Going Deep: Becoming A Person of Influence

by Gordon MacDonald

The future of the Christian faith will not be determined by the number of people who fill the pews but by the spiritual depth of those people.

Pastor Gordon MacDonald revisits the fictional New England congregation of his critically acclaimed book Who Stole My Church to deal with a new dilemma: What's his church's story? What is it doing that justifies its existence? The importance of these questions is anything but fiction.

Through a series of e-mails and discussions with friends and parishioners, Pastor Gordon's search for their story leads him to realize that the future of the Christian faith, and thus the church, is at risk. As MacDonald says, "We seem to know how to get unchurched people to visit our buildings. We even seem to know how to draw them across the line into a declaration of personal faith in Jesus. But what we do not seem to know is how to cultivate spiritually deep people. Tomorrow's church could be headed for trouble."

Deep people. People who possess spiritual awareness and maturity, people with solid, grounded, life-altering faith. MacDonald shows that the church needs people with a passion for God's presence and a desperate hunger to seek him above all things.

Join Pastor MacDonald and his congregation on their quest to cultivate spiritual depth and grow into a community of believers whose hearts and minds are truly focused on God.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Leadership, Spirituality

384 pages, Paperback

First published October 17, 2011

About the author

Gordon MacDonald has been a pastor and author for over forty years. For many years he pastored Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massacusetts and continues to serve as Pastor Emertius. He has also provided leadership to influential ministries such as Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, which he served as President for three years, and World Relief, which he currently serves as Chairman. Gordon’s best-selling books include Ordering Your Private World, Mid-Course Correction and, most recently, A Resilient Life. He also writes and serves as Editor-at-Large for Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal. When not writing, leading or speaking at conferences, Gordon and his wife Gail can be found hiking the trails of New England.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first and most impressionable thing that really stuck out to me was the length. Going Deep is long. And I'm not just talking about the number of pages (although it's long that way as well, at 400 pages). The pages would have been no problem for me if it had been engaging and maintained my attention span.

Don't get me wrong. MacDonald had some interesting thoughts and points, and I found a number of nuggets of wisdom. However, it was just a bit too drawn out for me. For one, the book is fictional -- except for the two main characters, Gordon and Gail -- and follows this "cultivating deep people" experience over the course of two fictional years. MacDonald starts at square one when the idea just that -- an idea -- to when it begins to bear fruit, with all the ups and downs between. With that in mind I didn't really become interested in it at all till I was more than halfway through, at the point where the fictional group actually starts meeting and growing deeper.

Another thing lacking was emotion and description -- the glue to the plot. Any feelings concerning what the main characters where going through during this venture were flat out told, but rarely carried over to the reader. There was little description -- I'm really not even sure what many of the characters look like. Without anything to be able to relate to as a reader, I didn't feel engaged or connected in any way that would have made a better, lasting impression on me.

The one other thing that bothered me was the fact that this entire "idea" and experience is fictional. It only has two real characters, and everything else right down to the church and congregation is fictional. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't see anywhere that it has actually been lived out as it is in the book. No evidence that this actually works, that this would actually help a person to deepen in their spiritual growth/leadership. In my non-professional opinion, I think this book would have been better written in a better format, such as a devotional, for example. The entire thought that this is just fictional makes me wonder if it would even be worth a try.

"Perhaps we need to remind ourselves that just because a person drops out doesn't mean that a mistake was made...Unless you think that Jesus made a mistake with Judas." - Going Deep

I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program for this review, in exchange for my honest review.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going Deep asks the question of how can church leaders develop their congregations into disciples of Jesus? And how can those people develop the skills to influence others? It's a fictional account of a pastor in New Hampshire trying to do just that. The challenge for the pastor is to help his congregation become deep people.

How can churches adapt and grow for all the changes that are coming about and stay relevant for the future- Pastor MacDonald and his church go on a quest to find out.

Even thought the book is told from a fictional point of view it still has good pointers for pastors, missionaries, and other leaders. It is a well-told, interesting story, and it contains useful tips for churches today. It gives people tools to help others become influential. Even though it's over 300 pages long it is not a tiring read, in fact it didn't seem that long at all. I recommend this book for anyone who would like to give others the tools to be "fishers of men."

[Tim Chavel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gordon MacDonald hit another home run with this excellent book. He uses a make believe church to help the reader understand how to develop believers into deep people. The book is written in novel form, but has lots of Biblical principles for those who want to grow and to those who desire to help others grow. I believe today's church as a whole is missing the command to make disciples. It seems like most churches are all about growing the biggest church in numbers but not about feeding the church and helping believers to grow in their spiritual life. I trust the quotes below will be a blessing to you!

