Charles Lee interviewing Dave Gibbons (on his birthday last Saturday) at The Idea Camp

Eugene Cho, Scott Hodge & Dave Gibbons at The Idea Camp

As I mentioned yesterday, today kicks off The Monkey & The Fish Blog Tour.  I also mentioned that Dave Gibbons, the author, is a global thinker and has offered some new insights into Christian leadership for a globalization age.  What I haven’t had time to mention is that over the last year or so, I have been in several situations where I’ve gotten to see and appreciate Dave’s ministry up close.

For example, last week his church, Newsong, hosted the event referenced above,  The Idea Camp, a wildly successful unconference, that drew scores of insightful and provocative thinkers together to….. well, sharpen our spiritual senses.  Here’s a photo of the  room they provided for a pre-conference tweet up for the twitteratti…. and please comment away if you can tag them with their twitter names.

And the following is the kind of displacement that occurred within the church in order to host us.

None of this phased Dave at all and it was obvious – the building and everything in it  – are here to serve, not be served.

The celebrate the release of The Monkey & The Fish, I got to ask Dave a couple of questions regarding his perspectives on technology/globalization/Christianity, etc.

How do you see the use of online technology affecting what you would call liquid leadership? How can online technology hinder or empower the global Church?

Actually, there are many positive components to becoming liquid when it comes to technology.  Think of all the great ways to communicate today: twitter, texting, video phone conferencing, instant messaging, email, cell phone to list a few.  Today technology reflects the liquid society we have become. What’s great about this when it comes to empowering the church is that there are many streams to tap into to communicate the gospel.  We’re not limited to just text but to multiple sensory experiences and expressions that can adapt to any culture.  What’s interesting, as noted by my friend from Google, is that off-line and on-line communication is seen as one with today’s young people.  They are not separate but complementary.  Technology is not the end but an enabler of liquid leadership development and communication.  Don’t fight it, flow with it.

In The Monkey & The Fish you recommend that people educate themselves by reading authors of different cultures, political persuasions and perspectives, even people they may fear (ie you read Malcom X).  How would you respond to the perspective that this is a waste of time & a controversial practice?

They may be right.  It depends what their purpose in life is.  Atrophy or Growth.  Stagnation or Creativity.  Calcification or Illumination.  So yes, it may not benefit everyone. It could be a waste of their time.  However, consider The Medici Effect.

Studies show that the greatest creativity and innovation occurs at the nexus of multiple domains.  If one stays in an isolated, homogeneous environment expect the same solutions.  The more you intersect with diverse sectors, differing opinions the more expansion will occur.  Creativity and growth happens on the fringe not the center. A great read on this is “The Medici Effect” by Frans Johansson.

A practical component of this is looking at our common church conferences.  You see the same people at the same events.  The information gets regurgitated but it’s still the same ingredients.  A beautiful conference that demonstrated more cross pollination was the Idea camp recently held in California.  There were different ethnicities and domains of arts, business, community development, technology and the church.  The participants were the stars.

How would you respond to the often referenced analogy that counterfeit agents study real money to become experts, not counterfeit materials….?

The more we understand world philosophies, habits, interests, religions, cultures and habits, the more we can humbly, accurately and lovingly communicate with others. It helps us to first see the common ground, the beauty of the image of God in them and note where God already is in their cultures and flow from there.  It’s the Jesus way.  He left heaven’s splendor and took on the form of flesh, learned languages, suffered with, learned and loved so that they would see and embrace the Father.  It was third culture.  A Painful Adaptation.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the Blog Tour for a new book entitled The Monkey and the Fish.  The book, authored by Newsong Pastor, Dave Gibbons, was a refreshing read and Dave is an increasingly respected as a global thinker with insightful ideas about Christian leadership.

To celebrate the tour, I will be participating in blogging some questions Dave recently answered for me and will post that interview tomorrow.  Obviously, for the focus of this blog, I ask Dave to make some connections between globalization/technology/Christianity.  Until tomorrow, you can ponder the parable the book derives it’s title from.

A typhoon stranded a monkey on an island. In a protected place on the shore, while waiting for the raging waters to recede, he spotted a fish swimming against the current. It seemed to the monkey that the fish was struggling and needed assistance. Being of kind heart, the monkey resolved to help the fish. A tree leaned precariously over the spot where the fish seemed to be struggling. At considerable risk to himself, the monkey moved far out on a limb, reached down, and snatched the fish from the waters. Scurrying back to the safety of his shelter, he carefully laid the fish on dry ground. For a few moments, the fish showed excitement but soon settled into a peaceful rest.

And you can check out some of the other bloggers who will cover the book tomorrow also:

* Deadly Viper (Mike Foster)
* On the Journey (Brad Lomenick)
* Catablog (Jesse Phillips)
* Less Clutter & Noise (Kem Meyer)
* DJChuang.com
* Leadership Network Book Blog
* Monday Morning Insight (Todd Rhoades)
* The Digital Sanctuary (yours truly)
* ScottHodge.org
* BibleDude.net (Dan King)
* MarkDRoberts.com
* DaveIngland.com
* JasonHicks.org
* Mom Helen (Helen Lee)