Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community

by Ed Stetzer

Across North America, many pastors are excited to see churches growing as they achieve their mission to connect the message of the gospel with the community at large. Still others are equally frustrated, following the exact same model for outreach but with lesser results. Indeed, just because a "missional breakthrough" occurs in one place doesn't mean it will happen the same way elsewhere.

One size does not fit all, but there are cultural codes that must be broken for all churches to grow and remain effective in their specific mission context. Breaking the Missional Code provides expert insight on church culture and church vision casting, plus case studies of successful missional churches impacting their communities.

"We have to recognize there are cultural barriers (in addition to spiritual ones) that blind people from understanding the gospel," the authors write. "Our task is to find the right way to break through those cultural barriers without removing the spiritual and theological ones."

Genres: Church, Theology, Christian, Leadership, Nonfiction, Religion, Christian Non Fiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Ed Stetzer, PhD, holds the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair for Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College and is the dean of the School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership at Wheaton College. He also serves as the executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton. Stetzer is a prolific author and a well-known conference speaker. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; holds two master’s degrees and two doctorates; and has written or cowritten more than a dozen books and hundreds of articles.

Stetzer is a contributing editor for Christianity Today and a columnist for Outreach magazine. He is frequently interviewed for or cited in news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. He is also the executive editor of The Gospel Project, a bible study curriculum used by more than one million people each week.

Stetzer cohosts BreakPoint This Week, a radio broadcast that airs on more than four hundred media outlets. He serves as the interim teaching pastor at The Moody Church in Chicago. Stetzer lives in Wheaton, Illinois, with his wife, Donna, and their three daughters.



You can also connect with Ed on Facebook and Instagram.

Reviews

[Kacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read half the book. They use very little Scripture to support the ideas within. There are some good ideas, but several things didn't line up.

[Daniel Arter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me preface by stating that I’ve met Dr. Stetzer, I like him as a person, and I greatly appreciate his work in missiology and in his new role as Dean of Talbot at Biola.

I, however, don’t agree with a lot of this book and I think I can explain why I don’t agree by pointing out the churches that are held up as examples of churches that “break the code.” Throughout the book churches like Mars Hill, Saddleback, Willow Creek, etc. are held to be great examples of what it means to reach the community. One doesn’t have to be well acquainted in churches to recognize that Mars Hill imploded, Saddleback has numerous theological issues, and Willow Creek has long been criticized for its seeker-sensitive model (not to mention, Willow Creek recently made a statement concerning the lack of discipleship in their church over decades).

What the authors propose is essentially all of the seeker-sensitive tropes repackaged as being “missional.”

Now, this doesn’t negate the good in the book. There are some good points that ought to be made concerning plateauing churches and churches that want to grow, but don’t do anything to facilitate any growth. In addition, the authors really hit contextualization a lot (and they’re right to), but I can’t get past the seeker-sensitive model espoused throughout the book.

[Brenda Lei · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Breaking the Missional Code' was a heavy, painful book to read through, but only because of its challenging content, not necessarily its style. The definition of, need for, and expression of missional churches are clearly presented. I am confident I will return to this book periodically as a refresher on keeping the main things the main things.

The following quote isn't a summary of the book in the slightest, but I did find it extremely encouraging:

"God is at work in the lives of those outside the church and invites us to join him. It is encouraging to understand that God is more interested in the eternal well-being of people than we are. He has created people with an incredible appetite for him, and he is actively at work in their lives drawing them to himself. His invitation for us is to join him in his activity in people's lives. The key to this is becoming sensitive to what God is doing in the lives of those all around us."

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone in church leadership of any kind.

[Philip Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall some really good insight. Would be keen to see an updated edition of this (for some perspective, the book came out when I was in year nine) to see if the authors think anything that happened in the last 14 years would impact any of the details of what they say (ie. some of the scandal around Bill Hybels etc., or even the way society has continued to change rapidly). I thought the book could have been maybe 30% shorter as some of it did get a little repetitive. The odd chapter here and there made me wonder what it was actually adding to the book. Even still, some great points that were thought provoking and really resonated with me.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very good introductory book on practical missional theology. It was published in 2006, and therefore is slightly dated in some of the contemporary issues at addresses. I think the audience in view is primarily American evangelicalism, and maybe less so New England in the north west. Given some of the practitioners/pastors it sites in the book who were very popular in 2006, one wonders if a follow up essay, or appendix, on “breaking the mission leader” would be helpful. I dogeared several pages within it to refer back to in the future.

[D. Ferguson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not recommend this book. It is dominated by typical seeker philosophies. Throughout the book success is equated with numerical expansion, and it is assumed that very few Evangelical churches are compromising the Gospel. Churches like Saddleback (or any other large or growing churches) are set forth as exemplary.

[Dr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a pioneer in discussing application of international mission approaches to local church settings. Highly recommend for reading and thoughtful reflection on the concerns and concepts presented.

[Adam Colter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stetzer and Putman touch on core challenges and offer helpful steps for moving forward. But overall, the book is not well-written and could have been shorter without sacrificing any useful content.

[Keith Beasley-Topliffe · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was assigned reading for a continuing education on Pastoral Leadership Development to help United Methodist pastors (who are appointed to serve existing churches) become better leaders. The authors of this book have a different audience in mind: church-planters. Despite the subtitle, it is not really about churches becoming missionaries in their communities. It is about planting new churches among populations not reached by existing churches. So there was problem #1 and it was a big one.
But there were others.
#2. The authors like to speak in generalities and then refer to recent church plants as examples of folks. They don't really tell much about those churches. So I looked several up on line. Some have no internet presence. Some have fizzled. Some have soared and crashed. Some seem to be doing well. How any of those outcomes are related to the generalities of the book is not clear. It's a problem with reading a ten year old book about the cutting edge.
#3. The authors seem to believe that the best way to reach post-modern people is through anti-modern theology grounded in a pre-modern approach to scripture. I can't agree.
Bottom line - I disliked this book so much that I struggled to finish it just in case there were a "good part" I hadn't gotten to yet and my one star review would be unjustified. Never found that "good part". Sigh.