Disciples [deep people] are not manufactured wholesale. They are produced one by one, because someone has taken the pains to discipline, to instruct and enlighten, to nurture and train one that is younger. ~Oswald Sanders

I remind you of the seminar Jesus offered His disciples just before He went to the cross. He described to them a world, not unlike ours, that was falling apart, and he appeared to be saying, “The good news amid all this, gentlemen, is that you’re going to get to plant a new movement in the middle of this mess. So be wise, alert, faithful, and productive.” Mindful of such tumultuous days ahead, Jesus spent the majority of His time training a small group of men whose message to the world would go viral. ~Gordon MacDonald

Great training has exponential results. ~Gordon MacDonald

Leadership is first about character, then about a disciplined charisma and competence. ~Gordon MacDonald

When you think about it, we do seem to know how to get unchurched people to visit our buildings and enjoy our programs. We even appear to know how to persuade many to acknowledge personal faith in Jesus. But some are saying that what we do not know is how to produce the deep people who are supposed to emerge after that. We do not produce them, at least, in the quantities that are necessary to the challenges of our times. The result is a growing scarcity in spiritual leadership. And the implication is that without an abundance of deep people – spiritual leaders – tomorrow’s organized church could be headed for irrelevance. ~Gordon MacDonald

What might deep people in a twenty-first-century church look like? Here are a few ideas.
• Some live quiet but noticeable lives of devotion to Jesus. We love to be around them because they exude qualities such as grace, peacefulness, joy, wisdom, encouragement, and unconditional love. They motivate us to want to live better, more faithfully.
• Some know how to envision and organize others to do unusual things in alignment with the purposes of God.
• Some possess the capability for praying, caring, and supporting people in times of struggle.
• Some know how to teach and mentor others so that spiritual growth happens across the face of the congregation from children to senior people.
• Some deep people might possess the apostolic (missional) call to project the evangelistic and compassionate work of the church into the surrounding community or to other parts of the world.
• And some love to help. ~Gordon MacDonald


Our Church Elevator Story
Our 175 year-old church is composed of people who, through the generations, have shared a common commitment to Jesus Christ. Following His example, we regularly worship God. Studying His life and the lives of those who followed Him, we do our best to emulate Him in the way we live in our community. Believing that God’s central message is about love, we try to assure that our relationships (God, marriage, family, friendships, strangers, even enemies) all reflect what He both taught and did. Finally, aware of His intense compassion for people who lost their way spiritually and physically, we attempt to represent His mission by serving others in the larger world when we become aware of their needs. ~Gordon MacDonald

The elevator story can’t happen unless somebody’s constantly training people. If you’re going to keep that story honest, training, training, training is going to be your most important job. ~Gordon MacDonald

You may be president [Pastor] of your store [church], but you should also be the chief training officer. ~Gordon MacDonald

But how would one know that Christ is present? How about these evidences? Lives would begin to change; that’s conversion. People would begin to love, to care for, to enjoy one another; that’s community, or fellowship. A spirit of generosity would start to fill the air as each person invested his or her energies and resources in the life of the gathering; that’s servanthood. Children would be instructed; youth mentored; adults of every age would be encouraged; older people might be appreciated, even listened to. That’s love. ~Gordon MacDonald

The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people. ~Richard Foster

Most of what you and I know has been learned from the people we watched. It’s not what anyone says or writes half as how they live it out under every circumstance. ~Gordon MacDonald

Spiritual leadership is the power to change the atmosphere by one’s presence, the unconscious influence that makes Christ and spiritual things real to others. ~Oswald Sanders

We teach people to grow by growing ourselves. It’s sort of like painting a huge bridge. The minute the painter finishes at one end, he goes back to the beginning and starts again. ~Gordon MacDonald

Depth comes before competency. ~Gordon MacDonald

I ask that my voice be the lesser, yours the greater. Amen. ~Gordon MacDonald

A walloping great congregation is fine and fun, but what most [churches] really need is a couple of saints. The tragedy is that they may well be there in embryo, waiting to be discovered, waiting for sound training, waiting to be emancipated from the cult of the mediocre. ~Martin Thornton

Make uniformed. Un-prayed-about decisions, and you pay a severe price later on. ~Gordon MacDonald

The true spiritual leader is concerned infinitely more with the service he can render God and his fellow men than with the benefits and pleasures he can extract from life. He aims to put more into life then he takes out of it. ~Gordon MacDonald

There are things that you learn best the hard way. You fail. And you fail again. And then, four, six failure times later, you figure out how to do something the right way. And you never forget it. ~Gordon MacDonald

Reflecting on his (Brother Lawrence) work in a monastery kitchen, Lawrence said, “I turn over my little omelet in the pan for the love of God. When it is finished, if
I having nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the ground and adore my God. From whom came the grace to make it. After that, I get up, more content than a king.”

