Battle #5 - Culture over a leader...
I recently heard a recording from Jim Collins (author of Good to Great and Built to Last). He said we must get over the draw we have to the idea of a need for a dynamic, charismatic leader.
I grew up in the church. My dad was a pastor my whole life. I have spent my life around church leadership in varying degrees. I have to say that there is no place that the tendency to follow a dynamic leader is more present than in the church. One powerful church pastor told me, "People are sheep. They will go where ever you lead them." Fairly scary proposition!
One of the transitions that I observe in culture is that the boomer generation was a very hierarchical in its respect of and need for leadership. people respected positions, not people. This is not true anymore. With the fall of so many great high profile leaders across the leadership perspective, we have grown cynical of leaders in general. The notion of a strong dynamic leader being the answer to the church's woes is a painfully misinformed idea in this culture. And it will serve to further widen the gap between the church and the world.
We need to establish and participate in a culture that reflects the ideals and values that we espouse. While leaders definitely have a strong role to play in that scenario, it is not in the control and steering of people. The leader's role falls more inline with being a co-laborer and a model of the values and vision lived out. Not a benevolent dictator.
In the book ReWork, the authors make a great statement. "You don't create culture. It happens...Culture is the byproduct of consistent behavior....Culture is action not words."
Simple implication - what we do is what we will reproduce, not what we teach. So people are attracted to who we are through what we do. By the way, they are repulsed by who we are by the same criteria. It is not enough for a high powered, dynamic leader to get up and preach a motivational sermon anymore.
The people who are part of the church will determine what the church is known by regardless of how strong the preaching is. The responsibility is solely on the people to become what Christ has called them to. This is a scary idea, but is a reality none the less. I am not sure that it is better or worse, it is simply a reality of the world in which the church is called to function.
I think it would be fun to discuss the potential good and bad of this notion. so, have at it!
May you become part of a culture that collectively pursues the mission of Christ above their own individual comfort. And may you become the type of follower of Christ and deeply presses into his agenda for the purpose of knowing Him more and more. May your church community be defined as a place full of passionate followers of Christ.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
My Ecclesiology or in other words, my view of the church - Part 4
Battle #3 - Information vs. Insight...
So I spend time on an amazing website called TED.com. TED.com is dedicated to taking people who are teh global trendsetters and putting them on a stage and letting them talk.
Today I happened across a lecture that Seth Godin gave in 2003 that speaks exactly to what is happening in the church. At the time, he was in the process of releasing his book called "The Purple Cow." And the whole idea is that in defining what you bring to the table, you need to be remarkable. The idea is that if you are driving down the road, and you see a cow, you will not notice it at all. Cows are boring and normal. But if the cow was purple, you would stop and take note, because cows aren't purple as a rule. Now, if every cow was purple, you would no longer notice a purple cow. But the fact is that they aren't and so we notice.
What Godin says is that ideas that stick are remarkable - regardless of the topic that idea is about. This is also true of the church. IT is funny how there are very few trend setters in the church world. Everyone seems to be chasing the latest "church growth fad" that someone started. For what it is worth, I also believe this is true outside of the church as well, but the interesting part about the church specifically is that God makes people unique and perfectly designed to accomplish His purpose for each person's life. The Bible says that God marks our steps. But to take that a step further... Not only does He mark our steps, He also designs us to be the perfect person to walk the path He has laid out for each of us.
So why isn't the church remarkable? it would seem that the diversity inherent in people should be celebrated and we should see phenomenal ideas cropping up everywhere. What is going on that makes the church chase its own tail and in the process become less and less relevant in our culture?
Church is built around information transfer. Sunday the sermon is the point. Bible study is the group time during the week. And we study our Bible to learn something new. There is nothing wrong with learning and we should. But honestly, we have to admit that our attempts at education aren't working. People are moving further and further away from Biblical knowledge, not closer to it. Culturally, this happens as a result of several factors but the over riding principle is pretty simple - information with insight is boring, lifeless, and useless. And because we live in an era where we are constantly barraged with information, stuff that seems useless or like it can be put off is forgotten.
John 5:39-40 (New Living Translation)
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.
Where are the remarkable life transformation stories? Where are the people who have been so deeply changed by putting God's Word into practice that they cannot keep it in? Where are those who are like Jeremiah and cry out, "Your Word is like a fire in my bones and I have to let it out!"
