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Reframation: Seeing God, People, and Mission Through Reenchanted Frames
As Christians, we can often be starved of imagination, wary of paradox, and devoid of mystery. Reframation is a passionate manifesto, calling followers of Jesus to reframe and reenchant our worldview, enlarging our perception of God and gospel. It's an invitation to stretch our minds, expand our hearts, and awaken ourselves and those around us to the grand story of God. Rooted in Scripture and drawing on poetry, literature, the arts, philosophy, and pop culture, Reframation refuses to settle for pious platitudes, and appeals to each and every one of us to experience and articulate the good news narrative in ways that resonate with the spiritual hunger and longings of those in our contemporary culture.
233 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2019
96 people are currently reading
202 people want to read
About the author
Alan Hirsch
92 books81 followersAlan Hirsch is the founding director of Forge Mission Training Network. Currently he co-leads Future Travelers, an innovative learning program helping megachurches become missional movements. Known for his innovative approach to mission, Alan is considered to be a thought-leader and key mission strategist for churches across the Western world. Hirsch is the author of The Forgotten Ways; co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come, ReJesus, and The Faith of Leap (with Michael Frost); Untamed (with Debra Hirsch); Right Here, Right Now (with Lance Ford), and On the Verge (with Dave Ferguson).
Alan is co-founder and adjunct faculty for the M.A. in Missional Church Movements at Wheaton College (Illinois). He is also adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary, George Fox Seminary, among others, and he lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe, and the United States. He is series editor for Baker Books' Shapevine series , IVP's Forge line, and an associate editor of Leadership Journal.
His experience in leadership includes leading a local church movement among the marginalized as well as heading up the Mission and Revitalization work of his denomination. He has been on leadership team with Christian Associates, a mission agency planting churches throughout Europe. Alan is adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary and lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe, and the U.S
Alan is co-founder and adjunct faculty for the M.A. in Missional Church Movements at Wheaton College (Illinois). He is also adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary, George Fox Seminary, among others, and he lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe, and the United States. He is series editor for Baker Books' Shapevine series , IVP's Forge line, and an associate editor of Leadership Journal.
His experience in leadership includes leading a local church movement among the marginalized as well as heading up the Mission and Revitalization work of his denomination. He has been on leadership team with Christian Associates, a mission agency planting churches throughout Europe. Alan is adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary and lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe, and the U.S
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 10, 2020
My wife asked that I be more affectionate. Understandable, given I was only kissing her twice a day - once when I left for work and once when I returned. So, I committed to add one more kiss before we went to sleep at night.
This, among other adventures in missing the point, is where I was confronted by Mark Nelson’s and Alan Hirsch’s book, Reframation. Mark and Alan push against the prevailing cultural tide. They are clearly intellectuals and astute observers. They draw from varied and deep resources across multiple disciplines. They are also passionate lovers of God and his world. Intellectuals and lovers. Both/and. They refuse to accept the notion we must choose one over the other in order to remain rational. Theirs is a thoroughly well-informed and passionate plea to return to our first love. To a church that has “lost that lovin’ feelin’,” who, perhaps, has forgotten the exhilaration of liberty, the electricity of true love, Mark and Alan provide hope - love can be rekindled. Read with caution. You will be beckoned by two men intoxicated, nay, infatuated with Jesus.
Mark and Alan outline a compassionate yet piercing diagnosis of the world around us. What they see is a world desperately longing for meaning and a church lacking the ability to intelligibly articulate a way to find it. They see a church that isn’t aware of the resources at its disposal. A church, mind you, in relationship with the mysterious, awe-inspiring, poetic, beautiful, all-creating, passionate, loving God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth.
Their answer: fall in love with this God again. Mark and Alan recapture the essence, the “why” behind Jesus and his life, death and resurrection. They take another look at its implications for who God is, who we are as his children and the world around us. They ask us to see Jesus in a new way, to make the familiar unfamiliar, to reconnect with an estranged spouse and fall in love all over again. The resulting giddiness (my emotions may be getting the best of me!) has the potential to greatly impact a world in desperate need of the courage, creativity, and beauty animated by passionate love.