Towels and dishes and sandals, all the ordinary sordid things of our lives, reveal more quickly than anything what we are made of. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the meanest duty as it ought to be done. ~Gordon MacDonald

Every task and every activity contains the seeds of servanthood in the name of Jesus. ~Gordon MacDonald

[Alanna Love · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nobody wants to be a shallow person, but what exactly does it mean to be a deep person and how do we take our shallow selves to that next level? Gordon MacDonald explores this problem in his book, Going Deep: Becoming a Person of Influence. Telling a semi-fictional story of a New England pastor pondering retirement only then to come to a realization that the church is in desperate need of “deep people,” he and his wife embark on a two year journey of discovering what it means to be a deep person, launching a unique plan of attack to create people who fit that description, and watching those people transform.
When I first began this book, I confess, it was rather slow and I had a hard time getting into it. Also the constant discussion of “buzz words” like deep, cultivate, and growable began to grate on me because I was wondering if it would ever get around to Scripture to support their ideas instead of catchy phrases. But eventually things began to kick in and I was enthralled with the concept that was created - something that was more intense than a small group and less hardcore than an internship/ Bible college. And not only was this concept intriguing, but I could also see how it could be effective.
One of my favorite portions of the book was where the ancient Jewish method of teaching of the Rabbis was discussed, launching off the idea that while Jesus was many things, He always was function in the role of a Rabbi for His disciples. I learned tantalizing things about the Rabbinical process, and I doubt that I will ever read the Gospels again without seeing Christ function as a Rabbi in each and every action.
Altogether, I was impressed with this story of a traditional American church waking up to power of discipleship, and taking everyday people and transforming them into men and women of depth and influence, just like Jesus did. Powerful Christianity is not for some pastoral elite, but it is for every person who calls upon the Name of Christ. And in this book, we see that power begin to be released the way it was intended as we watch people begin to go deep.
Going Deep: Becoming a Person of Influence by Gordon MacDonald is a complementary book I received via BookSneeze. For links, cover images, and more, check out booksneeze(dot)com.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the day I came across the genre in college, I've been a sucker for fiction that gets across a nonfiction concept. Whether it's called narrative nonfiction, creative nonfiction or literary nonfiction, any time an author puts concept to paper and creates a factually accurate and convincing narrative, I'm in. It wasn't until years later that I would recognize that I'd encountered the genre far earlier in life in the parables of Jesus. (What can I say? I'm a bit slow on the uptake sometimes.)

The Twitter² Summary:
In Going Deep, Gordon MacDonald asks what kind of people a ministry should cultivate in order to thrive. He answer is narrated through the experiences of the fictional New England congregation he introduced in Who Stole My Church?

The Low-down:
MacDonald’s latest book relates the quest of a fictionalized Pastor Gordon MacDonald to find a way to develop regular people into people of great maturity and spiritual awareness. The first half of the book narrates the question of how to cultivate deep people, while the second half allows us to observe the process of attempting it. MacDonald chooses a few people from the congregation and over the course of two years, takes them through a program dubbed "CDP” or “Cultivating Deep People."

MacDonald makes great observations about the life of a church and details conversations between characters that both provide insight and move the narrative smoothly along. Though the narrative format might not connect with those looking for bullet points or chapter headings, it allows MacDonald to examine the process in greater detail. We see how MacDonald deals with grumblings and failures. Though the story slows while describing the process of the small groups progress, overall I found Going Deep to be an interesting and readable insight into developing disciples.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC's “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was looking through books to read this one immediately caught my eye. I loved not only the cover, but the concept behind the book. However, once I got into the book, it was hard to read. The author takes the time to carry on full conversations about ideas discussed throughout the entirety of the book, which makes it a little slow moving. I really enjoyed the message portrayed in the storyline, but could not read more than a chapter at a time without becoming distracted by something else. It might just be that I have been reading a lot of fiction lately, and this non-fiction type book just couldn't capture my attention to draw me in. I have set the book aside to try to re-read at another date. I know I can get more out of it that I did :) I learned some great concepts and have taken on some of the "tasks" of becoming a deeper person, but would definitely like a twice-over for this one. I think this would be an awesome idea starter for pastors and their fellowships, but as a mere sheep in the flock of millions, this was a bit too much for me.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished Going Deep: Becoming a Person of Influence by Gordon MacDonald. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Though it was a little laborious at points, it was still an overall enjoyable read that I learned much from.

