Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community

By Mark DeYmaz

Well-meaning church leaders and planters often set out to radically transform their communities for Christ-kingdom causes. Their aspirations and visions are limitless. However, often the best-laid plans fail to yield results of any consequence—they become frustrated, and pull the plug leaving behind the remnants of all their best intentions.

Does it have to be this way?

Is it possible for a local church to become so influential in its community that it becomes a life-giving agent for believers and non-believers? A resource that becomes the catalyst whereby abandoned buildings are repurposed, small businesses attracted, jobs created, crime reduced, justice progressed, health improved, and ultimately, the kingdom of God advanced in such a way that it impacts the every corner of the community?

In Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community, Dr. Mark DeYmaz explains why such an outlook it not only possible but essential for the church to gain credibility and relevance in the community it seeks to influence. Genuine transformation never occurs through maintaining the status quo. A Disruption is often the missing ingredient that moves the church from ineffective to radically transformative.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Mar 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9780718089221

Mark DeYmaz

A recognized leader in the Multiethnic Church Movement, Mark planted the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas in 2001 where he continues to serve as Directional Leader. In 2004, he co-founded the Mosaix Global Network with Dr. George Yancey and today serves as its president, and convenor of the triennial National Multi-ethnic Church Conference. In 2008, he launched Vine and Village and remains active on the board of this 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on spiritual, social, and financial engagement and transformation in Little Rock's University District, the 72204 ZIP code. Mark has written six books including his latest, Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community (Thomas Nelson, March 2017); and Multiethnic Conversations: an Eight Week Guide to Unity in Your Church (Wesleyan Publishing House, October 2016), the first daily devotional, small group curriculum on the subject for people in the pews. His book, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church (Jossey-Bass, 2007), was a finalist for a Christianity Today Book of the Year Award (2008) and for a Resource of the Year Award (2008) sponsored by Outreach Magazine. His other books include, re:MIX: Transitioning Your Church to Living Color (Abingdon, June 2016); Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church(formerly Ethnic Blends, Zondervan, 2010, 2013), and the e-Book, Should Pastors Accept or Reject the Homogeneous Unit Principle? (Mosaix Global Network, 2011). In addition to books, he is a contributing editor for Outreach Magazine where his column, "Mosaic" appears in each issue.  He and his wife, Linda, have been married for thirty years and reside in Little Rock, AR. Linda is the author of the author of the certified best-seller, Mommy, Please Don't Cry: There Are No Tears in Heaven, an anointed resource providing hope and comfort for those who grieve the death of a child. Mark and Linda have four adult children and two grandchildren.  Mark is an Adjunct Professor at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, and teaches D.Min. courses at seminaries across the country including TEDS, Western, and Phoenix, where he earned his own D.Min. in 2006.  

Book preview

PRAISE FOR DISRUPTION

Mark’s passion to bring diverse people together as one in Christ is a well-known fact. Lesser-known is his credible work and the measurable results achieved by his church in advancing biblical justice and economic development in the city of Little Rock. In Disruption, he not only shares the story but more importantly a transferable model, not dependent on size or resources, that any local church would do well to embrace.

Ed Stetzer, Ph.D.

Billy Graham Distinguished Chair

Wheaton College

www.edstetzer.com

Mark DeYmaz lays out an incredible blueprint for the church. Unlike normal blueprints, this one is designed to disrupt that which has already been built. This is a holy disruption, one God calls His church to, and it looks a lot like Christ’s ministry on earth. Read this book!

Albert Tate

Founder and Lead Pastor

Fellowship Monrovia, Monrovia, CA

In Disruption, multicultural church leader Mark DeYmaz puts his finger on some of the key issues facing the church at this critical juncture in history. This is a very stimulating and well-articulated book.

Alan Hirsch, Award-winning Author on

Leadership and Mission

www.alanhirsch.org

Jesus was the Great Disrupter; and in this beautiful book, Mark DeYmaz calls the church to embrace the kind of disruptive innovation that will show the world what true justice, peace, and racial reconciliation looks like. Visionary, inspiring, practical, and full of wonderful stories about the church disrupting the status quo.

