"You're too young and inexperienced." I Samuel 17:33.
That is what Saul said to David when he wanted to challenge Goliath. And it was true, IF David had tried to engage Goliath in a conventional sword fight. But David changed the rules. He didn't approach Goliath as a warrior. He approached him as a shepherd. He introduced an unconventional method of warfare: the slingshot. That long-range weapon gave David a unique advantage over his more experienced opponent. In a sense, he overcame his weaknesses by playing to his strengths.
Can I make an observation? Inexperience is both a liability and an asset. And the upside of inexperience is this: you don't know what can't be done. So you're not afraid of doing old things in new ways. You take risks. You make mistakes. You experiment with new methodologies.
If we had a little more experience, part of me wonders if we would have never built a coffeehouse. Why? Because churches build churches. But we had just enough sanctified inexperience. Instead of asking why, we asked why not.
This week I read about a fascinating study done by political scientist Ivan Arreguin-Toft. He surveyed every war fought in the past two hundred years between strong and weak combatants. The Goliaths won 71.5% of the time. But when the Davids chose an unconventional strategy, their winning percentage was 63.6%. In other words, when Davids decide that they aren't going to play on Goliaths terms, they win two-thirds of the time.
So how do you fight in unconventional terms if you are a David? Sometimes it's substituting effort for ability. Davids need to work harder than Goliaths. Sometimes its doing something in a new way. But the bottom line is this: you cannot fight Goliath on Goliath's terms or you will lose. You have to change the rules. You have to get unconventional.
If we do church in conventional ways we'll get conventional results. We desperately need more unconventional leaders who will use their slingshots to advance the kingdom. I have a core conviction that drives me: there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. Listen, I thank God for traditions. And I love traditional churches. But I think its unconventional leaders and unconventional churches that will reach emerging generations. Or maybe another way of saying it is this: we need leaders who are orthodox in theology but unorthodox in praxis.
That is what Saul said to David when he wanted to challenge Goliath. And it was true, IF David had tried to engage Goliath in a conventional sword fight. But David changed the rules. He didn't approach Goliath as a warrior. He approached him as a shepherd. He introduced an unconventional method of warfare: the slingshot. That long-range weapon gave David a unique advantage over his more experienced opponent. In a sense, he overcame his weaknesses by playing to his strengths.
Can I make an observation? Inexperience is both a liability and an asset. And the upside of inexperience is this: you don't know what can't be done. So you're not afraid of doing old things in new ways. You take risks. You make mistakes. You experiment with new methodologies.
If we had a little more experience, part of me wonders if we would have never built a coffeehouse. Why? Because churches build churches. But we had just enough sanctified inexperience. Instead of asking why, we asked why not.
This week I read about a fascinating study done by political scientist Ivan Arreguin-Toft. He surveyed every war fought in the past two hundred years between strong and weak combatants. The Goliaths won 71.5% of the time. But when the Davids chose an unconventional strategy, their winning percentage was 63.6%. In other words, when Davids decide that they aren't going to play on Goliaths terms, they win two-thirds of the time.
So how do you fight in unconventional terms if you are a David? Sometimes it's substituting effort for ability. Davids need to work harder than Goliaths. Sometimes its doing something in a new way. But the bottom line is this: you cannot fight Goliath on Goliath's terms or you will lose. You have to change the rules. You have to get unconventional.
If we do church in conventional ways we'll get conventional results. We desperately need more unconventional leaders who will use their slingshots to advance the kingdom. I have a core conviction that drives me: there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. Listen, I thank God for traditions. And I love traditional churches. But I think its unconventional leaders and unconventional churches that will reach emerging generations. Or maybe another way of saying it is this: we need leaders who are orthodox in theology but unorthodox in praxis.
13 Comments:
"Orthodox in theology but unorthodox in praxis" yes, I love it! I love tradition as much as the next guy, but NOT when tradition trumps opportunities to reach more people for Christ. Great word!
Hey Mark - been reading the blog for a long time, never commented. Love this post though man - plan on sharing it with some of our new youth ministry volunteers. Thanks for what you do - keep it up!
Another profound thought that makes you rethink the approach to things in life. We are looking to launch a site in an area that chews up and spits out church plants. We have had 2 die there, but we feel called to launch a campus there. I think this blog is perfect in approaching it in a different way. Thanks for the word man.
We are planting in Winston-Salem, and I just had a pastor of a very large, very traditional, very old church tell me how he was excited for us and our desire to do church differently. He knew we would reach people he isn't and it was a cool moment for him to celebrate that with us. Hoping for huge impact here by being unorthodox in praxis. Thanks for the thoughts!
Mark,
I love this post! Yet, when church planters talk about radical new, different, or ancient ways of doing things, they are often condemned. My heart is to reach people who are way off the traditional church "grid" with more than just outreach or handouts, but a real church experience. Its a pretty lonely place, though. Thanks for your clear and challenging words! The Scriptures are FULL of unconventional methods.
Right on Mark. Awesome post. I love it.
I'm glad @stevenfurtick tweeted this post so I'd see it. It's spot on. I was part of a failed church plant in my city nine years ago, an effort by a denomination to reach unchurched folk. My biggest regret was not speaking up when I saw decisions being made that I knew would not only not attract people, but drive them away in droves. I should've carried the banner for unorthodox, but I let my inexperience silence me. Never again.
This is pretty cool. I'm preaching on David & Goliath in a few weeks and I just came across that same study a few days ago (via Malcolm Gladwell).
I had never heard of it before, and now I've heard it twice in 3 days.
WOW! Hi Mark, I'm the lead pastor of a church in New England www.nlc.tv and we have grown to over 500 people in one year doing things "different". People say churches can't grow in New England but God is blessing a staff of 5 guys in there 20's that have no clue how to "do" church. We were all laughing yesterday saying that we have absolutely no clue what we are doing. This was a great post!...by the way we are a movie theater church as well! I pray we never become so experienced that the Holy Spirit becomes an after thought.
I love the article and I think you explained a hard to understand concept to people on both sides of the emerging church debate.
I guess the difficulty I have in this respect. Saul still holds the power over David's actions, and unless David wants to come against Saul's wishes. How does he enter the fight He knows God has called him to?
Hey Tim,
Good question. One observation. You gotta respect the way David respected authority. He wouldn't touch God's anointed. I think we learn invaluable lessons when we're on the outside looking in. Helps us when we're on the inside looking out.
My two cents,
Mark
good article! I totally agree and I was feeling a little lonely about my own unconventional attempts to relate to unchurched secular young people. We have a "god-party" every Tuesday night with plenty of cigars, cigarettes, alchohol and "F"bombs floating in the air. About 1/3 of the group are Christians who dropped out of church, another 1/3 are curious agnostics who enjoy philosophical discussion and the last 1/3 are a variety of new age engery people, eastern religions and at least one muslim.
unconventional? yes. fruitful? yes. At least two young men have come to committed faith in Christ and one girl has 're-committed' to the faith she was raised in. Others have moved from atheism to agnosticism to deism ... baby steps.
Thank you for your thoughts! I agree that there are new ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. I've written about some of these things on my blog.
Thanks bro.
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