[Brian Reagan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like so much with Ed Stetzer's name on it, it is little more than a rehashing of the same research and info in most other books in the genre. The tedium and overall fact that he kept talking about "breaking the code" was oppressive at times. Also he needs a new proofreader, for an astute reader will be frustrated at the absence of words in clauses, the failure to use adverbs consistently within sentences, and in general the fact the book could have been done in about 70 pages instead of 240+ if he and his co-author could have quit repeating each other. I know almost as much now about missional churches as I did prior to reading this book, NOTHING!
Ed Stetzer needs to slow down on the book writing and quit churning out the massive amount of garbage of which he has apparently grown so fond. If this is the best that the NAMB has to offer Christian faith in America is on its way to total ruin! Maybe that is for the best though so God can save us from the scourge of the Southern Baptists and their tripe.

[Missions M/D]

Across North America, many pastors are excited to see churches growing as they achieve their mission to connect the message of the gospel with the community at large. Still others are equally frustrated, following the exact same model for outreach but with lesser results. Indeed, just because a "missional breakthrough" occurs in one place doesn’t mean it will happen the same way elsewhere.

One size does not fit all, but there are cultural codes that must be broken for all churches to grow and remain effective in their specific mission context. Breaking the Missional Code provides expert insight on church culture and church vision casting, plus case studies of successful missional churches impacting their communities.

"We have to recognize there are cultural barriers (in addition to spiritual ones) that blind people from understanding the gospel," the authors write. "Our task is to find the right way to break through those cultural barriers without removing the spiritual and theological ones."

[Chauncey Lattimer]

This is an excellent book for those who are desiring to break out of the "program driven" models / paradigms of understanding what we "do" as the church. A favorite quote - "There is a lack of theological depth in much of the contemporary church planting and church growth movements because these are movements of technique, paradigms, and methodologies with)out genuine biblical and missiological convictions." (p.184) Taking the gospel in the 21st Century to the whole world, they remind us, begins at home and includes the people groups, the population segments, and the cultural environments. Why? Because a biblical church is a contextual church and an indigenous church!

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with what the authors are saying - present the gospel message in a manner the people you want to reach will accept. You might not present it the same way to an 80 year old grandmother as you would a 20 year old Hispanic man. However, I argued with him throughout the book and felt frustrated. I left with as many questions as I had at the beginning and while church plants are great - I have no confidence it will work in our denomination, the way we do church, in rural communities. We do not encourage lay ministers, I don't like video linkups, and you will probably never get enough members in a rural community for a new church to support a pastor by itself.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good read. The book asks the question: if you were a missionary and went to a foreign culture, if you would be effective, you would have to learn to minister in that culture if you would be effective. Some things you would find that worked in your culture might not work there. The book asks you to consider that all ministry must be missional, learning to minister in the culture a church has.

[Ryne Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the content of this book are ideas that I have heard or read before, but the final few chapters we helpful. I chose this book because I am in a church planting environment, the principles can benefit or revitalize any church, but it is most practically applied to new or young churches.

The most important lesson is that we have to design our churches to match our cultures, not our preferences. If we really want to reach our communities, we have to love them.

[Milan Homola]

I'm not super impressed with the book. It was way longer than it needed to be so it took away some of the focus. There are some definite high points that will help leaders see how and where the church can step out into the community. It is written in a very modern point by point category by category kind of way...which is helpful for some who have very little "missional" passion or experience.

[Daniel Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stetzer is usually worth reading and he is very encouraging to aspiring church planters and missional pioneers.

This book, plus "Planting Missional Churches" are Stetzer's two foundational books.

The biggest take away from this book is the notion that missional leaders are required to 'break the code' in their community so that they might reach the unreached.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Part theory, part practical, this book gave words to much of what I've been trying to articulate for years about becoming a student of the culture we live in so we can gain a hearing for the gospel.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Key point: why do USA churches do "evangelism" while missionaries do "missions"? It's the same. Just like cross-cultural missionaries, churches should be "learning the language and studying the culture" of their neighborhood in order to effectively reach them for Christ.

[Bill Habicht · Rating 2 out of 5]

Certainly a book not in-line with my personal theological slant, but there were few great insights available. Many of these insights need to be re-contextualized to be effectively implemented w/in a progressive paradigm.

[Marc Minter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was longer than was needed, and many of the points were indeed available elsewhere, but this book was a good introduction for me into the mindset of missional living through "the church in my town."

[David Meldrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful primer for church leaders on shaping church for missional living; centered on a North American countess, but the questions at the end of each chapter aid local application. Not startling in its field, but enough to be of practical as well as theoretical use.

[Holly]

Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community by Ed Stetzer (2006)

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty good book on missional ecclesiology... a bit formulaic though

[David Rathel · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want an overview of what people mean by the term "missional," Stetzer's book is a great introduction.

[Tamra LeValley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit hard to follow at times. It was easy at times to understand what was needed in each community but did not give enough step-by-step instructions on how to proceed.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical help and advice for every pastor, missionary and church member. The book has such a great challenge for all Christians to become missionaries! I highly recommend this read!

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously ... the book that I've been looking for for 20 years. Every church planter and Pastor should read this book.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Redundant...

[Jeff Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating of the book is higher for the first 3/4ths and lower for the last 1/4th. The last quarter turned into a book on church planting. There is quite a bit of usable material for me, valuable studies, helpful quotations in the first part. Since I own the book and made highlights I may not include the quotes here.