See What Real Readers Are Saying About 5Q!

It’s been about a month since the release of 5Q: Reactivating the Original Intelligence and Capacity of the Body of Christ and what an awesome ride! We have seen so many of you jump into the Kingdom movement that 5Q describes and grab your own copy of the book. That’s the whole point: A symphony – a conversation – a symphonic conversation. You are such an integral part of what God is doing in the Church through 5Q.

Recently, we ran a promotion to get awareness out there about the book and the movement. You responded with blog posts, amazon reviews and even a podcast. So, we thought this week, we would run the first of a series of posts featuring your voices and your thoughts on 5Q.

“We need to start seeing the church in light of the gifts distributed by Jesus, instead of by some set of liturgy, preaching style, or activities. Alan Hirsch gives us a great tool in 5Q to demonstrate not only the marks of the church, but an innate set of gifts embedded in any organization.”

Dan Vincent via Amazon

This is an excerpt from “My Top ‘5Q’ Takeaways (A review of Alan Hirsch’s book)” from Dan Lamos (@papabearlamos) on his blog danalamos.com. Thank you, Dan. We appreciate you joining the conversation!

“Incredibly empowering book! Thanks, Alan Hirsch for another well-written, deeply engaging read. 5Q: Reactivating the Original Intelligence and Capacity of the Body of Christ comes alongside the Body of Christ and engages us in a conversation in which we at first think we are fluent. Then, as Hirsch provokes and invites us to learn the ways of APEST in light of J-APEST (the unique way that Jesus relates to all of creation), we either jump off the submarine or strap ourselves in for a deep plunge into what is according to Hirsch, “coded into the whole Body of Christ, and we are but the living expressions of that Body in our given time and place.”

A thoughtful review from Kim, who blogs at Deep Imprints. Thanks for getting on board! 

“This book is the piece that we have been missing in the five-fold ministry conversation and it is a must read for anyone interested in discipleship or ecclesiology (the study of the church).

So, I highly recommend Hirsch’s new book. Now. Here is what I learned:

When you get an idea, you don’t have to be perfect. You just have to start writing and then keep revising. Eventually, you will reach the “tipping point” where what you have written becomes normative instead of a novel idea. At that point, where theory and practice meet, you get to write something as incredible as 5Q – a handbook of why and how we should live into the 5-fold ministries both personally and corporately.”

“The reason I couldn’t put this book down is because Hirsch is putting into words feelings I’ve had for nearly a decade (which is a lifetime for a millennial). The premise of Hirsch’s latest work is that Jesus Christ has already given us a blueprint for what leadership, mission, evangelism, care and teaching should look like and how it’s done. He’s calling us to allow the latent seeds of the fivefold gifts, also referred to as APEST or 5Q, Christ gave the church to begin to grow again.

By understanding 5Q, we are able to assess the health and capacity of our organizations, churches and businesses included. Hirsch traces biblical foundations, primordial forms and archetypes and ultimately the life of Jesus as the architect and builder of 5Q. Jesus shows us that the patterns of 5Q can be used to understand and assess His ministry as well as his commandments to the church. He outlines the fivefold functionality of the church and society at large. In utilizing 5Q, we have a clear trajectory for how to impart, empower and deploy the greatest move of God the world has ever seen!“

For a list of Chris’ favorite quotes from the book and more of his review, check out the rest on his blog, csodell.wordpress.com. Thanks Chris!

“This surprised me with its depth and theology. The first time Hirsch came onto my radar (in The Forgotten Ways), I thought it was a great idea.

This book shows why we should establish – and return to – the DNA of the 5-fold ministry. It encourages us to align many methods to the functional gifts that plant, grow, heal, and renew Christ’s body, regardless of when or where it meets. I recommend this for pastors, elders, church and NGO leaders – and seminary students.”

Thanks to Rosa Smith for your voice!

If every review is five stars, something can’t be right! Check out how Mike begins his Amazon review. It’s a three star critique. 5Q is about honesty.  If the conversation is univocal, there’s no symphony!

“After really enjoying Alan’s contributions to the Fivefold Ministry discussion in Forgotten Ways and The Permanent Revolution, I was eager to dig into this book. I expected to find deeper biblical reflection on the various facets and tensions of Ephesians 4 as well as a serious practical vision and build-out for modern churches, rich with examples and stories of 5Q activation and flourishing. Instead, the book seemed to mostly expand the previous works primarily in the areas of 5Q archetypes elsewhere in Scripture and society, with only some additional practical build-out for the church and little to no discussion of some of the most crucial tensions in Ephesians 4 (the fourfold vs. fivefold question, the issue of whether every believer is one of these 5 equippers or only equipped for these kinds of ministries by the equippers, the various scopes of equippers at local, regional, national, global levels, etc.).”

 

We will be back soon with more from you, the reviewers! Thanks to all of you who have gotten a copy of the book and taken the time to share your thoughts, share your heart and hope for Jesus’ Kingdom movement. 

 

Literally. The road. Here’s a podcast from Shane Blackshear (@beardonabike), you can find the post here. This podcast was originally posted at MissioAlliance.org.