Book review
Transitioning:
Leading Your Church through Change

Full description of book:
Dan Southerland, Transitioning: Leading Your Church through Change (Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Zondervan, 1999)

 

Short review:

This book by Dan Southerland was written by him primarily to guide pastors who are keen to lead their churches through transition to become purpose-driven. It provides practical points for doing so in a relatable narrative format, with applications purported to be derived from a book study on the book of Nehemiah.

 

Review and critique:

Before we look at the various problems with the book, I would like to praise the only good things which I can find in the book, besides its apologetic value. This book contains very practical advice on how to avoid needlessly offending people in the church, of which sometimes some of us tend to forget. The Bible tell us to, as much as possible, live at peace with everyone (Rom. 12:18). Thus, we should all learn to avoid conflict if it is biblical to do so.

Now, we will look at the various errors found in this book.

Misquotation and misapplication of Scripture

Southerland misquotes various verses and passages from the Bible throughout this book of his. The worst misapplication of all is his misapplication of the book of Nehemiah to the process of transitioning, of which the book of Nehemiah does not teach, his protests to the contrary! The book of Nehemiah is regarding Nehemiah coming back to Jerusalem to build up the wall so that God's glory would be magnified once more; it is a restoration of what was lost. It is thus a spiritual reformation project or product, not a process as what Southerland says it is (p. 20). Also, it is a once-off event in that it is not part of the normal Sabbath proceedings unlike what Southerland is proposing for the church. As Nehemiah's project does not even constitute part of the Sabbath proceedings, the project as a whole as stated in the book of Nehemiah itself could not be applied en toto to the church, as the church is not a project.

Besides this obvious misapplication of the book of Nehemiah to the process of 'transitioning', there are various other misquotation and misapplication of Scripture throughout this entire book. I would thus look at a few here, with some of the others being covered in the sections below.

The first verse to look at is Southerland's misquotation of 1 Cor. 2:9 (p. 21) to say that God's vision is something which we cannot know. This verse in context, however, is not talking of 'God's vision' or anything remotely like it, but it is talking about the mysteries of God which was revealed in the New Covenant to us his children through his Spirit (v. 10). Therefore, Southerland has severely manhandled the text of Scripture here.

Southerland misquotes Ps. 46:10 (p. 34) to say that God will be exalted as his vision is carried out. However, this verse is not mentioning about vision, and nothing about Man doing anything, but it is a command for us to cease from our works and see the glory of God exalted in the earth. Southerland then misquotes Jer. 29:11 (p. 35), just like his mentor Rick Warren, to promote the idea that God's purpose for us is always to prosper his people and give us a good future, conveniently forgetting Jer. 44:27 which states just the opposite.

One last example which we shall see in this section is Southerland's misquotation of Phil. 3:12-14 at the end of the book (p. 170). Southerland uses this passage to promote his idea that we should keep on changing and 'visioning'. However, this totally rips the passage out of context as Paul is here talking about the Christian walk and the goal which he pressed on towards which Jesus has prepared for him in heaven, NOTHING about perpetual change here.

 

God's vision redefined

Throughout the book, Southerland assumes a priori what God's vision is for the church, never once deriving it from Scripture. Perhaps he is counting on Rick Warren to help him do the honors? Regardless, let us look at the way he define God's vision.

First of all, Southerland defines the essence of God's vision in his misunderstanding of 1 Cor. 2:9 (p. 21) to say that we cannot know God's vision. Strangely enough, he then proceeds to tell tell us how we are supposed to know of this vision. Therefore, if he is correct in his application of 1 Cor. 2:9, he is in error in his entire book; and if he is wrong in his application of 1 Cor. 2:9, his entire foundation for seeking God's vision is undermined. He also then quotes Warren The Purpose Driven Church in which he describes God's vision as a wave to be caught, an a analogy which is nowhere found in Scripture.

