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church xp, the up-grade - part three, getting out of the box

by john o'keefe

It was a beautiful day!  The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze from the west and it was a comfortable 86 degrees; cool breeze and a clear day.  It was the perfect day for a ride.  The weatherman said it was going to be a great day, all day, and he was right on target.  So, I got my helmet, cranked up the ride and hit the great outdoors.  Then, out of nowhere a terrible rainstorm hit.  Almost instantly the sky turned gray and the heavens opened with a down poor that was almost biblical (not really “biblical,” but a lot).  I made it home, right before the heavy stuff hit, but I got wet and it was a bit crazy on the trip home.  That night the weatherman said, “Sorry, we missed that one.”  I got wet, but my neighbor got mad.

After the storm that evening we were all sitting on the front porch enjoying the great smell the rain left; there is nothing better then the smell after a thunderstorm.  Earlier that evening my neighbor had painted his deck when the rain hit.  The paint he used was water based, and needless to say, he had a great mess on his hands.  He was storming around his yard screaming and shouting every time he came across the mess.  When he finally calmed down, he came over and joined us on the front porch.  We were all talking about the wonderful smell and feelings we get after a great rain, but my neighbor could not let the porch go.  It had been hours later, and he was still concerned about the mess and the rain.  He was very “ticked” at the weatherman;  “It’s all his fault” he said.  “How can he mess up the weather this bad?”  I said, “It happens.”  To which he added, rather sharply, “It just doesn’t happen.  He should have known better.  He is a scientist, and he should have predicted better.”  With that being said, I understood; I now knew the difference between moderns and postmoderns understanding of the unpredictability of life.

Moderns are concerned with knowing all the possibilities and developing a linear plan to “navigate” that plan (I used quotes around the word navigate because navigation implies a willingness to change direction and move around obstacles.  Most modern people, who are following a plan, refuse to move.  I remember on Senior Pastor saying, “Our plan is like a railroad track and our vision is a train.  We are moving ahead, and if anything tries to block us… well, you know what happens to thinks that get caught on the track when the train comes.”).  My friend is the perfect example.  The weather changed, no one had control over the change, but because it put an obstacle in the path of his plan he was angry because he could not move around it.  The weather caused him to “get off task” and lose control of the plan.  While it was far beyond his control, he wanted to force life back into his linear plan for that day.  Because he was pulled off task, and he needed someone to identify with the problem, he blamed the weatherman for all that happened that day. 

While on a postmodern end, we just sit around and enjoy the smell of a good rain.

What my neighbor failed to recognize is that with all the scientific advances available to us in the 21^st century, we can only “predict” the weather for a period of five days – at most – and then not with 100% accuracy.  While we may understand the elements that “make” weather, we are unable to put those elements together with any true level of certainty to predict weather patterns.  A good weather person would admit, “There’s a 40% chance of luck in this prediction.”  Why?  If we know what “makes” weather, why can’t we do a better job at predicting it?  The answer is simple.  When we focus on a particular event involved in a weather (life) patter, we lose focus on other events involved in the weather (life) pattern; it’s the Heisenberg Theory.  Heisenberg felt that when we focused on one item, we lose focus of other items connected to the event.  It’s like taking a picture.  When you focus your camera on a particular subject those subjects out side of the focused field go out of focus.  Scientists enjoy creating an experiment that is created in confined conditions, outside the realm of reality.   I love what David Hopkins, of Next-Wave.org has to say:

“Our technology and knowledge made us less human, and not more so.  The clock ran down.  And our trust in science as an unquestioned authority went with it.[i]”

Two scientists were arguing over the concept of linear and nonlinear reality.  One insisted that the world was linear and totally predictable.  They derived and experiment that would prove once and for all whose theory was correct.  The first scientist, the linear one, would toss a string into the air.  When it landed they would record the shape it took.  The linear scientist would record the shapes, in a general format of course (very modern and linear), and felt that by the end of the day he would be able to predict the shape the string would take as they continued with the experiment.  The only request the nonlinear scientist made was that the experiment takes place outside in an open field; they both agreed.  The linear scientist took the sting and tossed it high into the air; just then a bird flew by and grabbed the string out of the air and flew away.  The linear scientist was upset and was ready to head back to the lab for more string.  As he was expressing his disappointment in the experiment, he noticed that the nonlinear scientist was not upset at all.  The linear scientist turned to the nonlinear scientist and said, “How can you not be upset.  That stupid bird just ruined our experiment.”  To which the nonlinear scientist replied, “The bird did not ruin the experiment, the bird proved a nonlinear world.”

