When we have no impressive buildings and no swollen budgets to sustain our work, often only then do we realize that the best we have to offer this post-Christendom world is the quality of our relationships, the power of our trustworthiness and the wonder of our generosity. -M. Frost
If we leave this place, what shall we take with us? Will we pack up our understanding of what "church" is and shuttle it by our side, wrapped neat and tidy with the same familiar ideas? Or, do we set out to discover the true power of ecclesia? Do we search for newness in a way that respect for where we've come? Are we holding on the allure of what is comfortable? Shame on us for not expecting more.
Yes, it is the Body of Christ. And, I firmly believe that where two or more gather in the name of Christ, He too will be with us. From that we shall gather our offering - confidently, boldly even, laying it at the alter. This alter will not resemble current conditions. It will be an alter of relationships, service and generosity.
We will, together with the working of The Holy Spirit, bring forth true worship, true teaching (the true church) through our everyday interaction with man and Creator. We will do this with no building, no budget and no excuses. If God is with us, who can be against us?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
The things we choose to care about... building maintenance, service order, viewable environmentals. We have become so adept at allowing people to navigate the journey alone, that we even nurture that destructive pathway. What does it look like to be a community that confronts the lone-ranger mentality without being militant in our pursuit? How do we engage the human need to belong without funneling them into a manufactured system? Does the "third place" paradigm build into its DNA the need for belonging, community, and conversation? Can it thrive without these? Let us be diligent in creating a place that is founded on the relationships, and if it doesn't meet that criteria, then we need to shut it down. There will always places to eat food, drink coffee, and hear music...but are we imagining a place that uses these things as a conduit for deeper relationships? Are we building this idea in a way that ignites a passion for others to engage in this journey? The clarity of vision will determine the attraction of involvement.
"Does the "third place" paradigm build into its DNA the need for belonging, community, and conversation? Can it thrive without these?" -Dave
These values MUST be present in its DNA. But, more importantly, these values MUST be carried out. Turn a profit? Yes. This place could if the quality of the experience (food, drink, entertainment, etc) was higher than expected with continual improvement. But alone, will those attributes carry a group of people into a a better way of being? No. If left to those devices, the [host] culture will gently lead us into the consumer centered universe that is America. This cannot be.
This place must be centered around ideas that our more selfless, more dangerous, more REAL than what is being sold down the street. We must give people/patrons the opportunities to live beyond themselves. We must share the freedom and beauty that comes when one stops acting on behalf of one's self. But how? Again we arrive at the same question: How do we instill these into the DNA?
Perhaps this looks like a reversed cocoon process. Huh? A reverse cocoon process...? Yes. If a cocoon is a time where an organism closes itself off from the world to develop, grow and change its form. Then maybe this "reverse" in a business is a group of people who instill these fore mentioned values as individuals. Shouldn't the way they as a group of individuals interact with the patrons help form an understanding of how to inject the values? I'm just thinking out-loud here... grace, please. I mean, how can we expect to come into a new/different region or culture with the method of influence already constructed? Wouldn't that just be agenda in the place of dialogue and discovery...?
Gimme a response. I'm dyin here. And rambling a little bit.
Joe and I were just talking about this today...how we need not to be so driven by the event of opening our doors to the place that introduces people to a new paradigm, but first be very active in the journey with others that lives out the DNA so that it is organically a part of the place that calls people to be active in the story. I would stress, however, that the cocoon can tend to become too comfortable and then trap us to stay safe...Being dangerous is the key...
"first be very active in the journey with others that lives out the DNA so that it is organically a part of the place that calls people to be active in the story."
-Dave
I agree whole heartedly that there should be a time of just "being". Whether it is just being a good cafe or a good group of worshippers, I believe that it is necessity to spend an initial period of time just being what we've been called to do as a group/organization. Think, "organic". Live in the real world. Share stories of newness and change - stories that dangerously buck the status quo of popular culture.
Of course, there needs to be a shared understanding that we have not arrived - that we are growing. This growth, as a business or a movement (actually, let's call it evolution instead of growth) shall be expected AND prepared for. What does that mean? Well, just as a parent prepares for growth spurts in their child's development, so too shall we prepare (as businesses and communitas) for these moments where evolution may happen. But, let's not expect this to be linear. Do tress grow straight up and down in predictable fashion? No. In fact, even the most rigidly trained trees, bonsai, still creep their way around the wire in a manner that surprises their masters. The bonsai, they say, knows where and how to grow. All it needs is a little guidance. The beauty of success for a bonsai grower is knowing that he has helped this little plant do what it is supposed to do: grow. (just watch karate kid 2 for more details)
My point? Prepare, follow-through, and embrace what growth spurts may lay ahead. They may come quickly or later. But they will come. Perhaps not in the way we wanted them, though. We may set our branches in a path, but the growth/evolution that may take place will not do so always as we intend. It will happen naturally, in due time and in a direction that may need correcting. But that's ok. With fertile minds, passionate hearts and guided expectations we shall see what will happen when a place is designed to bring beauty and goodness into the world. We will see what great things can be done through an obedient, humble group of exiles who are banging their chests for the world around them to be a part of something bigger than any individual. That is what we will set in place.
Post a Comment