Abstract
We live at a time where the world seems to be changing at unprecedented speed. The intense rate of change coupled with a global pandemic can and has created an anxious environment where people and particularly leaders are perplexed on how to navigate through the chaos. Mark Sayers captures this reality with precision and clarity and more importantly, provides a positive vision and pathway for “non-anxious” leaders in these challenging times. He explains how this unique time in history can shape leaders and the social and spiritual context to realize God's power for renewal and growth.
In the first section of the book, Sayers characterizes the current global milieu as a “gray zone” or a period of transition from a previous era to the next (p. 21). Gray zones are an “in-between moment” filled with “pressure and chaos” where the current “markers and measurements” from the previous era no longer apply nor help one understand how to move forward (p. 21). Gray zones, therefore, are a seedbed for the trends that will fully manifest in the next era. Crises occurring during these in-between periods often catapult emerging trends forward with greater expediency. Sayers argues this phenomenon was realized during the global pandemic whereby the pandemic did not change the world but “intensif[ied] and entrench[ed] already existing trends” (p. 25). In other words, the pandemic simply applied the pressure that expedited the change already in motion. Furthermore, gray zones provoke intense anxiety in people and society in general, and in this intensified state of anxiety, God is at work transforming people and cultivating leaders profoundly. In our current gray zone where the digital age has created an atmosphere of anxiety, Sayers reminds Christians they must avoid paralysis and instead seize the opportunity created by discomfort allowing God to use it as a seedbed for renewal.
In the second section of the book, Sayers captures the fundamental shift in power taking place in our current gray zone. In this anxious gray zone of change, cultural assumptions are shifting and if leadership is to be effective, it must be predicated on these new assumptions. The shifts are radical and foundational with “enormous implications for how we lead and live” (p. 56). Thus, it is paramount for leaders to understand that the gray zone is an anxious wilderness where competing social power structures are at work forming strongholds; and the power stronghold that solidifies will become the dominant system in the new emerging era. For example, America emerged as a world power or centralized stronghold in the last century; however, the globalization of the twenty-first century has resulted in a world that is “a complex, connected network” where power has been decentralized and is fluid throughout the network (p. 71).
In the last section, Sayers explains how leadership should respond. Leaders must realize they step into a gray zone of anxiety and change where “the American-led global order” is overlapping with the new era characterized by a “decentralized world” (p. 86). In the chaos of the gray zone, leaders must not only understand the dynamics of this transitional period but also provide a “non-anxious presence in an anxious age” (p. 91). The greater connectivity of the network bombards people with information and global concerns that cultivate anxiety like never before making the influence of a non-anxious leader paramount.
Furthermore, leaders must understand that in gray zones people retreat to personal strongholds formed within societal strongholds for comfort; and the anxiety they experience can cause them to resist change and growth holding fast to these comfort zones. Consequently, leaders must guide people out of their comfort zones into the reality of the gray zone and discomfort if they expect people to truly grow. Leaders cannot allow people to remain static because the reality of the current gray zone is complex, and demanding adaptability. Most importantly then, leaders must be adaptable to the complexity of the current milieu and its shifting power dynamics. Sayers shifts into a distinctly Christian leadership focus in the last four chapters. Leaders must rely on God's power, strength, and leading through Christ for personal transformation and spiritual authority to be non-anxious leaders who can navigate our current gray zone to soften people's hearts and experience growth.
First, I believe Sayers provides an enlightening and much needed perspective on the current global context. Certainly, it is no secret that if leaders fail to understand the landscape before them, they are destined to mislead those who follow. Sayers’ identification of a categorical historical epoch—the gray zone—provides a backdrop to understand the events and trends of our contemporary world. Simply put, Sayers’ insights and descriptions enable us to see the world today with greater clarity. Additionally, his treatment of the shifting power dynamic in the current gray zone is an essential understanding for leaders today. It underscores the need to embrace change and cultivate adaptability. Essentially, Sayers provides a corrected and accurate map for leaders in a time of confusion and misunderstanding. For many, I believe this book will serve as an updated map that corrects a distorted if not inaccurate understanding of our quickly changing world.
Second, Sayers provides an enlightening perspective on the emotional state of people in our world today. People are under perhaps an unprecedented state of anxiety, and he helps us understand not only the dangers of this anxiety—paralysis—but also the potential opportunity that the state of anxiety provides. In anxiety, we have the potential to see the power of God at work bringing revival and change. This fresh perspective is one of hope that I believe can impel leaders to action. Therefore, not only has Sayers provided an accurate map for leaders to navigate, but he also gives us a needed perspective and understanding of the populations that inhabit the landscape.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Sayers provides a compass for navigating the landscape empowering leaders to impact the populations. His third section gives leaders a detailed prescription not only for action but also for their posture while acting. Leaders are to be an unshakable presence amongst a shaken people, correctly interpreting the landscape before them ready to adapt and respond. Particularly helpful are his last chapters that focus specifically on Christian leadership whereby he provides us with a Christ-centered hope in God's power to use enlightened leaders to be His agents of renewal.
Sayer’s book is not only relevant but essential to equip Christian leaders today. In Acts 27, the Apostle Paul was exposed to a storm that no one on the ship anticipated. In fact, they had set off when they should not have because they misunderstood their context and situation. Paul was a prisoner on the ship; however, he was the only person who truly understood the situation at hand. He was also the only person that had a clear plan of action when others had not only misread the situation but were committed to a dangerous response that would have cost everyone their lives. Paul stood as an unshakable man amongst a shaken people. In other words, he was a non-anxious presence amongst anxious people. Even though he was a prisoner, he emerged as the leader because he was the only one who rightly read the context, and the emotional conditions of the people on the ship, and had a plan for survival. This biblical narrative illustrates what Sayers is calling for today. Leaders must know the context, the people, and the plan if they truly wish to emerge as leaders who can be used by God to cultivate renewal. From the storm, Paul emerged. Pastors and Christian educators must emerge from the current storm—the gray zone—so they can be used by God. Sayers provides the thoughtful and open-minded Christian leader with the map and the compass to emerge as such a man or woman.