The Monkey and the Fish by Dave Gibbons (Book Review)

The Monkey and the Fish derives it's title from an Eastern parable about a monkey stranded on an island after a violent typhoon.  From his safe position in a tree, he sees a fish struggling in the raging waters below.  The monkey puts himself at great risk, reaching precariously from a low-hanging branch, to reach into the waters to "save" the fish.  As he lay the fish down on dry land safe from the raging waters, from the monkey's perspective the fish initially showed much excitement, but soon came to a peaceful rest.

Dave Gibbons, founding pastor of NewSong, says to his targeted audience of pastors that the 21st century church is the monkey.  We have reached into the lives of people to "save" them, even sometimes at risk to ourselves, but what we have really done is hurt them!  Having recently read When Helping Hurts, I partially understand Dave's point.  But two things frustrated me about this illustration:

• When someone surrenders their life to Christ, being pulled out of the raging waters of sin, they aren't "killed", rather they are made alive (Ephesians 2:5).  They aren't put on dry ground, instead they are put in life-giving waters (Ezekiel 47:8-9).  Yes, some churches have treated their "converts" like the monkey treated the fish, and have led them to a dry, boring faith that appears lifeless.  But biblically, when a person finds Christ (or rather Christ finds them) they find life (Romans 6:11).
• Dave doesn't revisit the parable again in the book!  He prefaces his book with the parable and names his book after the parable, yet he never references the story again in the book.  I truly believe Dave wants to help the church, to lead it to be more like God designed it to be, but I'm surprised that after using such a memorable parable and making such a strong assertion that the church is a monkey actually hurting the "fish" it wants to help, he doesn't revisit the theme of the parable.

The Book that Didn't Click

While Dave doesn't revisit the parable and overtly say the Church needs to be less "monkeyish", the book of course contains Dave's opinions and experiences of how to do just that (help the "monkeys" understand the "fish" better). God has done a lot in Dave, changing him as a pastor and follower of Jesus to lead him to experience church being done differently than he had been taught or previously participated in.  While I know God is changing me just as He is changing Dave, this is another of my hesitations about the book.  Much of Dave's thoughts come from his experiences.  Experience isn't a bad thing, but it must be viewed in light of the timeless Scriptures.  I am not charging Dave with an unbiblical approach to church, I just don't see a strong framework of Scripture surrounding his thoughts and opinions. (A bit more on this later.)

Out of his experiences and research, Dave argues that the church needs to be third-culture and liquid.  I love his image of being "liquid."  Liquid always adapts to the container.  The liquid itself doesn't change, but it always takes on the shape of the context it is in.  To be third-culture means to adapt from your culture into the culture you find yourself in, which in essence creates a new blended culture.  Missionaries have been doing this for years (and some missionaries have NOT been doing it, but probably should), but Dave says the entire world is now multi-cultural, so the church needs to be multi-culture in it's approach to spreading the gospel of Christ, much like a good missionary (to which I agree).

While I was challenged by many of Dave's thoughts and agree with several of them, overall I didn't "click" with the book.  One reason I think I didn't easily grasp hold of what Dave is proposing is that you can't capture these ideas adequately with a book.  They have to be lived.  

The Foreshadowing Foreword

J.J. Brazil unknowingly foreshadowed this in the foreword.  As a journalist, Brazil used to cover launches of the Space Shuttle.  After a while, Brazil says launches became routine and even inconvenient.  But then he had a chance to watch a launch from a rescue helicopter hovering over the shuttle as it launched into space.  He says that rush has helped him see Space Shuttle launches in a completely different way.  

This is a fantastic illustration.  However, I have personally never seen a shuttle launch in person from even the ground!  I think I would have to experience things first hand to truly understand what Brazil has experienced.

Likewise, I have a certain experience with God's church, much of it in mid-america Iowa, and much of what Dave proposes in The Monkey and the Fish seems to be for deeply multi-cultural urban contexts.  Not to say there aren't things I need to learn in order to better welcome the lost into God's Kingdom right here, but I think I would need to spend significant time in another context to help open my eyes to the cultures already in my local context that I am currently missing. (And I say this as someone who lived for two years in Venezuela, has visited the Czech Republic and Jamaica, and feels very comfortable with others from vastly different cultures).

Another reason I didn't "click" with Dave is that I am currently at a place in my life where I am deeply appreciating the teaching of authors and pastors who use the Scriptures as a framework for their beliefs.  Dave references Scripture several times throughout the book, but it feels more like the Scriptures support his experiences which frame his opinions, rather than the Scriptures framing his opinions which are supported by his experiences.  That might be unfair to say, but that is how it felt.

More Missing Clicks

Other things that didn't click with me as well:

• Some of the opening quotations in each chapter.

• Some of the applied stories (While it was an amazing story, I still don't understand how the closing story of Julio Diaz in the Preface is a model for what it means to be a third-culture leader. I think the way he relates to the teenage robber is just how Christ-followers should behave regardless of culture.)

• Some of the chapter titles (I still don't know what "cWoWs" are - church w/o walls?).

• Putting the majority of the "practical application" points in the last chapter rather than weaving them into the completion of each chapter.

The part that clicked with me most was the Leadership Journal article at the end of the book.  If I were to do reread The Monkey and the Fish over again, I would read that article first, then read the meat of the book while ignoring the Preface.  As I reflect on the book and realize how harsh my review sounds, I think I might want to reread this book in a few years, perhaps after further experiences and study of the Scriptures myself.  I may resonate with the book more in the future, and appreciate more of what Dave has to say.

A Hesitant Conclusion

The "people-pleaser" in me struggles to be so harsh on a book review. I mean, I've never been published, so who am I to point out a book's flaws written by a pastor who is 3x smarter than I and has accomplished more in a week for the kingdom than I probably will in a lifetime?

I truly do think there are valuable things in The Monkey and the Fish, and I honestly was challenged a bit from reading it.  I just feel like either I need:

• more experiences myself,
• a better grasp of the Scriptures to see Dave's points in there,
• or Dave needs more time for these things to settle in his mind and heart so they can be better communicated.

I really enjoyed hearing Dave speak at last year's Leadership Summit, so I know he is a great communicator. I just didn't resonate with his book like I hoped and expected.  Which is disappointing to me as I have had some wonderful cross-cultural experiences, a passion to see God's Church truly being the Body of Christ, and becoming more comfortable than ever being "in the world, but not of it." (Perhaps I am being "liquid" like Dave wants his readers to be.)

Rating: 2 flopping fish out of 5

 

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