Dr. Michael Frost

Vice Principal; Director of the Tinsley

Institute, Morling College, NSW, Australia

Author, Surprise the World and The

Shaping of Things to Come

This book is for all the disrupters who have been told It can’t be done and dared anyway. Mark provides a balanced and biblical account of why, now more than ever, the church is called to bring incarnational change spiritually, financially, and socially. Disruption’s innovative message makes it a must-have for every leader’s bookshelf.

Oneya Fennell Okuwobi

Ph.D. Student, The Ohio State University

Co-author, Multiethnic Conversations

One of the greatest challenges for the church today is to fulfill the Lord’s desire to display unity as it reflects the diversity of its surrounding communities. Mark masterfully blends deep theological reflection with practical suggestions. He draws from experts in change management, as well as churches that have disrupted the status quo to better mirror the picture we get of what heaven is like. This book appropriately holds our feet to fire to be the agents of reconciliation in a culture that remains deeply divided.

Rev. Dr. Dana S. Allin

Synod Executive

ECO: A Covenant Order of

Evangelical Presbyterians

In Disruption, Mark DeYmaz, a respected and visionary leader in the world of multiethnic ministry, provides readers with a holistic approach to redemptive community engagement that will assist churches that desire to courageously and creatively address matters of race, class, and culture with the transforming power of the gospel of Christ.

Naeem Fazal

Founding and Senior Pastor,

Mosaic Church, Charlotte, NC

Author, Ex-Muslim

Ecclesiastes 3:3 says, There is a time to break down and a time to build up. In modern-day terminology one could say there is a time to disrupt and a time to restore. DeYmaz’s book makes it clear that without disrupting structures and systems in today’s society and in the church, a truly credible witness of the power of gospel is not possible. Dare I say DeYmaz implies true disciples are disruptive before they can really be redemptive. If you are serious about living out kingdom principles, then this book is a must-read.

Rod Cooper, Ph.D.

Kenneth and Jean Hansen Professor of

Discipleship and Leadership, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Charlotte Director of Graduate Programs in Counseling Director of the Center for the Development of Evangelical Leaders

Professor of Preaching

We have been created in the image of God. In Mark DeYmaz’s book, Disruption, our God’s disruptive ways will provoke you to take risks and reevaluate the picture of His kingdom in the local church. Oh that we would respond as unquietly as Jesus did to the Father’s discontent!

Noemi Chavez

Pastor, 7th Street Church, Long Beach, CA

A vision for the future. Mark has articulated the very disruption that needs to happen in order for churches in the West not only to survive, but also to thrive. Times are changing. Is your church ready? Let Mark be your guide to usher you into this new reality.

Daniel Im

Director of Church Multiplication at NewChurches.com, and Teaching Pastor

Co-author, Planting Missional Churches

This is a thoroughly captivating book that helps the church navigate the future while engaging the culture. It helps you think beyond the norm and the too-often-prescribed. Sadly the church gets stuck in the past and becomes a keeper of the tradition, instead a prophetic voice to the future. The book contains many great stories that enable you to see practically how this is done.

Bob Roberts

Senior Pastor, NorthWood Church, Keller, TX

Author, Lessons from the East

This work by Mark is moving beyond describing multiethnic church ministry to mentoring change agents. We are a lonely lot, who are charged with an inconvenient Truth. Like prophets we are disrupters called to challenge conventional wisdom. While we often are not well received, we can still hone our message better. Mark can teach us how to trade in our sticks and stones for a common language to help us speak together, nudging our churches forward. What I, as a somewhat effective denominational disrupter, have backed into by trial and error, Mark is helping provide an intentional systematic approach to help disrupters unite to awake the sleeping church to its finest hour! It is not too late! Wake up, O sleeper! (Eph. 5:14)

Dr. Alejandro (Alex) Mandes

Director of Immigrant Mission/All People

Evangelical Free Church of America

As the world is turning upside down, the Holy Spirit is challenging the church to be courageous and boldly live, emulating the kingdom of God here on earth. Mark does this by seeking authentic relationships in shifting diverse communities. He is an authentic disruptor of status quo and fully engages the richness of our diverse communities.

