A few years ago I read a book by R.T. Kendall titled The Anointing. I memorized something he said because it's so true: "The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday."
One of my greatest fears is that I would lose my innovative edge. I never want to become a closed-system. That's why I read like crazy. That's why I go to conferences. That's why I do reconnaissance at other churches. It boils down to this: you never arrive. And if you think you have, it's the beginning of the end. One of my fall back verses is I Corinthians 8:2: "He who thinks he knows does not yet know as he ought to know." Translation? The more you know, the more you know how much you don't know!
Did some research this week on what is commonly referred to as the experience trap. On one level, experience is important. We need a deep knowledge of our domain. But if we aren't careful, old methods can blind us to new possibilities. I wrote a little bit about the heuristic bias in Wild Goose Chase. It is the tendency to think the way we've always thought and do it the way we've always done it. Another way of saying it is this: at some point, most of us stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing ministry out of memory.
I have a core conviction: there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. We also have a core value: everything is an experiment. But in order to maintain a culture of innovation, you have to believe that there might be a better way. Over the years, we've tried to periodically put everything we do on the table. We don't want any sacred cows. If a service isn't working, we'll kill it. If we need to shift sermon strategy, so be it. If we need to radically change our small group structure, we'll do it. Going to a free market system of small group wasn't just one of the most important decisions we ever made. It fosters innovation because we expect our leaders to get a vision from God and go for it.
I really think it comes down to this: stay humble and stay on your knees. Thank God for experience! It fuels wisdom. But let's not let it blind us to new possibilities!
I love the church. I bleed the church. And I believe our best days are in front of us. But old wineskins won't cut it. I'm praying that God would continue to raise up a generation of right-brain leaders who dare to be different.
One of my greatest fears is that I would lose my innovative edge. I never want to become a closed-system. That's why I read like crazy. That's why I go to conferences. That's why I do reconnaissance at other churches. It boils down to this: you never arrive. And if you think you have, it's the beginning of the end. One of my fall back verses is I Corinthians 8:2: "He who thinks he knows does not yet know as he ought to know." Translation? The more you know, the more you know how much you don't know!
Did some research this week on what is commonly referred to as the experience trap. On one level, experience is important. We need a deep knowledge of our domain. But if we aren't careful, old methods can blind us to new possibilities. I wrote a little bit about the heuristic bias in Wild Goose Chase. It is the tendency to think the way we've always thought and do it the way we've always done it. Another way of saying it is this: at some point, most of us stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing ministry out of memory.
I have a core conviction: there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. We also have a core value: everything is an experiment. But in order to maintain a culture of innovation, you have to believe that there might be a better way. Over the years, we've tried to periodically put everything we do on the table. We don't want any sacred cows. If a service isn't working, we'll kill it. If we need to shift sermon strategy, so be it. If we need to radically change our small group structure, we'll do it. Going to a free market system of small group wasn't just one of the most important decisions we ever made. It fosters innovation because we expect our leaders to get a vision from God and go for it.
I really think it comes down to this: stay humble and stay on your knees. Thank God for experience! It fuels wisdom. But let's not let it blind us to new possibilities!
I love the church. I bleed the church. And I believe our best days are in front of us. But old wineskins won't cut it. I'm praying that God would continue to raise up a generation of right-brain leaders who dare to be different.
13 Comments:
Great post today...really struggling with some issues and you were an encouragement to me through this post!
Thanks Mark! This was exactly the encouragement that I needed to hear today. God and his church are way too great to be boxed in!
Great post Mark. That's why we have to guard ourselves from being caged by our assumptions. I spoke at a conference recently & cited the idea of a "cage of our assumptions" from Wild Goose Chase. I asked the question, "Shouldn't it both scare us, excite us, & inspire us to think that God just might be calling us to do something brand new, that He's never done before, or to do it in a way He's never done it before?"
Thanks Mark. This was an encouraging word. I am amazed at how quickly I can dig a rut.
Wow. That's good stuff. If only all the pastors across the globe embraced the same vision...church would be such an exciting place to be. Thankfully, my pastor gets it. Thanks for sharing with us!
Great post! What would God do is His church if we got out of the way more often?
"Stay humble and stay on your knees" - such beautiful and true words. May the church live this out.
thanks for believing the best are yet to come...its true!
Thanks Mark. This is a great reminder for pastors and leaders.
Great Post!
While I agree with Mark that experience by itself is a trap, experience plus wisdom is certainly NOT!
One of the things that young pastors need to understand is that some of us have been there before and innovation in ministry did not begin in the 90s. Enthusiasm yes! But arrogance in thinking that you have all (or at least many) of the answers to what ails the 21st century church is at best presumption.
Believe me, I've been there! I'm now on the north side of 50 and when I graduated from seminary I thought I had all the answers, too.
Honestly, that is NOT what Mark is saying, but sometimes when I talk with younger pastors, they have this idea that experience in ministry is not important at all, and that we who have gone through the various battles in ministry "just don't get it."
I do believe that humbling ourselves and seeking God in passionate prayer is the key - something I HAVE LEARNED to realize.
The bottom line is that it is not innovation in and of itself that is going to be the key to reaching MANY generations with the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is an ongoing humble reliance upon the Holy Spirit's guidance and wisdom that will serve us all well as we minister.
I'm certainly not against change - I've been there, done that, and continue to do that, but I do realize that my efforts in being a champion of change are marked with a patience (hopefully) of some years in ministry where I hopefully draw from experience and godly wisdom.
With that said, I strive to be innovative and open to new ideas within the context of the ministry God has called me to.
Blessings!
As we say in Hawaii, "That was UNREAL!" Thanks so much, Mark! Aloha, MIKE
great thought- I will definitely be chewing on that today and might change a few things around with my core values myself.
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