Perhaps the most important and assumed, and also unbiblical part of 'God's vision' as stated by Southerland is his assumption that God would always want the church to grow numerically, and always at a significantly fast pace. This can be seen in Southerland's goal for his church of being bigger and bigger numerically (p. 12) and his discontent with the slow growth his church was experiencing (p. 11). Somehow, the idea that God's vision for any particular church is not for it to grow so large numerically in such a short span of time doesn't even seen to be feasible according to Southerland. Thus, we can see that although Southerland says that he is interested in following God's vision, he in actuality is not but is following his own vision and then passing it off as God's vision, especially since his strategies are totally unbiblical, which we shall look at now.

In order for Southerland to discover 'God's vision', he did not turn to the Bible but to the world. Of course, he tries to justify his approach by using biblical prooftexts, but these texts are ripped out of context altogether. As an example, he uses Neh. 1:2 (p. 26) in which Nehemiah questioned a Jew regarding the state of Jerusalem as a pretext to justify learning from the world. However, Nehemiah was just simply asking a factual question regarding the state of God's city and never once accommodates the pagans in doing so, thus Southerland's misquotation can be seen. Next, Southerland quotes 1 Cor. 9:22 (p. 27), the classic 'be all things to all men' passage to try to prop up all his methods. However, Southerland here has followed the seeker-sensitive movement (not surprising) in twisting the verse to make it say something which it doesn't say. For Paul, this was just an accommodation to the weakness of people he was reaching, never once did he compromised on the Gospel and the Christian message and life. Therefore, Southerland's defense of his unbiblical techniques falls apart. Such techniques of his include doing surveys of the 'unchurched' people in his community (p. 26) and learning from churches that are reaching 'unchurched' people (p. 28) (though if he wants astronomical growth, he should consult Islam).

To further define 'God's vision', Southerland then goes on about defining the target the church is trying to meet. As an example, he offers his church's target personnel as 'Flamingo Frank' (p. 63). However, all this idea of targeting a specific group to reach out to is not the job of the church, who is to be faithful to Christ and to proclaim the Gospel to all! Southerland adopted the late Peter Drucker's questions to evaluate the church: 'What business are we in? Who is our primary customer? How will we reach that customer?' (p. 44), as if the church was a business! The church is supposed to a community of believers coming together to worship God and to be build up in Him through the proclamation of His Word, NOT to be a business selling the Gospel to unregenerate sinners. Southerland further compounds his error by trying to use the Bible to prove this idea of his (p. 56). However, all the passages he quote do not illustrate his point, but instead show the Sovereign Lord appointing particular special people (like apostles and prophets and not churches) to do His Will, not of them somehow 'discovering' God's plan for themselves.

The heresy of synergism

Southerland's synergism comes out very strongly in this book of his, where he made the statement that 'But if good preaching alone would win the world to Christ, we would have finished the job long ago. We also need to understand the people we are trying to reach' (p. 27). This shows his denial of the Sovereignty of God in salvation and the total depravity of Man, and thus show his synergism. Of course, his embracing of the concept of people who have quit on church but have not quit on God at that time, similarly show his ignorance of the culture and the state of Man in their depravity, as though Man in general are Christians who really want to go to church but have been put off by certain features in it. Until recently, such people did not so exist, but there are truly now such a group of people who are unchurched, and sadly to say, these Christians have been driven out by churches sold out to precisely the process Southerland is promoting, which we shall discuss further below.

Use of secular business techniques and psychology

Southerland throughout this book of his promotes various secular business techniques and superstitious practices which are not found in the Word of God and some are even downright anti-Christian! Some examples are:

You cannot do vision on your own. Prayer is a major prerequisite. If you want to test your commitment to praying for vision, do this exercise. Rate yourself from 1 to 100 on praying for vision. Write a number based on how much you have prayed for vision in the last year. Now put a percentage sign after that number. And know this: that is the maximum percent of God's vision you can receive for your church. (p. 37 Bold added.)

I believe there are three realities of targeting that are true in every church:

  • When you aim at nothing, you hit nothing every time.
  • When you aim at everything, you hit nothing most of the time.
  • When you try to reach for everyone, you reach no one most of the time. (p. 52-53)

    •  

    Secure the approval of the power brokers

    There are power brokers in every church They are the E.F. Huttons that everyone listens to when they utter even a whisper. Every church has opinion makers. Some are people with formal influence due to a title or a position; others have informal influence due to personality or past experiences or longevity. Every church has power brokers. ...