Reframation is a wake-up call to a church asleep at the wheel. Mark and Alan not only want to open our eyes. They want us to see Jesus, the same Jesus we’ve always known, in a new way. If Jesus has become so familiar we are asleep, it begs the question, “Is it actually Jesus with whom we’ve become so familiar?” Mark and Alan refuse to settle for that Jesus.
Only a church who remembers and lives within a passionate love affair with a passionate God can live as faithful witnesses to the God revealed in Jesus - “because God is love - so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him...We, though, are going to love - love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.” (1 John 4.8-9, 19. The Message).
Prepare to be invited to do hard work. Prepare to be re/introduced to a God you’ve known, but perhaps, has become too familiar, too tame, too domesticated. Prepare to re/engage, re/marry, re/member a God, who is love and has joined us to himself to love his world as passionately as he does.
This, among other adventures in missing the point, is where I was confronted by Mark Nelson’s and Alan Hirsch’s book, Reframation. Mark and Alan push against the prevailing cultural tide. They are clearly intellectuals and astute observers. They draw from varied and deep resources across multiple disciplines. They are also passionate lovers of God and his world. Intellectuals and lovers. Both/and. They refuse to accept the notion we must choose one over the other in order to remain rational. Theirs is a thoroughly well-informed and passionate plea to return to our first love. To a church that has “lost that lovin’ feelin’,” who, perhaps, has forgotten the exhilaration of liberty, the electricity of true love, Mark and Alan provide hope - love can be rekindled. Read with caution. You will be beckoned by two men intoxicated, nay, infatuated with Jesus.
Mark and Alan outline a compassionate yet piercing diagnosis of the world around us. What they see is a world desperately longing for meaning and a church lacking the ability to intelligibly articulate a way to find it. They see a church that isn’t aware of the resources at its disposal. A church, mind you, in relationship with the mysterious, awe-inspiring, poetic, beautiful, all-creating, passionate, loving God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth.
Their answer: fall in love with this God again. Mark and Alan recapture the essence, the “why” behind Jesus and his life, death and resurrection. They take another look at its implications for who God is, who we are as his children and the world around us. They ask us to see Jesus in a new way, to make the familiar unfamiliar, to reconnect with an estranged spouse and fall in love all over again. The resulting giddiness (my emotions may be getting the best of me!) has the potential to greatly impact a world in desperate need of the courage, creativity, and beauty animated by passionate love.
Reframation is a wake-up call to a church asleep at the wheel. Mark and Alan not only want to open our eyes. They want us to see Jesus, the same Jesus we’ve always known, in a new way. If Jesus has become so familiar we are asleep, it begs the question, “Is it actually Jesus with whom we’ve become so familiar?” Mark and Alan refuse to settle for that Jesus.
Only a church who remembers and lives within a passionate love affair with a passionate God can live as faithful witnesses to the God revealed in Jesus - “because God is love - so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him...We, though, are going to love - love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.” (1 John 4.8-9, 19. The Message).
Prepare to be invited to do hard work. Prepare to be re/introduced to a God you’ve known, but perhaps, has become too familiar, too tame, too domesticated. Prepare to re/engage, re/marry, re/member a God, who is love and has joined us to himself to love his world as passionately as he does.
July 3, 2021
I just finished "Reframation: Seeing God, People, and Mission through Reenchanted Frames," by Alan Hirsch and Mark Nelson.
Brief summary #3 (I'm trying here, yall; "brief" has never been quite my defining trait).
The books name is a play on the Reformation, but mainly it is the writers way to name how we should take beautiful pictures of God, People and Mission and place a new frame around it so that our eyes are drawn back to the picture. When one sees a beautiful picture ever surrounded by the same frame one often assumes and misses the picture.
The writers begin with reductionism. This is a preoccupation with one thing. Reductionism breeds fanaticism which breeds radicalism. When we reduce God down into what we know, leaving no room for His transcendence we create a "propositional" idol. This breeds all kinds of us vs them, not to mention purity hunts and heresy trials. When we do the same with the gospel as per Luther. We make a systematic procession for quick conversion which while faithful is incomplete; it deals with my guilt but nothing more. The gospel is all of Christ's life, and it impacts every area of human brokenness, not just our guilt.
