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Posts from the ‘Londen Institute January 2009’ Category

10
Feb

Urban Ministry Reflections

Reading Urban Ministry has been more like walking through a knee deep mud pit than adventurous and exciting, but it is beginning to have some impact on me. So, I have questions like: “Who are the urbanites or city dwellers in this relatively small community of 30,000 people? What is their ethnic and demographic makeup? What would it mean to bring Justice and the Shalom of God to Georgetown, and what part would reconciliation with the African American community here play? How might involving the African American community in assisting us at Adopt Uganda be a tool in that reconciliation? How might we also be a voice as a church in making sure Georgetown doesn’t become just as oppressive toward the Mexican migrant workers? How can we teach our predominately white middle class congregation that following Jesus and making Him known to Georgetown involves Godly Justice and Shalom?”

21
Jan

Machiavelli says…

“There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things…Whenever his enemies have the ability to attack the innovator, they do so with the passion of partisans, while the others defend him sluggishly, so that the innovator and his party alike are vulnerable.”  – Niccolo Machiavelli

I’ve not only seen this play out in real life, but personally experienced it.  People really are slow, even sluggish, to come to the defense of the innovator.  They don’t mind that she is sticking her neck out and they even strongly encourage it, but out of a desire to preseserve themselves the encouragers of innovation fail to show the same passion publicly.  
People must be willing to put their signature on the line, and be called out by name to all who would hear that the innovation has their full support.
I think back to the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show.  The Blue-ray and HD-DVD war was still hot, and there was much discussion about which format would win.  The day before Toshiba was to make a big announcement that a major film production company had signed an exclusive agreement to put their films on HD-DVD, they publicly backed out.  The big party Toshiba had planned was instead cancelled at the last minute, and within weeks they had cut all research and development and production into HD-DVD.  I believe the cost to the company was one billion dollars.
From that moment on Blue-ray has been the only format mentioned, and while HD-DVD may still have some other applications you will not find a movie at Blockbuster or Netflix in HD-DVD format.
HD-DVD was indeed an innovation, and Toshiba led, but because they failed to partner with others willing to allow their necks to be at risk it cost them a billion.
The church won’t lose a billion dollars, but as innovators we must continually be as cunning as a snake when it comes to promoting and implementing all of those good ideas.  We should never be deceitful, but should always make sure we’re not the only ones willing to die.  Otherwise the church will suffer from the loss of an innovator, and from the growth the change would have catalyzed.
17
Jan

In a pit…reflections on the rest.

Reflection on the last 82 pages of “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day”

In Chapter 6 for whatever reason I was struck by a verse of scripture Mark quotes Matthew 11:12 , “…and forceful men lay hold of it.”  I don’t know why but it never grabbed me like it grabbed me today.  The Kingdom of God forcefully advances and is not some kiddie ride at the theme park, but involves life and death circumstances and only those whose intent is to forcefully advance the Gospel should be included.  However, this forceful advancement is not with violence or vengeance, but is often at the cost of willing to be beaten to death.

Over the last decade I wonder if we just made being a Christian look way too easy.  We failed to offend for the sake of the seeker.  We failed to confuse for the sake of the prideful.  We failed to be willing to fail for the sake of living in the known instead of the unknown.  We cannot accidentally stumble into the Kingdom of God, but we must forcefully resist the evil in the world at every second of every day.

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