Paradox Book Summary: Facing Leviathan

Book Summary is an ongoing series written by Pastor Jim for the staff and leadership of The Paradox Church. We wanted to share some of them with the general public in hopes that it serves you and stirs you in your love for Jesus and people.This is a book I need to read again. There are books you read again because they made a huge impact in your life and they act as constant reminders—Ebenezers—you go back to again and again (ie., The Imperfect Pastor, Delighting in the Trinity). And then there are books that are so rich and deep, and foster and feed critical and creative thinking that you must read them again because you feel like you didn’t really read it the first time (ie., anything by CS Lewis)—Facing Leviathan is that book.It is a leadership book of the kind you’ve never seen. If you want to stretch yourself as a leader—especially a leader in our particular culture—and if you tire of the usual leadership books, then read this. He talks of the society of the spectacle (a Marxist term), “a highly visual culture, in which citizens had been reduced to consumers and spectators, in which we were offered a never-ending parade of spectacular people and media events, which constantly distracted us from mortality, pain, and what it is to be human.”And this “society” affects leadership: “The society of the spectacle creates passivity among its citizens, a reluctance to initiate, to lead. Instead we are encouraged to view, to consume. We fear committing, worrying that by doing so we will reduce our freedom, cut ourselves off from the myriad of choices that constantly entice us.”Action Step: Think, “How have you seen this play out in your particular locality?”

The book is part cultural analysis:

“In the society of the spectacle, politics is turned into theatre, sex into pornography, religion into consumerism. In the society of the spectacle, reality TV sits next to a terrorist attack broadcast endlessly on the twenty-four-hour news cycle, intermittently interrupted by advertisements for the latest in teeth whitening.”“These venues were dealers in disposable identities.”Action Step: Consider, “Have I ever thought through how leading and shepherding should look in my city, in particular? As opposed to merely leading and shepherding in general.”Action Step: Think, “What are the cultural idols of my city?”

The book is part character analysis:

“German medieval writer Thomas à Kempis taught that ‘it is good for us to encounter troubles and adversities from time to time, for trouble often compels a man to search his own heart. It reminds him that he is an exile here, and that he can put his trust in nothing in this world … A man should therefore place such complete trust in God that he has no need of comfort from men.’”“We must examine the ways in which we have attempted to turn our own ministries, workplaces, and mission fields into the playgrounds of our own personal struggles. We must search our hearts for the ways in which our own insecurities and wounded egos sabotage the gospel message that we have been entrusted with. We must become leaders who are deep in a society of the spectacle that produces shallowness.”“Firstly, to lead in such a time, one must break from the culture of passivity and spectatorship and be proactive, decide to no longer be slavishly controlled by a culture that pushes us toward passivity. Secondly, when a leader makes this step, there is always a cost. In proactively choosing to stand up for something, you will actively refuse the promises of something else—in our case, the society of the spectacle.”

The book is part leadership strategy:

“The leader ready to bring God’s Word must keep her eyes and ears open for these signs of cultural exhaustion. They are the doorways to the human heart.”Action Step: Consider, “Are Sunday church gatherings a cultural reprieve to the cultural exhaustion people find themselves in? Is your biblical community a reprieve?”“After awakening from his slumber—the first step of leadership—the second step of leadership is one of confession.”“Leadership is the act of dying to self in public.”Action Step: Think, “When is the last time I ‘died to myself’ in front of the people I lead and love?”My favorite parts of the book are when the author takes his cultural analysis and then looks at leadership from the contextual lenses of his assessment of the culture. How will the leader be most effective in this culture?

• “Leadership is primarily in the ability to command a non-anxious persona in an anxious environment.”
• “Leadership is not so much about skill and technique as it is about allowing God to transform your inner world of anxieties, fears, and insecurities.”
• “The leader will exist in a toxically anxious environment that both desires leadership and works to undermine it.”
• “In order to influence with authority, the leader must go through a process of withdrawal. Here the leader learns to confront their own anxiety, and emotionally differentiate themselves from others and the anxious environments that they create.”
• “The leader must ‘return’ to the toxic environment, maintaining relational connection yet remaining emotionally differentiated, and live out a posture of peace.”

And then, and this is no small thing in my book, he can just flat out write:

“Through the leadership actions of Jonah, the ship to Tarshish is transformed. This is no longer a carrier of luxury goods; the cargo was thrown overboard at the onset of the storm. This is no longer a pagan vessel; the idols of the crew have been exhausted. This is no longer the passage to another life; the allure of adventure had been blown away by the vicious winds. A mysterious change is occurring upon the boat and the symbols and signs are shifting. This ship of Tarshish, a symbol of wealth, consumer goods, and the power and potential of a better life is now being made holy. It is being sanctified.”“The serpent will be trampled. The chaos monster of the deep will be defeated. Victory will not come, however, from an act of pagan heroism, from a moment of redemptive violence in which a man becomes a god. Rather God becomes a man. Humans could never defeat chaos, because the chaos was in us. When we attempted to heroically battle chaos monsters, we became them. When we tried to deconstruct our way back to the garden, to the utopia of the picnic, our own selfishness blocked our way. Utopia becomes dystopia. On a hill named skull, where the refuse of Jerusalem lay, creation held its breath, as the ultimate battle with chaos occurred. However, this time everything was different. The God who came with lightning and power on a cloud left behind His royal garb and instead was clothed in naked humanity.”Facing Leviathan is a really enjoyable, very thought stimulating book. Read it.