This isn’t a book about spiritual growth per se, and those of you wanting to grow deeper with Jesus will find no special formula to follow, or even the best how-tos of how to grow in spiritual depth. Is what you’ll find is a leadership manual of sorts, a story, a book outlining the process of growth Pastor Macdonald embarked on with his church to not just grow numerically, but to grow in spiritual depth. The future of the church lies in its growth—deepening spiritual growth.

Instead of being written in major chapters, it is divided up over the days, weeks, and months as Pastor MacDonald processed this “great idea” with God, his wife, his leadership team, and finally the rest of the church. It is not a how-to manual, but an exchange of conversations, ideas, emails, letters, and meetings that all culminated in a forty-week intense discipleship process—CDP (Cultivating Deep People).

Since it is not a formula, but rather a story, it lends itself to a lot of thought—I found myself constantly thinking about what implementing this intense discipleship focus would look like in my context. Overall, a very good book aimed toward leadership.

[Andy Mitchell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have you ever encountered a book and given it more than once chance, hoping that it would get better with the passage of time?

I’ve given this book my on-and-off attention for over a month, and I’m crying “Uncle.” I made it to page 155 of 902 tiny pages on my iPhone.

If you’d like to listen in on intimate conversations among perfect strangers and experience dozens of pages of stream-of-consciousness rambling, then you’ll enjoy this book.

Unfortunately, Mr. MacDonald struggles to get to his point and loses me along the way.

What makes this experience even worse is that the author expects us to acknowledge the importance of going deep in our spiritual lives. Richard Foster is right, “The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”

The author may be deep, but I’m unwilling to watch him dig any more to get there.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for writing this unbiased and forthright review.

[Jeff Bjorgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gordon MacDonald is a well respected pastor and long time writer who presents a philosophy of discipleship through a fictional church setting. The main characters, the very real pastor Gordon and his wife Gail, are compelled to start a group of "deep" people who they can mentor in the Christian faith. The results are a community of reproducing disciples who have grown... deeper.

The idea of a pastor focusing his time on overseeing a mentoring group is compelling and reminds me a lot of vantagepoint3 material (google it), and I appreciated the gentle way of introducing the idea through fictional characters. However, the book was too long for the subject matter, and presenting an idea through fictional characters and scenarios feels more like a drawn out role play that you would read in a counselling textbook. I found the introduction (the pre-fictional part) was the most important part of the book and most helpful, as it spelt out what the author was trying to accomplish. For me, that was all I needed to read.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book quite a bit. It describes an example of a process by which churches can help to cultivate "deep" people, future leaders in the church and community. The neat thing is the way the author presents it, as a story, a fictionalized account of one church's journey through the process. It was so easy to read while still presenting valuable information and ideas. I think this book has great value to both individuals and church groups. When reading it solo, one can follow along on the journey and pick up on themes and ways to deepen one's faith. It is not focused towards the individual though, rather I think its main audience is meant to be church leaders who might wish to implement a similar process in their own church. I love the idea of such discipleship and think it would be amazing if more churches attempted such a focused plan!

I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher for review.

[Matt Lundquist · Rating 3 out of 5]

The format is interesting: fiction that introduces you to very realistic characters in his church and community. Each one has something to offer regarding Leadership and Discipleship. Mentoring and discipling should not be a new idea for anyone in ministry, but apparently the thought of a pastor giving himself to this as his top priority is a huge shift. As this church staff and elder board embrace this concept the practical outworking is helpful and informative. From the selection process to the topics covered in training sessions the "cultivating of deep people" is described in very concrete terms. As I read about how they did this I was constantly challenged to consider: "how have I done this?" and "How could I be more intentional and more effective?" From a campus minister's perspective this focus on developing leaders is not so revolutionary, but to see it implemented in the local church would be a welcome return to a style of ministry modeled by Jesus himself.

[Don Bryant]

If GMAC writes it, I read it. His Restoring Spiritual Passion and Rebuilding Broken Worlds are always at the top of any list I make. MacDonald struggles in my kind of way with Evangelicalism. He is rooted in the Bible but ready to question many of our shibboleths that keep us from honestly engaging what spiritual growth (and failure) looks like. He keeps in touch with the broader church while maintaining his evangelical identity - not an easy thing to do and not always popular. I sometimes wonder if Gordon had not already had his ministry base established what part of the church would be his most comfortable place since he does spend a lot of time wandering around the larger church. But I am comfortable with that and do so myself.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gordon MacDonald is the pastor of a church New England. The church is doing well, but there is one thing that concerns him. What is the mission of the church? Could he describe to his neighbor what the mission is in a nutshell (or like he describes in the book, an elevator story)?