It’s like the TV commercial where the scientist toss cat food over the side of a building to prove how most their cat food is, and the cat keeps jumping in and eating the cat food before it hits the ground.   With each drop the scientists get angry and finally one says, “These cats are ruining our experiment.”  We need to remember that life is something that happens while we are trying to record other events.

I believe that 3% of life is linear and 97% is nonlinear (chaos).  A linear world theory says that the linear variables are affected equally[ii] while a nonlinear world theory says that the nonlinear variables are affected in different ways, at different times, with different forces; what affects you in a negative way, may affect me in a positive way and what affects you as a negative today, may not affect you as a negative tomorrow.  As you are walking down the street, you drop $20, and someone comes along and picks it up.  Now the nonlinear reality of you losing your money is bad, for you.  The nonlinear reality of the person finding your money is good, for them.  In a linear world both should have the same affect – good or bad.  But, because the world operates in a nonlinear world theory, not all is equal.  Now, think how you would feel if the bill was counterfeit.

The world we live in is nonlinear; chaos theory is all around us.  Why then do we strive to force ourselves into a linear world?  When we understand that nonlinear thought is a key component to the new operating system we learn to get out of the box.  When we realize we can not control the outcome of all events, we allow for the freedom of a nonlinear world to direct our walk.  This generation is a nonlinear generation[iii].  When we realize that small changes can have huge affects (the good old butterfly theory) we can start to understand the complexity of the human condition, human touch becomes important.  When accept the nonlinear reality as part of the new operating system we start to sing a new song.  Len Sweet[iv] says that when we start to see ourselves as nonlinear we start express a deeper desire for God and worship.  Instead of singing, “Open the eyes of my heart Lord, so I can see you.”  We sing:

“Open the eyes of my heart Lord, so I can see you.”

“Open the ears of my heart Lord. So I can hear you.”

“Open the mouth of my heart Lord, so I can talk about you.”

“Open the nose of my heart Lord, so I can smell you.”

“Open the hands of my heart Lord. So I can touch you.”

When we start to see and understand the connected nature of a nonlinear world theory, we see how what we do can affect those around us – in ways we never thought before.  When we realize that a nonlinear world theory allows us to use all we are, and validates every sense we have we understand that we are not consumers of faith, rather we are participants in faith.

A Napster Reality:

Linear people have a hard time understanding the nature of nonlinear people, which is not to say understanding is impossible.  The perfect example, IMO, is the battle between Napster and the linear record industry represented by Metalica (I will admit I am not a fan, I like Alternative groups – MXPX and such)

When Napster started I thought it was the greatest idea ever, music on the p2p, wonderful.  My sister-in-law had downloaded so much music she was thinking about getting a second hard drive to accommodate all she collected.  Think about it, we live in a connective world (discussed in detail in a later chapter) where we can share our tastes with people all over the world.  We can get connected and develop a community that is incredible and dynamic.  One that knows no boundaries, except corporate greed.  The question we all asked, when Napster started, was, “why not share our music with others?”  What we found out was, it was not “our music” – or at least that’s what the “artists” said.  We pay for it, we own it – yet it is not “ours.”  We had no right to share that music with others, without paying a fee to the “artist.”  I purchased several CD’s because of Napster, and I know of others who did the same.  We got a taste of the music, and we went to the record store to purchase the music.  But the linear questions remain, “Who’s watching the gate and how can we make money?”