Rev. Stephanie Moore Hand

Vitality Strategist of the Western

North Carolina Conference of The

United Methodist Church

Every denominational leader and pastor desperately needs the brand of disruption Mark so powerfully describes. This type of disruption will lead to an eruption of health and fruitfulness in our ministries. I am getting this book for all the pastors I oversee.

Dr. Larry Walkemeyer

Superintendent, Free Methodist Church

Lead Pastor, Light & Life

Christian Fellowship

Mark DeYmaz has captured a critical piece of necessary church strategy for this century: the integration of disruptive business practices and church-led community development. This book offers a detailed menu of opportunity for pastors and congregations that are serious about engaging our rapidly urbanizing and globalizing realities in America. I’m going to purchase copies of this book for all of the young disruptors I am coaching!

Chris Brooks

Regional Executive, Stadia and Faculty, Fuller Youth Institute

Pastor Mark DeYmaz believes in a disruptive gospel of grace, and practices it too! In Disruption he encourages church leaders to step out from the status quo and fixation with sustaining past ministry successes to break new ground for community transformation involving spiritual, social, and financial strategies. Your ministry won’t look the same after you read and apply this book, nor will the surrounding culture, as God turns your world upside down for greatest impact. Get ready.

Daniel A. Rodriguez, PhD.

Professor of Religion and Hispanic Studies, Pepperdine University

Author, A Future for the Latino Church

Given the church’s historical complicity in muting the evidence of systemic racism, which is intricately connected to poverty, violence and injustice, we would do well to challenge the status quo with the vision of a disruptive, innovative church. DeYmaz not only embraces the advancement of a multi-colored, united bride of Christ, but one who incarnates the good news in redemptive form via socio-economic development in our marginalized communities. God is a God of justice and His bride ought to embody His justice and summon His kingdom.

Inés Velásquez-McBryde

Former Pastor of Cross-cultural Engagement and Missions, Mosaic Church, Little Rock, AR

M.Div. Student, Fuller Theological Seminary

I believe Mark is more than a pastor and preacher; he is a prophet and seer, who sees a kind of church God sees. In Disruption, he boldly proclaims the message God has for us, the church, both today and tomorrow. It is an honor to call him friend.

Paul Louis Metzger, Ph.D.

Director of The Institute for Cultural Engagement: New Wine, New Wineskins Multnomah University & Seminary Author of Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church

Church planters must be mavericks who follow Jesus without regard for conventional wisdom. Mark DeYmaz, an exemplar of the multiethnic church movement, offers a challenge and an invitation to join him on a journey of transformation.

Dr. John Teter

Senior Pastor, Fountain of Life Covenant Church

Long Beach, California

The ancient philosopher Socrates believed he had been sent by the gods to act as a gadfly to the Athenian state. He saw the state as a great and noble steed, which had to be reminded of its proper duties. Mark DeYmaz and Disruption remind us in the church of our proper duties and original call to make disciples of all nations.

Chip Freed

Lead Pastor, Garfield Memorial United

Methodist Church, Cleveland, OH

There are few I know who are as committed as Mark DeYmaz to making the gospel of Jesus Christ visible to our divided and racialized culture through the faithful witness of local churches. This is not something Mark merely talks or writes about; it’s what he’s given his life to. For years Mark has been a constant source of encouragement and wisdom for me and our church as we have sought to bear witness to the kingdom of Christ through our engagement in matters of race, class, and culture. I’m so thankful for his generosity and continued willingness to share the lessons he has learned along the way with all of us about how to do that.

Beau Hughes

Lead Pastor

The Village Church, Denton, TX

Mark has a unique, God-given ability to quickly capture and articulate principles for the rest of us. Not only that, his principles are not simply taken from theory or casual second-hand observation. Rather they come from deep and continual reflection born out of both his personal experience and the experience of many others on the cutting edge of Jesus’s kingdom work. Disruption reflects the best of Mark’s abilities and passions. You’ll encounter one of our country’s most important apostolic voices. His passion and vision, grounded in a real and deep abiding in Jesus, will push you to dream and love Jesus’s church and mission in a more holistic and practical way. Don’t miss this opportunity to be mentored by a front-line practitioner and leader.