This brings more questions to his mind. Are the people in his church people of true influence? What does it take to become this?

All of these thoughts are the springboard to the ideas that birth the time that he and his wife, Gail, spend developing and cultivating people who are deep in the faith and, therefore, people of influence.

What really are deep people? What does it take to cultivate someone to be a person of influence?

[Ryan Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a challenging book for pastors and should make anyone stop and think about what the main task of a pastor should be. It is definitely a word that is much needed for pastors today. We are in desperate needed for deep people and the idea that MacDonald offers here is both practical and insightful.

The only reason why it gets 4 instead of 5 stars is due to the fact that while the narrative is very readable it is often too simplistic. Gordon rarely runs into much opposition to his great idea and so the idea is given a very idealistic environment rather than the reality of a messy community. Nonetheless, I believe that MacDonald offers us an amazing insight that should be considered by every pastor who wants to create a discipling culture.

[Charles Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book's title comes from a quote from Richard J. Foster...."what the church needs is more deep people."

A narrative within a string of emails, letters, and process notes from a fictional New England congregation facing a leadership challenge, Going Deep will encourage you to do the same, pouring out your life with a view toward multiplication of leadership. MacDonald sets the bar way over our heads and encourages the reader to stretch until it is reached.

Be sure to press through the early chapters; you will mine the gold from this volume. And by the way: part two of the book is not the 12-step plan to grow deep people.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great material...absolutely spot on, in terms of essential content. However, it suffers from being presented in fictional form by a writer unschooled in the craft of normal fiction devices such as conflict and tension.

See my full review at http://christian-intellect.blogspot.c...

[Brian Pate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is nothing new. Main point: Intentional Discipleship in the Church. But he communicates it in such a way that it drives the truth home. With every page of this novel, I was asking myself how I could more aggressively be mentoring "growable" teens in my youth group.

[Robert Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, easy to read but challenging. A bit hard to implement a lot unless you are currently in a pastoral leadership role though.

[Imee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is what I think about it:
http://lovebeloved.wordpress.com/2013...

[Melinda Griffith]

Good content. The writing style was hard for me, personally, to stay with. Casts a worthy vision, though, for a way to sustain growing people rather than mere church attenders.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth your time a good read

[David Knott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book on a number of levels:

1) The need for the Church to nurture what the book calls "deep people" - disciples of Jesus committed to growing more like him in character and fulfilling their calling, is a topic close to my heart.
2) It provides a model and encouragement for how older Christians (which now I reluctantly admit includes me) can help nurture and mentor younger people
3) The story format used, not only shows how to do this practically, but naturally illustrates the ideas.
4) The story format also illustrates servant leadership in the Church and how a godly team can actually work.

I was in two minds about the story telling format early on, it does make the book longer than it would otherwise be. However by the end, I wanted to know what would happen to the characters involved, and I'm fairly certain that I've retained more of the ideas, because they have been presented in a story.

[Stephen David Munley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great idea. However, it is simply too long. It is written like a Patrick Lencioni fable but without the brevity. The content is great. The idea of investing in a few people is great. However, it takes almost a year of book time to arrive at this new way of doing things, which comprises 250 of the 370 pages. And it’s just too long. This book should have been at least 150 pages shorter. Also, as a story this book struggled to show instead of tell.

All in all, I love the idea of this book. I love the challenge it gives. As an experience it has some very good moments but mostly falls flat.

[Brett Nation · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a pastors dream book

I have read some of the comments regarding this book, I naturally go to the lowest stars first. The comments have been made about the length of the book, and the book is long, but the details are so worth it. I felt I went on a journey with the CDP team. It makes me want to have one of my own. Pastors this is a must read. Thank you Gordon and Gail for your experience and for telling us the story. I look forward to telling my own soon.

[stanley Philippe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep people

Such a great read. This book is a gift to the church. Have you thought about growing deep people? Have you thought about becoming a person of influence? You need to read this book. Everyone in Christian leadership should read it. I highly recommend the book.

[Les · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good content, just way too wordy. Would have preferred it to not be fiction.

[Susan Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The storytelling style was engaging and I gained a lot of ideas that I believe wille be useful in challenging students and developing disciples.

[Caleb Otto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good concepts, very boring reading. After really enjoying several other books by this author, I was disappointed. Didn't finish it. Gordon should probably stick with non-fiction.🙂

[Kev Willoughby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A step-by-step blueprint and pacing guide for developing leaders who can eventually develop other leaders. Recommended.