You see, nonlinear thought allows for spontaneous growth (creativity), something out of nothing and uncontrollable.  Something out of nothing is so very cool, and so very uncontrollable.  It is that lack of control that frightens those of a linear mindset.  They are so frightened that they believe the only reaction to such an event is to destroy it; if you can’t control it, destroy it.  This irrational reaction, destruction, is based on irrational thought where reasoning is determined with blinders; forcing a nonlinear world into a small minded linear theory.  This is exactly what Meticlia did with their reaction to Napster.  Instead of learning how it works, and how Meticia could be part of the reality of a nonlinear world, Lars (the voice of Metica) felt it best to control Napster, or destroy it – so they did what all-linear people do, the sued.  They lost the ticket, and a great many fans.  They blamed the nonlinear Napster for the fall of their record sales.  But that is very linear; blame others for your failures (after all, the lose in sales could not be because of differing and shifting musical tastes – but then Lars would have to sue all of us for that one).  Instead of joining forces with the new nonlinear Napster and develop what could be, and has become, a key way of sharing their music with the world, greed led the way.

Napster reality is all around us; it is out-of-the-box, creative nonlinear thinking, and linear people are trying to destroy it on a regular basis.  It allows for personal tastes and keeps people connected.  When asked the question, “whose watching the gate?”  A postmodern nonlinear thinker would say, “What gate?”  when you have a “gate” that means you are striving to keep something locked in – sounds like control – so, we would shout – “No Gate, No Gate!”

Postmodern nonlinear thinking says, “If God truly is in control, we must let God be the control.  Not someone claiming to ‘know what is best for us.’”  We are not to take God’s place and set ourselves up as the one in control, and this is hard for the linear modern mind to understand.  I remember once standing outside of the daycare connected with the church I was serving as Senior Pastor when a gentleman came to me and asked, “Whose in charge here?”  I said, “God!”  He added, “No really.  Whose in charge?”  I said, “God!”  He said, “Yea, right.”  And he went into the church office to speak with the receptionist.  When he arrived at the desk he said, “You have some wacko out in the front of the building telling people ‘God is in charge’ when people ask ‘whose in charge.’  I would like to speak with the Senior Pastor.”  The receptionist said, “You can’t miss him.  He’s the wacko in the front of the building telling people ‘God is in charge.’” 

What church needs to remember today is that “control” is not the answer.  When you follow the vision narrative, people naturally desire to aid in the Body of Christ.  Control is not the issue for a postmodern community of faith.  We allow people to express themselves within the narrative, allowing for people with a creative heart to make creative moves in the Body of Christ.  Understanding the Napster reality means you can look past the linear world and not do things that will destroy the nonlinear flow of a new generation.  When we operate under the linear “control” model, what we are telling a nonlinear postmodern mind is that you do not trust them and the issue becomes one of trust.

Experience Counts:

IMO, the coolest show on TV is “Fear Factor.”  Why you ask is Fear Factor the coolest?  Because it allows for experience to grow, but even cooler then watching, would be doing – being on the show would just rock.  You see, in a nonlinear world experience rules over almost everything else.  The closer one gets to a nonlinear thought, the closer one gets to understanding that experience simply rules.  Why you ask?  Because it is interactive, multitasking, and personal on every level.  Sharing our personal stories is very important to a postmodern world, very important.

Interactive:  A postmodern people are interactive and participatory.  We desire to get dirty and wet.  I tell people, “We are a date book people, not a check book people.”  Meaning, we are willing to give of our time to see things get done, but just to give a check to “solve” a problem just won’t fly with us.  Over the years billions and billions of dollars have been spent on trying to solve the social issues of our time – homelessness, hunger, literacy, teenage pregnancy, gangs – you name it and we have dropped dollar, upon dollar for nothing at all – we believe it is time to get dirty and wet.  Get involved, or get lost.  You can see it in the fact that TV viewing is dropping, while video game usage is on the increase.  It has to do with interactivity.  TV is for watching, video games are for doing.  I would much rather play 007 James Bond on a PS2, then go to a movie and watch.  It has to do with interactivity.

When my kid brother got married last year we all had cameras on the tables.  Each table had a couple of disposable little yellow cameras on them for us to take pictures with.  This is a growing trend in marriages.  It has to do with being able to be part of the action, and to help make the history.  We were able to help create a photo album of event that we participated in.  It also allows those who are getting married the opportunity to see the wedding through the eyes of others – they participate in the experiences of others.

This need to participate is central to a postmodern mindset.  When a good friend of mine lost his mother to cancer, he spent days preparing a video presentation of who his mother was, and all she did.  He needed to participate in the activity of the funeral.  It helped him, and it helped others.  I have been to funerals where people have signed the coffin.  In an old Irish tradition we placed notes in the coffin with the person.  Personal notes, just something we wanted to say and never got around to it – it helps a great deal it’s interactive.