Yucan Chiu, D.Min.

Director/Pastor, Ethnos New Brunswick

(EthnosNB.com)

Director, The Ethnos Network

Disruption is a timely book that challenges the church to move away from a simplistic and personalized view of the gospel. Rather the church must also be equally about the gospel of the kingdom, particularly in the area of social justice. Recognizing justice itself flows from the heart of God, it is an essential and critical part of every church’s calling.

Juan Peña

Chief Program Officer, CrossPurpose

Out-of-the-box, living laboratory, new wine in new wineskins, ahead of the curve, nontraditional, and innovative are the words I’ve heard others use to describe our incredibly beautiful, yet disruptive, community of faith. In reality, however, those are the same words I would use to describe the mindset and actions of my dear friend and colleague of almost fifteen years, Mark DeYmaz. I can say without a doubt he holds firm to the fundamentals of the faith; examines, with great nuance why we do everything else; isn’t afraid to take bold steps of faith on behalf of the disenfranchised; and he has the uncanny ability to see years into the future. Want to learn his secrets? Read this book!

Harry Li, Ph.D.

Senior Pastor, Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas

Co-author, Leading a Healthy multiethnic Church

© 2017 Mark DeYmaz

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016954690

Epub Edition February 2017 ISBN 9780718089221

ISBN 978-0-7180-8909-2 (SC)

ISBN 978-0-7180-8922-1 (e-book)

Printed in the United States of America

17  18  19  20  21    RRD    10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

To Harry Li, my good friend, wise colleague, and senior pastor of Mosaic Church, whose steadfast faith, unwavering courage, and equally personal sacrifice for nearly fifteen years have shaped my own life, the people of our church, the Christian community of Little Rock, and the future of things to come.

And to my wife, Linda, who was the first to imagine and believe that we could shape the future of things to come, who has likewise borne the burdens, prayed the prayers, and withstood many disruptive storms with amazing faith, grace, strength, hope, and love . . . the wind, indeed, beneath my wings.

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Disrupting Approach

Chapter 2: Disrupting Assumptions

Chapter 3: Disrupting Church

Chapter 4: Disrupting Witness

Chapter 5: Disrupting Economics

Chapter 6: Disrupting Others

Chapter 7: Disrupting Peace

Appendix

Notes

About the Author

FOREWORD

For almost sixty years I have devoted my life to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, advancing authentic racial reconciliation, and transforming local communities through the power of collective witness. It’s been a long, hard road but well worth the effort. I thank God that He has let me live long enough to see that my faith and work have not been in vain.

In November 2013, I had the privilege of speaking at the 2nd National Multiethnic Church Conference in Long Beach, California, hosted by the Mosaix Global Network. Just after being introduced, I paused on the platform to survey the beautiful diversity in the room; to feel the presence and power of God that uniquely dwells in unity; to look into the eyes of one thousand pastors and ministry leaders of varying ethnic and denominational backgrounds warmly embracing me with applause.

In that moment I was overcome with emotion, and the room turned silent, waiting for me to speak. Finally, these words flowed from deep within my soul:

This is the first time in my eighty-three years that I’m meeting with people who believe the multiethnic church is possible. I’ve seen some hope and some leadership that we’ve been longing for. I feel finished. I can go back to Mississippi and live out the rest of my life.

It was my own Simeon moment. My longing had been fulfilled.

Yes, challenges remain, but the future is bright, as is my hope for local churches and entire communities because of people like my good friend Mark DeYmaz.

Over the past few years, I have personally gotten to know Mark and his lovely wife, Linda, quite well. I have been to dinner in his home, and he has eaten with me in mine. We have spoken together at conferences, such as those hosted by Mosaix, Catalyst, and the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). Mark has spent time with me in Jackson, Mississippi, at the Spencer Perkins Center, listening, learning, and considering our long-term work and impact in the surrounding community. He has connected young leaders with me and encouraged the church-planting efforts of my grandson, Big John. He is a man after my own heart.

I have also worshiped with Mark and spoken to his congregation in Little Rock, Arkansas, on two occasions. Most recently I had the privilege of preaching the dedicatory message at