.  The analogies and metaphors that poignantly challenge my status in life will be outdated when the next generation steps up to the plate.  Hopefully, the crux of the central message of the book: relevantly engaging the church to pursuing the “sought” while maintaining the integrity of the message, will reverberate into the next generation.