Michael Frost is the vice principal of Morling College, the founding director of the Tinsley Institute, the co-founder of the Forge Mission Training Network, and an author of several books, including The Shaping of Things to Come. He is a leading voice in the missional church movement and an internationally recognized Australian missiologist.
The thesis of Exiles is that following Christ in today’s world requires a critique of and departure from the culture of Christendom and the greater empire. In order to do that, Frost exhorts his readers to embrace their identity as exiles living on foreign soil – “as a pesky, fringe dwelling alternative to the dominant forces of our times” (10). This is a book that will empower all Christians to embrace a Christ-centered faith that is lived out through a missional lifestyle in the everyday rhythms of life.
This book is divided into four “dangerous” sections, which provide the “framework for reimagining or rethinking the future of the Christian movement” (10). In the first section, Frost asserts that the “dangerous memories” of the biblical exiles, like Moses, Daniel, and Jesus are the stories needed to sustain exiles in the twenty-first century. In the second section, exiles are exhorted to embrace and live out the types of “dangerous promises” that will form them into a distinct community marked by authenticity, generosity, mercy, and justice. In order to live out those “dangerous promises, the third section encompasses “dangerous critiques” of our society that exiles must practice – assimilation and despair are not an option. The last section contains the types of “dangerous songs” that exiles must proclaim in order to catalyze a revolution.
Although I love the way that Frost weaves in and through the line between theory and practicality, as well as providing practical concepts for Christians to live out their faith in a missional manner, I feel like he could have done it in less then 200 pages. I am going to use many of the concepts of this book, but based on the length and a few other issues, I am going to give this book three stars out of five.