    To fulfil the vision in your church, you will need to secure the approval of the power brokers as well. (p. 68-69. Bold added)

     

    ... Secure the assistance of the leaders whose territory you are going through

    ... Key resource people need to be secured whenever possible before you begin your transitions. This would include those who are going to be asked to give their time, their talents, and their ideas as well as those who may be asked to give of their financial resources. (p. 73)

    Every visionary needs a small handful of leaders who can help dream and dream [vision] (p. 75)

    Choose dreamers rather than detail people .... The members of your vision team need to be big picture people. They need to be dreamers and visionaries whose favorite question is "What if?". To dream the dream, you need dreamers. (p. 77)

    Younger churches usually have less traditions and more flexibility. Older churches tend to have more tradition and less flexibility. You can teach an old dod new tricks - but you must be really patient with the dog. (p. 108)

     

    ... several lessons apparent ... concerning how people deal with change:

  • People can only handle so much change ...
  • People feel awkward when asked to do something new ...
  • People think first about what they must give up ...
  • People feel alone when they are asked to change ...
  • People are at different levels of readiness for change ...
  • People tend to revert back to their old behavior the minute the reason to change is removed. (p. 111)

    • And regarding the promotion of psychology, Southerland promotes a teaching series called 'Celebrate Recovery' (p. 99), which is pure psychology.(See Who's Driving the Purpose Driven Church? A Documentary on the Teachings of Rick Warren by James Sundquist for proof and documentation)

    Christianity redefined

    Southerland redefines Christianity in this book of his also when he mentions a Catholic church who reaches traditional Catholics as being a legitimate expression of the Body of Christ (p. 53). He then further say that all these churches are his teammates to reach the lost for Christ. Obviously, which Christ they are worshipping is not important for him. We can thus see his redefinition of Christianity such that even apostates who call themselves Christians could be considered as such. One thus truly wonders whether Southerland is truly orthodox in his doctrine, especially given his synergism as shown above.

    Demonizing of discerning Christians

    Perhaps the greatest 'contribution' Southerland has made to the Body of Christ is the amount of damage he has done to its members. Southerland mentions that 'They [his critics] will answer to God for what they say about you. You will answer to God for how you respond' (p. 123), to which I will respond with a hearty Amen. Furthermore, Southerland and his mentor Warren will have to answer to Almighty God for all the damage he and his book has done to the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ With that, let us look at the hurts that Southerland caused to the saints of God.

    First of all, Southerland, as with his mentor Warren, advocates the removal of people who oppose his transition process from the church. Being more blunt than Warren, Southerland directly calls these people 'leaders from hell' and 'Sanballat' (p. 115), from the pagan who opposes Nehemiah and God in the wall rebuilding process. This can be seen in the oft-quoted statement found in his book:

    We all have some Sanballats in our churches. ... You cannot call this guy a leader from hell to his face — but you could call him Sanballat. (p. 115)

    However, the analogy falls apart since Sanballat is an unbeliever and most critics are believers. Furthermore, it is Southerland who is promotes unbiblical teachings and practices, and thus the analogy fails. Such demonization of true believers and blatant name-calling (those who oppose him are called 'ornery' Christians, 'meaner' Christians etc. (p. 116)) is totally appalling from someone who calls himself a pastor, especially when he is in the wrong. Since his transitioning process is not even biblical in the first place, this type of conduct shows himself to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Since he likes to call others names, I would think that the title of 'Judas Iscariot' would be suitable for Southerland, since he has betrayed his professed Lord and Savior to serve his own idols of what he think God's vision is, apart from the Word of God.

    Besides demonizing discerning believers, 'Judas' Southerland recommends steps to take that will confirm the undiscerning pastor who follows his path to unquestioning disobedience. Instead of prayerfully considering from Scripture whether the member's criticism is biblical, Southerland recommends that church leaders keep on working, encouraging, praying and leading and watching. Nowhere does Southerland recommend church leaders who may follow him to search the Scriptures to see whether these things were so (Acts. 17:11) but instead to ignore the criticisms and just continue following the path of transitioning, instead giving false comfort to these deceived church leaders by encouraging them with verses such as Rom. 8:31 (p. 123) to say that God is always for them and thus nothing could be against them, again misquoting Scripture to that effect. Through such a method, Southerland immunized these deceived church leaders against the prophecies of believers which are used as God's methods to attempt to stop their leaders' apostasy, and thus Southerland would be held accountable for all these schisms.