The writers claim that through a process of demythologizing, demystifying and depoeticizing the story we have ended up with is a disinteresting "tofu" (one dimensionally disintegrating) Jesus. This is called disenchantment which is the spoon full of sugar which helps us rationalize and categorize God. (The above "de-" and "dis-" comments are not only pertinent and needed today, they need more people writing about how the Church has tamed the King and His story so that He is refined and more palatable.)
"The prevailing logic tends toward giving answers rather than asking questions, and in our experience, evangelicals are generally extremely uncomfortable with quest/ions," p 99. The word play in quest/ions is quite good.
Ch 6 was awesome but best was the three pronged approach to the gospel (atonement theology). A wonderful way to break up our "story" or narrative based on east/west/south via mission. The refocus in the eastern model from a western guilt jurisprudence based model to shame/honor one was wonderfully profound. Also the comment about the tyranny of the OR was spot on. When we say the model of atonement is this OR that we are cutting so much wonderful story out. Rather we must say this AND that.
The writers end the book with some very good notes. Working from Acts 17 they say we need to know the cultural "names" or people culture looks to, so we likewise can prophetically say "as your own poets say," and place a Dave Chappelle at the end in a proper context. Who in culture can we leverage for showing Christ.
I didnt want to give away the wonderful end of this book. But to bait the hook for those who may pick this book up, the story about the strip club is the most Christlike nonbiblical story ever.
Brief summary #3 (I'm trying here, yall; "brief" has never been quite my defining trait).
The books name is a play on the Reformation, but mainly it is the writers way to name how we should take beautiful pictures of God, People and Mission and place a new frame around it so that our eyes are drawn back to the picture. When one sees a beautiful picture ever surrounded by the same frame one often assumes and misses the picture.
The writers begin with reductionism. This is a preoccupation with one thing. Reductionism breeds fanaticism which breeds radicalism. When we reduce God down into what we know, leaving no room for His transcendence we create a "propositional" idol. This breeds all kinds of us vs them, not to mention purity hunts and heresy trials. When we do the same with the gospel as per Luther. We make a systematic procession for quick conversion which while faithful is incomplete; it deals with my guilt but nothing more. The gospel is all of Christ's life, and it impacts every area of human brokenness, not just our guilt.
The writers claim that through a process of demythologizing, demystifying and depoeticizing the story we have ended up with is a disinteresting "tofu" (one dimensionally disintegrating) Jesus. This is called disenchantment which is the spoon full of sugar which helps us rationalize and categorize God. (The above "de-" and "dis-" comments are not only pertinent and needed today, they need more people writing about how the Church has tamed the King and His story so that He is refined and more palatable.)
"The prevailing logic tends toward giving answers rather than asking questions, and in our experience, evangelicals are generally extremely uncomfortable with quest/ions," p 99. The word play in quest/ions is quite good.
Ch 6 was awesome but best was the three pronged approach to the gospel (atonement theology). A wonderful way to break up our "story" or narrative based on east/west/south via mission. The refocus in the eastern model from a western guilt jurisprudence based model to shame/honor one was wonderfully profound. Also the comment about the tyranny of the OR was spot on. When we say the model of atonement is this OR that we are cutting so much wonderful story out. Rather we must say this AND that.
The writers end the book with some very good notes. Working from Acts 17 they say we need to know the cultural "names" or people culture looks to, so we likewise can prophetically say "as your own poets say," and place a Dave Chappelle at the end in a proper context. Who in culture can we leverage for showing Christ.
I didnt want to give away the wonderful end of this book. But to bait the hook for those who may pick this book up, the story about the strip club is the most Christlike nonbiblical story ever.
January 20, 2021
Have you ever put a new frame on a picture and discovered that it looked completely different? When framing a picture for the first time have you ever looked at more than one before deciding on the right one? A part of choosing a frame is the location it will be displayed.
That is true in the church as well. The cultural setting will almost always change around a location we do ministry. Our ability to reframe the way we do ministry is vital to our future.
Change is hard. Some we can control, some we can't, but how we respond to those changes we can control. This will challenge you to look at how you see the world around you and the community you do ministry in.
This will give you a lot to think about and decide if you are willing to do what it takes to lead into the future.
That is true in the church as well. The cultural setting will almost always change around a location we do ministry. Our ability to reframe the way we do ministry is vital to our future.
Change is hard. Some we can control, some we can't, but how we respond to those changes we can control. This will challenge you to look at how you see the world around you and the community you do ministry in.