I once did a Sunday morning teaching from the center of the congregation.  I pretended to be a visitor.  I had a friend stand in the front pretending to be the minister.  He was moving his mouth, but the sounds were low and mumbled (a preacher that talks, but makes no scene, hum!).  While he would pretend to “preach” I would comment on everything around, including the “fake message.”  After the lesson, several members of the congregation came to me and told me that they are that person, and they needed to get closer to God to brake from that course of life.

Multitasking:  Layer upon layer of activities, ministries and relationships.  An ability to move from one task to another and back again, without losing any ground.  Multiple activities, all at once – now that’s exciting.  Linear churches tend to think with blinders.  They see what’s in front of them, but they miss the 360.  In most churches today the following takes place – or something very much like it:

The Welcome

Singing

Scripture Reading

Sermon

Offering

More Singing

Depending upon the tradition Communion and responsive readings are placed somewhere in the order above.  Now, some will have drama and a place for that drama.  But generally speaking, this tends to be the order – very linear and very modern.

The next time your “passing the plate” why not have a drama take place then?  Why not offer a video during communion?  Why not offer communion in three different ways, in three different sections of the church?  Why not have music playing during the reading of the Scripture?  Why not read the Scripture out loud from the congregation (interactive) while a drama is taking place?  Why not have “dueling” teachings[v]?   Why not introduce the smell of fresh baked bread during communion?  I remember one time I had a pizza delivered during a teaching on Sunday morning.  Both the bread and the pizza help in a teaching of being “hungry for God’s word” – people do remember.

I remember one message was entitled “the best is yet to come” every time I would say, “the best is yet to come” I got a rim shot from the drummer and I held up a pen.  Soon, the congregation was repeating, “the best is yet to come” every time.  About six months later I was standing outside my office when a member of the church asked if I could sign a form for reimbursement form their employer for their daycare bill.  As I pulled my pen out of my pocket he said, “the best is yet to come.”  He said that he started to carry a black pen like the one I used in the sermon because it reminded him that no matter the problem, God would be their for him and “the best is yet to come.”  I have always been amazed by that reality.  But it is proof for me that we are living in a nonlinear world where just a little thing can have such a big affect on the lives of others.

Multitasking takes great practice and time.  You need people who understanding the narrative and who are willing to think out of the box.

Personal:  John Naisbitt, in his book Mega-Trends 2000, believes that as we get deeper into the world of high tech, we develop a stronger need for “high touch.”  That is so true of a postmodern people.  I am not talking about connecting, that will be discussed in a later chapter, I am talking about human touch; handshaking, backslapping, hugging – human touch. 

I remember my first week at a new church, which had a large daycare, connected with it.  I was approached by one of the Board Members who told me that since I “was a male it would be inappropriate for me to touch the children or the staff in any way shape of form.”  She felt it would give the wrong impression and people may get the wrong message.  I understood where she was coming from, but I did not care.  I was a person who hugs and will willingly spend time with people in need, not matter their age or gender.  Her statement was so linear and so misguided.  I reminded her of what Paul teaches concerning this issue in Titus[vi], that everything is clean to the clean minded and nothing is clean to a dirty minded person.  While respecting her option I rejected her advise and something wonderful happened.  The teachers started to hug children who were hurting.  They reached out to each other and helped where they could.  Ice melted, and hearts opened.  One day a parent cam into my office and wanted to share that here children loved coming to the daycare.  She said they rush to get ready and they are so happy to be here.  She was pleased that her children were loved and respected.

One day I was sitting in my office when a member of the congregation came in and sat down and just started to cry.  When we finally got her settled down we asked what the problem was and what we could do to help.  She said, “this is the first time I have been able to simply walk into the Pastor’s Office without being stopped by several people who want to know the problem and then try to direct me somewhere else.”  She added, “No one tried to stop me, no one tried to direct me to someone else.  Even though the church is large and growing, your door was open, and I could just walk in without even knocking.”  She was also impressed that when she started to cry, people came in to help and no one tried to move her to another “quieter” location.  It a personal thing, touch matters.

