Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Rules for Revolutionaries by Becky Bond and Zack Exley

Rules for Revolutionaries by Becky Bond and Zack Exley

Last updated on: March 15, 2017 at 1:56 pm by Jim Erwin

Rules for Revolutionaries by Becky Bond and Zack Exley 2017-03-15T13:56:37-05:00 Jim Erwin

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Rules for Revolutionaries by Becky Bond and Zack Exley

Rules for Revolutionaries by Becky Bond and Zack Exley is a book that describes how big organizing can be used to change everything. Here is a list of the “the rules” which also happen to be the title of each chapter in the book.

1. You Won’t Get a Revolution If You Don’t Ask for One

2. The Revolution Will Not Be Handed to You on a Silver Platter

3. The Revolution Will Not Be Staffed

4. Fighting Racism Must Be at the Core of the Message to Everyone

5. Get on the Phone!

6. The Work Is Distributed. The Plan Is Centralized.

7. The Revolution Will Be Funded— by Small Donations

8. Barnstorm!

9. Fight the Tyranny of the Annoying

10. Give Away Your Passwords

11. Don’t Let the Perfect Be the Enemy of the Big

12. Learn the Basics of Good Management

13. If There Are No Nurses, I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution

14. Grow Complexity by Solving Problems as They Arise

15. Only Hire Staff Who Embrace the Rule “The Revolution Will Not Be Staffed”

16. Best Practices Become Worst Practices

17. The Revolution Is Not Just Bottom Up; It’s Peer to Peer

18. Repeat “Rinse and Repeat”

19. There’s No Such Thing as a Single-Issue Revolution

20. Get Ready for the Counterrevolution (to Include Your Friends)

21. Put Consumer Software at the Center

22. People New to Politics Make the Best Revolutionaries

Bond and Exley explain and illustrate from personal experience how these rules apply to developing big movements that bring about change. Based on their collective experience in the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.

Bond and Exley claim that their experiences can apply to a variety of contexts. These principles can apply to anyone who wants to develop a big movement – a revolution. They explain that the title is inspired by Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky (7). Yet, the ideas described in this book can apply to more mainstream movements. Some of these principles can apply to churches as well.

I found that one could make similar parallel statements about the church from what one reads in this book. Some of the interesting ideas I saw which I believe could apply to the church include the following:

Proper preparation requires prayer (Chapter 3). Many churches need to operate with more volunteers, and fewer staff members (Chapter 3), which makes a great case for bi-vocational church planting. When a church is staffed, it needs to realize that the goal is not to have more staff but to empower more volunteers (Chapter 15). Like political movements, churches should fight racism (Chapter 4). Evangelism is important (Chapter 5). The ministry needs to be distributed to many people (Chapter 6). People can fund the work of the church in small amounts (Chapter 7). New converts can help make the church better (Chapter 22).

You can find more information about Rules for Revolutionaries in the following ways:

The Rules for Revolutionaries book can be bought on Amazon. There is also a website, as well as a Facebook page for the book. Both Becky Bond and Zack Exley can be found on Twitter. Zack Exley was recently interviewed on a Rob Bell podcast. Both Bond and Exley are now working together on a new project to elect a brand new Congress.

#RulesforRevolutionariesSpeakeasy

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.

Book Review

Reviews

#RulesforRevolutionariesSpeakeasy

Previous Post

March 10, 2017

There Is None Like You...For Me

Next Post

March 16, 2017 Psalm 121:1-8 My Help

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Chronicles 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Kings 1 Peter 1 Samuel 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Chronicles 2 Corinthians 2 John 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 Samuel 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy 3 John Acts Advent Amos Book Review Colossians Comics Culture Watch Daniel Deuteronomy Ecclesiastes Ephesians Esther Exodus Ezekiel Ezra Galatians Genesis Guest Post Habakkuk Haggai Hebrews Hosea Humor Inspiritational Isaiah James Jeremiah Job Joel John Jonah Joshua Jude Judges Lamentations Lectionary Lent Leviticus Link Love Luke Malachi Mark Matthew Micah Movie Review Nahum Nehemiah Numbers Philippians Political Watch Prophecy Watch Proverbs Psalm Revelation Reviews Romans Ruth Science Watch Sermon Series Sermons Simple Thoughts Song of Solomon Titus Top Ten Uncategorized Video Review Zechariah Zephaniah

Select a Month May 2026 October 2025 September 2025 June 2025 February 2025 January 2025 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 January 2022 June 2021 January 2021 October 2020 July 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2009 June 2008 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 September 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who built the first temple for God?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses Pilate David Solomon