This will give you a lot to think about and decide if you are willing to do what it takes to lead into the future.
August 12, 2020
I attended Crossings in Knoxville (the faith community Mark Nelson planted) so could easily pick out which sections were authored by Mark. He writes very much like he teaches on Sunday mornings and it was so nice to hear his voice come through.
I got bogged down at times with Alan Hirsch's sections and had to read and re-read some sentences and look up some words. But overall this book is definitely worth the read!
I really liked the way they included quotes from a variety of other authors throughout. And I especially enjoyed the last section which felt like a huddle before the big game. I'm now freshly energized about asking God where he's already working and joining him there.
I got bogged down at times with Alan Hirsch's sections and had to read and re-read some sentences and look up some words. But overall this book is definitely worth the read!
I really liked the way they included quotes from a variety of other authors throughout. And I especially enjoyed the last section which felt like a huddle before the big game. I'm now freshly energized about asking God where he's already working and joining him there.
May 11, 2023
This book is great for those stuck in church tradition to be a wake up call to tell a better story through their personal ministry to others! I admire their creativity and intellect. Personally, as someone already wanting to tell a better story, I felt like it could have gone much deeper in practical ideas for applying it. They also seem to be from cultures loving articulate intellectual language, and as someone wired to make complex ideas digestible, it just didn’t resonate with me as much as I’d hoped. (They even addressed the pitfalls of oversimplifying ministry concepts -which I understand- but that can go both ways.)
July 22, 2021
Nailed it!
Hirsch and Nelson have put into words what many of us think. Their analysis of the Western church and society, inherent theological reductionism, and a missional path forward is insightful and thought provoking. Yet their challenge to discipleship, being like Jesus in a broken world, as well as their call to join God in his redemptive and restorative work is the exact antidote to the precipitous decline of Christianity in the West. As the authors assert, this requires a rediscovery of the nous of Jesus and living it out in our communities. Highly recommended.
Hirsch and Nelson have put into words what many of us think. Their analysis of the Western church and society, inherent theological reductionism, and a missional path forward is insightful and thought provoking. Yet their challenge to discipleship, being like Jesus in a broken world, as well as their call to join God in his redemptive and restorative work is the exact antidote to the precipitous decline of Christianity in the West. As the authors assert, this requires a rediscovery of the nous of Jesus and living it out in our communities. Highly recommended.
March 3, 2020
An eye opening read drawing on the deep and rich experiences of the authors. This book comes across as building over many years before finally finding its way to the page and busting forth to challenge the reader to look and see faith, God, and the world with different eyes and perspectives. This is a challenge for the reader to expand and for the good news to be opened to a wider audience. A must read for any believer.
May 5, 2024
3.5 stars. The main idea is solid: we need to experience and share about the wonder of God to engage a modern world that has mostly panned mystery in favor of reason and logic. The Western church too has become obsessed with finer points of doctrine without emphasizing a proper orthopraxis in the way of Jesus.
But there are some seriously myopic takes on modern issues/movements (BLM, MeToo, etc.) that are given far too much credence.
But there are some seriously myopic takes on modern issues/movements (BLM, MeToo, etc.) that are given far too much credence.
July 27, 2020
Challenging, refreshing and so much to digest. Left me knowing that we have reduced the Gospel and that we need to recapture a sense of awe and wonder in Christ from creation to consummation. So easy to see the good news through our Western lens and present it that way but our formulaic proclamation is not as captivating as it deserves to be. Lots to think about going forward.
April 8, 2020
Phenomenal Work
Once again, Alan Hirsch challenges the church and church leaders to take an honest look inward, and to “reframe” our view in order to faithfully engage in God’s mission in today’s world. Excellent
Once again, Alan Hirsch challenges the church and church leaders to take an honest look inward, and to “reframe” our view in order to faithfully engage in God’s mission in today’s world. Excellent
May 25, 2020
A book about reframing a faith in God that is counter to the typical Evangelical mindset. Still solidly in that camp, it has many aspects that are much more open than what is typical. The authors call for God to be understood as greater than we can imagine.
July 18, 2020
Such a mindset shifting book. I will definitely be coming back to the final two chapters again and again because there is just so much goodness, truth, and practically. Let us find the work the Lord has already started!