When I was in Bible college, I was told that it is the preaching of the Word of God that has held the church together over the centuries. Now, after nearly 20 years in the ministry, what I have observed is that the preaching of the Bible has continued to fracture and splinter the church all while robbing people of their appetite.
My theory today... It is the testimony of God working among His people that holds the church together. That is what the Old Testament is. And that is what we should be most concerned about celebrating. Because expression give insight. And it is remarkable how much we gain simply by seeing and experiencing the lessons of the Word of God played out in our lives and the lives of those we are peers with.
I am not down on education. I have an advanced degree and am working on another. But my dad used to say all the time that impression without expression leads to depression. Stated another way, there is nothing remarkable that will happen when all I am getting is more information. Until I learn through expression of that truth and gain deep insight about those truths, I have gained nothing. And if we don't make this shift, the church becomes more and more unremarkable.
So, may you have a life of insight. And may your expression of God's truth lead to tremendous and life transforming relationships. May it be said of you that your relationship with God is remarkable!
So I spend time on an amazing website called TED.com. TED.com is dedicated to taking people who are teh global trendsetters and putting them on a stage and letting them talk.
Today I happened across a lecture that Seth Godin gave in 2003 that speaks exactly to what is happening in the church. At the time, he was in the process of releasing his book called "The Purple Cow." And the whole idea is that in defining what you bring to the table, you need to be remarkable. The idea is that if you are driving down the road, and you see a cow, you will not notice it at all. Cows are boring and normal. But if the cow was purple, you would stop and take note, because cows aren't purple as a rule. Now, if every cow was purple, you would no longer notice a purple cow. But the fact is that they aren't and so we notice.
What Godin says is that ideas that stick are remarkable - regardless of the topic that idea is about. This is also true of the church. IT is funny how there are very few trend setters in the church world. Everyone seems to be chasing the latest "church growth fad" that someone started. For what it is worth, I also believe this is true outside of the church as well, but the interesting part about the church specifically is that God makes people unique and perfectly designed to accomplish His purpose for each person's life. The Bible says that God marks our steps. But to take that a step further... Not only does He mark our steps, He also designs us to be the perfect person to walk the path He has laid out for each of us.
So why isn't the church remarkable? it would seem that the diversity inherent in people should be celebrated and we should see phenomenal ideas cropping up everywhere. What is going on that makes the church chase its own tail and in the process become less and less relevant in our culture?
Church is built around information transfer. Sunday the sermon is the point. Bible study is the group time during the week. And we study our Bible to learn something new. There is nothing wrong with learning and we should. But honestly, we have to admit that our attempts at education aren't working. People are moving further and further away from Biblical knowledge, not closer to it. Culturally, this happens as a result of several factors but the over riding principle is pretty simple - information with insight is boring, lifeless, and useless. And because we live in an era where we are constantly barraged with information, stuff that seems useless or like it can be put off is forgotten.
John 5:39-40 (New Living Translation)
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.
Where are the remarkable life transformation stories? Where are the people who have been so deeply changed by putting God's Word into practice that they cannot keep it in? Where are those who are like Jeremiah and cry out, "Your Word is like a fire in my bones and I have to let it out!"
When I was in Bible college, I was told that it is the preaching of the Word of God that has held the church together over the centuries. Now, after nearly 20 years in the ministry, what I have observed is that the preaching of the Bible has continued to fracture and splinter the church all while robbing people of their appetite.
My theory today... It is the testimony of God working among His people that holds the church together. That is what the Old Testament is. And that is what we should be most concerned about celebrating. Because expression give insight. And it is remarkable how much we gain simply by seeing and experiencing the lessons of the Word of God played out in our lives and the lives of those we are peers with.
I am not down on education. I have an advanced degree and am working on another. But my dad used to say all the time that impression without expression leads to depression. Stated another way, there is nothing remarkable that will happen when all I am getting is more information. Until I learn through expression of that truth and gain deep insight about those truths, I have gained nothing. And if we don't make this shift, the church becomes more and more unremarkable.
So, may you have a life of insight. And may your expression of God's truth lead to tremendous and life transforming relationships. May it be said of you that your relationship with God is remarkable!
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