    Embracing of socialist Hegelian dialectics

    The final but also very deadly error is Southerland's embrace of socialist Hegelian dialectics. For someone who calls himself a Christian, this is a most deadly error to fall into and which would ultimately be one of the tools of Southerland's downfall.

    Now, what is socialist Hegelian dialectics? A working definition can be seen in the article by Paul Proctor here:

    Here's how it works: A group gathers, and has agreed beforehand that each in attendance will ultimately surrender his or her own personal position on any given issue to the will or "consensus" of the group after *processing to consensus* through dialog. In a Christian setting, the presupposition is that the group's will determines "the will of God". The group's "facilitator", whoever that may be, mediates between sides, be they "good and evil", "for and against", "republican and democrat", "liberal and conservative", etc., whatever the case may be, often instigating heated confrontations between the opposing sides for the purpose of suggesting compromise as the perfect solution to restore and maintain the peace and the relationships of everyone involved.

    The resulting outcome or *consensus* is then re-introduced if necessary, at the next meeting for more "Praxis", more dialog and more compromise until another "consensus" is reached. Then the "process" repeats all over again...and again...and again until the facilitator's desired outcome is achieved. Over time, the convictions and concerns anyone may have had originally are processed away beyond recognition or relevance leaving one and all to accept the facilitator's pre-determined outcome as the consensus of the group. It's no longer a question of what is right or wrong, good or bad, lawful or unlawful, but rather HOW WE ALL FEEL ABOUT IT...no absolutes, no conscience, no convictions, no laws, no Constitution, no Bible and NO GOD!!!...only consensus....and a contrived consensus at that. That's the Hegelian Dialectic.

    Now, so does Southerland embrace this socialist anti-Christian system? It would seem like he does. Such can be seen already earlier in his book in Southerland's twisting of God's Word in the Southerland Pervasion of 2 Cor. 5:17 (p. 24):

    Therefore, if anyone stays in Christ, he is a renewed creation; old things keep passing away, and all things keep becoming new. (2 Cor. 5:17, Southerland's pervasion. Bold added)

    From this, we can start to see Southerland's promotion of continual renewal, with the old things keep on passing away. Such a concept is a pervasion of the Reformation of 'Semper Reformanda' or Always Reforming, in which case our views are to be continually reformed to the standard of God's Word, not towards some type of synthetical view in which the old view of Scriptures is continually being discarded away through the dialectical process.

    Another indication of Southerland's embracing of the dialectical process can be seen in Southerland's hint that further changes may have be to made, even likening the church to a living organism which needs to continually change (p. 164). Such a view is based upon Southerland misquoting and misapplying Neh. 13 to say that a completed vision leads to openness to further change, which is totally not supported by the text.

    Earlier on, Southerland mentions that vision is a process, not a product (p. 20). In p. 168, the Hegelian dialectical nature of Purpose Driven Transitioning is shown for what it is. Southerland here says that the process of vision is cyclical and continual (p. 168-169), which is what the Hegelian Dialectics is all about. It's all about throwing away what doesn't work for what does work, regardless of what the Scripture says.

    Finally, the proof that Southerland's transitioning is totally anti-biblical can be seen in the last point on vision (p. 172), in which Southerland says that the process of vision is universal. This only shows that the whole process does not need God nor the Holy Spirit to be in it. If there is anything more lethal to Christianity than secular anti-Christian techniques being used to transform the church, I do not know what it is.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, due to the many exegetical and biblical errors found in Southerland's book, and since his book has been used by many deceived pastors to deceive the flock and throw out discerning Christians who are labeled 'Sanballat' and leaders from hell, this book is saturated with the lies of the devil to destroy the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ through changing churches from being light and salt of the earth to being willing societal 'change agents' . As such, this book is only fit for destruction and should only be read by discerning Christians to learn more about the deception in the Seeker-sensitive/ Purpose-driven paradigm.