Moderns have a hard time with touch.  Once I was standing in the hallway of the church when a member of the congregation came to me and asked, “How is Linda doing?  She is one of my very dearest friends and she has been in the hospital for two weeks.  Have you gotten a chance to visit her?  When you do, could you call me and tell me how she is doing?”  After a few seconds I told her, “No. I would not share with her how Linda was doing in the Hospital.”  She became very upset and demanded to know why; after all “it was my job as the Pastor to visit.”  I smiled and said, “I agree.  And I will visit.  But if Linda was truly one of your very best friends, why are you not visiting her?  You should be sharing with me how she is doing.”  Moderns see the role of the Pastor as a Chaplin, while postmoderns see the Pastor as a Teacher.  While she was angry with me for my rely, it did motivate her into visiting her “very best friend.”  Linear modern thought allows for others to be the “cleaners” of certain issues.  The modern world has removed us so far from the realities of a nonlinear world.  In the real world, people die – in a postmodern scientific world people die in hospitals where it is out of the way and not in sight.  Postmoderns see things different; they want a bed next to their loved ones in the hospital.  They want to be involved on a personal level and connect with people with touch.  Postmodern means knowing who is sick, and visiting.  Developing ministries with a personal touch is wonderful.

When we were ministering in Pennsylvania there was another church that had a great “high-touch” ministry.  Each week a group of elderly women (touch always seems to go to the women) would call the local hospitals and read in the local news papers all the births and deaths in the area.  They would hand make “nursery packets” with home made quilts and handy items for a newborn baby.  They would also include a hand written note from “a grandma to a new mom” with their phone number if they needed anything.  When it came to those who had died, they would send a plant (something the person could plant and see grow) in memory of the individual.  They would visit the family and let them know they had a “bereavement meeting” and that anyone who wanted to attend could do so, free of charge.  The churches reputation as a community that cared was wide spread and they were growing with people who needed the personal touch.

Experience matters.  Interactivity, multitasking and the personal touch expand our relationships and our connection with the divine.  Experience helps us understand our limits and helps us see the possibilities and not the problems. 

Seeks Possibilities, Not Problems:

The linear world is based on criticism; scientific critic, literary critic, political critic.  Critical thought is a key component of the linear operating system.  When a situation arises, we are trained to find the problem and, with the use of critical thought, take it apart to see what makes it tick.  The problem is, for a postmodern mind this is so not part of the operating system.

In the new operating system we need to concentrate on the possibilities.  By doing so we will spend time with what we can do, and not what we cannot do.  God is in light, not in darkness.  When we spend time in the problems we are in the darkness – God is in the possibilities.  When we spend time in the possibilities we have a better outlook on life and others.  Imagine a where, when you arrive, they are unconcerned with your looks, your race, your income, you style or any other surface item; a place were you can be you and the expectations of others is not placed upon you; a place were people seek your ability, and not your inability.  A linear world defines people on what they cannot do, and not what they can do.  If it were the case, and the modern world truly accept people on their abilities we would never have disability acts as the law of the land.  We would see people for what they can do, and not what they cannot do.

I remember one set of twin sisters, great people with truly loving and touching hearts, who came to a church I was serving.  One came to us because of a situation in her life where she needed to serve “community service” time.  We took her in under a program we sponsored at the church.  She was fantastic.  She was assigned cleaning tasks, but it was soon evident that her gifts were with people and children.  When she had completed her community service we offered her a position as a daycare worker.  When we did, I had a small group of parents come to my office demanding I fire her from the position.  When I refused, they told me that if I did not they would remove their children from the daycare and that they would talk with other parents about doing the same.  I explained that the community service was a ministry of the church, and that we are concerned with the current heart, not the passed activities of people.  One woman told me that, “the daycare was no place for the church to practice its ministries and that I needed to keep the church ministries out of the daycare.”  I tried to explain that the daycare was a church ministry, but to no avail.  When they left my office, nothing was resolved.  They did leave the daycare, and they did try to get others to leave also.  But when others saw that we were not stepping back for our convictions of forgiveness and grace; and that we fully and completely trusted this wonderful young lady, they supported and stayed.

