The Intersection
At the beginning of April 2008, church leaders will gather at the Awaken Conference in Pasadena, CA to hear from Erwin McManus, Bill Hybels, Wayne Cordeiro, and other spiritual leaders. The Awaken Conference also has a blog, which is intended to be a source of discussion about new modes and methods for doing church. Last week, I guest blogged the following thoughts on how to discover new and more effective ways for doing church.
In his book The Medici Effect, Frans Johansson explains how breakthrough insights come at the intersection of ideas, concepts, and cultures. This is why it is important to study what methods are working for other churches. This does not mean you should mimic other churches, but simply, you should purpose to understand why a method is successful within its context. As you do this, your scope of knowledge will widen and, consequently, give you more breakthrough insights into what will and will not work for your church.
But don’t stop there. Expand your intersection to outside of the church bubble. How are other people using technology? How are businesses learning to communicate more effectively? Are there any insights you can glean by observing God’s creation? Sometimes a completely unrelated idea can be the source of an innovative insight.
But when it comes to discovering new, better, and more effective methods for doing church, intersecting your life with the cultures of the people whom you are called to reach offers some of the best insights. The better you understand the cultures of your community, the more insights you will have in how to best reach them. Be like Jesus. Spend time with people.
Lastly, we cannot forget that the most important part of our intersection is God. He is the source of our greatest insights. And when His wisdom is coupled with your willingness to study and pursue new things, you are sure to find ways to do church more effectively.
Be sure to check out the Awaken Blog. They have new insights every week.