July 28, 2021
Very challenging! If you are dissatisfied with church and feel we have lost Jesus along the way, this book will help you, challenge you with the radical message of Jesus.
March 19, 2024
4.5! Challenging in all the good ways.
November 16, 2024
This is an excellent book!!
September 25, 2020
I really enjoyed the creative and open-minded approach taken by the authors in exploring the immediate and long-term future of church here. They draw on many years of personal experience and also the historical learning of Christianity in practice. It has given me a lot of food for thought and action.
December 18, 2019
Delving Into The Deep
“Concepts create idols; only wonder grasps anything.” I read this quote from Gregory of Nyssa two decades ago & it began my love affair with all of God’s wonder & mysticism. But it wasn’t until I picked up Hirsch’s & Nelson’s book that I felt the real beginnings of an Apostolic delve into wonders beauty!
Structured in a way that took us through the reductionist bog of systematic church & moving through to re-enchanting our imaginations to the great mysteries of God’s truth, love, & presence in all creation; I am deeply hoping this is going to just be the beginning of reframing wonders conversation. We are left with some key intrigues to the practice of reframing faith & spirituality around wonder while relearning how to listen to a divine heart beat & learn a language of ancient presence & eternal depth in meaning. I am inspired to embrace & live this new monasticism!
BUT, as shared earlier, my hope is this is just a beginning as the practice of wonder needs to look deeper into the Apostolic holistic incarnation of these practices. What might reframing spirituality mean for the Church in a pluralistically religious world? How might wonder create a gravitas to truth in the interfaith conversation? Should the art of “Christianity” radically reform the ecclesiological practice of gathering & how? Should we leave the buildings behind for “new” sacred spaces? What does a sacred people look like?
I loved Alan & Mark’s thoughts in Reframation! Now I look forward to Stretching The Canvas!!
“Concepts create idols; only wonder grasps anything.” I read this quote from Gregory of Nyssa two decades ago & it began my love affair with all of God’s wonder & mysticism. But it wasn’t until I picked up Hirsch’s & Nelson’s book that I felt the real beginnings of an Apostolic delve into wonders beauty!
Structured in a way that took us through the reductionist bog of systematic church & moving through to re-enchanting our imaginations to the great mysteries of God’s truth, love, & presence in all creation; I am deeply hoping this is going to just be the beginning of reframing wonders conversation. We are left with some key intrigues to the practice of reframing faith & spirituality around wonder while relearning how to listen to a divine heart beat & learn a language of ancient presence & eternal depth in meaning. I am inspired to embrace & live this new monasticism!
BUT, as shared earlier, my hope is this is just a beginning as the practice of wonder needs to look deeper into the Apostolic holistic incarnation of these practices. What might reframing spirituality mean for the Church in a pluralistically religious world? How might wonder create a gravitas to truth in the interfaith conversation? Should the art of “Christianity” radically reform the ecclesiological practice of gathering & how? Should we leave the buildings behind for “new” sacred spaces? What does a sacred people look like?
I loved Alan & Mark’s thoughts in Reframation! Now I look forward to Stretching The Canvas!!
October 29, 2019
This book was extremely insightful and exactly what our church leaders need to hear including myself. Not only was it full of inspiring quotable and notable ideas, but it was very well written. I found myself excited to turn the page and see what great story was coming next every time I picked up the book. This is truly one of the best books I have read in a long time.
November 6, 2019
“All humanity is seeking the divine.”
This book is exactly what 21st century Christians need to hear. It is a calling out of the small cave and limited perspective that we have held on too for far too long and instead ushers us back to open ourselves up to the wildness and vastness that is the mission of God.
This book is exactly what 21st century Christians need to hear. It is a calling out of the small cave and limited perspective that we have held on too for far too long and instead ushers us back to open ourselves up to the wildness and vastness that is the mission of God.
September 29, 2019
A good read to challenge our thinking and perspective of discipleship and evangelism. The authors give new and old insights into the sharing Christ and the gospel.
December 14, 2019
It's great value is in the thought that we have reduced the gospel to narrowly and have lost a sense of wonder who God is.
November 1, 2020
Challenging and hopeful—Mark and Alan point the reader to consider all we know is not all there is and we may move past the watchful dragons to a bigger and more imaginative way of life and faith.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews