Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. ( John F Kennedy )
The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers. ( Scott M Peck )
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ( Charles Darwin )
Change is inevitable, except from vending machines. ( Unknown )
People can knowing come to the place where they say they need change. They can commit to change...and enter into the journey. But in the land of transition they will fight it tooth and nail, and die before seeing change through. There is something about looking ahead to a new horizon, not being able to really see what is ahead that causes fear... so much fear, we'll strain our necks, constantly looking back to the land of familiarity we just left.
I have seen and experienced this. Being on leadership team I saw a community turn, the lead Pastor ended up on extended leave for depression, and his wife in Eric Martin Institute on suicide watch. Change is inevitable...but most churches will fight it to the end.
Again here I'm speaking from the experience where I find myself now, and from where I have been and come from. Most churches are insular, creating their own culture...and have no idea, or understanding of the prevailing culture that surrounds them. Most would compartmentalize it into sacred and secular...one good one bad...live in one and avoid the other. They would acknowledge it as quite different...but would not understand why. In most cases, the fear of not understanding does nothing more than to reinforce there existing structures...no matter what the cost.
Most people in faith communities around Victoria will not likely heard of the " Emerging Church Conversation." Some in the conversation have come up with a very definitive label of what the emerging church is...I'm not one of them. Pete Rollin's of Ikon says it beautifully...
While the term ' emerging church ' is increasingly being employed to describe a well defined and well- equipped religious movement, in actual fact it is currently little more than a fragile, embryonic and diverse conversation being held between individuals over the Internet and at various small gatherings. Not only does the elusive and tentative nature of this conversation initially make it difficult to describe what, if anything, unifies those involved; the sheer breadth of perspectives held by those within the dialog makes terms such as ' movement ', ' denomination ', and ' church ' seem somewhat inappropriate...rest here.
Do we all need to become " emerging churches "...no, not necessarily...but it would be good for churches to read and understand what it is all about. In my mind, one of the most important things about the emerging conversation is that, it has sought to seek to understand the relationship between faith and postmodern culture...in the context of where the church finds itself today.
A great resource on the emerging conversation comes from Prof. Scot McKnight...it's a twelve page document and well worth reading...and can be found here.
One of the greatest causes of change is pressure...from storms changing our land scape, a potters hand applying force changing the shape of a lump of clay...and of course...postmodern culture applying pressure on the church.
In my previous post, " blazing new trails " was a quote from Elizabeth O'Connor...
“We never have expected to hit upon that final stable structure. This is important for a church to understand, for when it starts to be the church it will be constantly be adventuring out into places where there are no tried and tested ways. If the church in our day has few prophetic voices above the noise of the street, perhaps in large part it is because the pioneering spirit has become foreign to it. It shows little willingness to explore new ways. Where it does it has often been called an experiment. We would say the church of Christ is never an experiment, but where that church is true to it’s mission it will be experimenting, pioneering, blazing new paths, seeking how to speak the reconciling words of God to it’s own age.” It cannot do this if it is held captive by the structures of another day.
We can't turn our heads any longer and try and recapture the past, we need to wake-up to the reality that changing culture/post-modernity is a constant pressure on the church. To avoid it is to become so insular, that you live in a vacuum in which you will likely suffocate and die.
Many churches are also feeling the pressure of declining numbers, and with that diminishing church budgets...money just isn't around in the same way it was. This too is making the church look at sustainable structures. Again pressure, and nothing like pressure to fuel creativity...in experimenting, pioneering and blazing new paths.
The Gospel still is, and will always be the Good News...no matter what " post " culture the church finds itself in. We can allow the pressure of the prevailing culture to shape us, so we can better engage it...or we can avoid it, and suffer the consequences of being no news at all.
And love dares you to care
For people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way
Of caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves under pressure
Under pressure pressure ( David Bowie )
Ron, thanks for your recent comment on my blog. I appreciate it.
With respect to this post I really like your M. Scott Peck quote - maybe because I'm reading his biography at the moment. Do you have a reference for it?
Posted by: Paul Fromont | May 05, 2007 at 12:35 PM
Ron,
Thanks for this post. As per usual you are frighteningly in sync with what others of us in the kingdom are exploring and even struggling with. We should talk again soon.
Posted by: chris | May 06, 2007 at 12:47 AM
Ron,
Thanks for this post. As per usual you are frighteningly in sync with what others of us in the kingdom are exploring and even struggling with. We should talk again soon.
Posted by: chris | May 06, 2007 at 12:47 AM
Hey Chris, coffee and conversation sound great. It's interesting in the context of the above post, I'm also seeing something else that others are also expressing. Peace...Ron+
Posted by: ron | May 06, 2007 at 11:58 PM
This is such a good one! And it is spot-on where I am this very day in both sacred and secular life. I'm still watching your emerging conversation, still absorbing it.
Posted by: Annie | May 07, 2007 at 07:27 AM