Joshua saw the possibilities when he came back to camp with Caleb.  While the rest only saw the problems, Joshua saw the possibilities of the land.  Because of this, Joshua and Caleb were the only two of that generation that were able to enter the promised land.

If I only saw the problems I would have never gotten to meet her, her sister, her mother, her grandfather, and the rest of her family.  I would have never had the opportunity to perform the weddings of both her and her sister.  If all I saw were the problems I would have never experienced their growth in Christ and their desire to know more.  I am blessed because of her and her family, and it is because we love based on possibilities, and not problems.  When we do, when we see the possibilities we start to see the options that are open to us; possibilities bring options.

Options:

Options rule.  Choice is the king of reality.  In a postmodern world, “one size does not fit all.”  In a nonlinear part of an operating system, “special order doesn’t upset us” you can “have it your way.”  When my father was my age, he could get five TV Stations, NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS and one Independent station, on a cracker box of a bad color TV.  Today, I can get over 200 stations on my kick-cranking bad mamba jamba of a TV; I can also do the DVD and video thing.  I can get, MTV, MTV2, VH1, and CMT; I can get ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN in Spanish; I can get seven independent “local” stations (local is so out of place in options – I live 2,000 miles from Chicago and I get WGN), six “science” based stations, and a ton of movie stations.

Options require that the church become bendable and flexible, deep and wide.  In today’s world, flexibility will make or break a ministry.  If all you have going for you is one youth group meeting on Sunday evenings, you are missing the boat big time.  Some churches, those that are starting to understand the nonlinear operating system, are starting to offer different youth groups designed on different topics; skateboarding, biking and many more.  They are looking over their adult ministries and realizing the need for options, the are welcoming people who understand the narrative, and will think outside the box and create new ministries with new direction and new focus.

But options are not limited to just being connected into a ministry – they are also important in where we serve.  By offering a wide and deep variety of places to serve a nonlinear people can find a place to start to develop as people of Christ.  Missions, both local and international, are important to develop our hearts towards Christ.  By offering options in this area you will find that people will serve.  The day of connecting to one ministry as the “important” ministry of the church is over, think deep and wide when you think of service to the Lord through ministry.

The Nana Church:

One of the biggest problems facing the modern church is that they tend to think in macro terms – everything large and directed from the top down.  While postmodern churches tend to think in the micro, smaller – smaller units building one on top of another until the large is formed.  In macro terms, churches are governed by a large group, which can take months to determine an issue.  On a micro level, smaller focused groups that think in terms of days and hours guide churches.  I remember being involved in a church where to accomplish anything took six months of planning, meetings and rewriting the vision of the particular ministry. 

One time woman decided she wanted to start a food pantry to help feed some of the hungry in the area.  She felt that if she started small, she could build upon it, getting more and more people involved and helping more and more people.  In order for the church to help her and give her the space needed, and to allow her to “advertise” the need for food and help, she needed to get the approval of the Board.  Here is what they wanted from her:

A vision statement

A complete list of all items the church needed to supply.

A complete analysis of all community food banks and area food kitchens.

A breakdown of the target population she was planning to serve, and how that population echoed the population the church was targeting for growth.

A complete budget for the ministry and the planned growth of the funds needed over a five to ten year plan.

When I mentioned that the request was insane, I was told by one of the members of the board, to shout up and know my place.  I was the new kid on the block and had no say in the matter.  I was told to remember that I might come and go, and that this was “their” church; they built it and they pay the bills.  I watched in amazement, as over a eight month time frame the women would bring her plan and each time it was shot down because of a technicality.  Finally, on the ninth month she was scheduled to attend and give another proposal to the church concerning the call God placed on her heart.  When she did not show for the meeting, one of the members remembered that she had not been in church for two weeks.  They called her home to “find out why she was not at the meeting, after all it was mandatory.”  When they came back to the meeting they told what happened.  It seems this women, who had been a member of the church for only 25 years (she was a new comer like me) decided to join another church, and they are helping her put together the food pantry.  This church would have over 200 visitors a year, and they could not figure out why no one stayed.  Needless to say, this church was not a nana church.

The best way to understand the nana church concept is to understand small.  Think on the micro level, the personal level, the people contact level – the spirit level.  When you grasp the concept of nonlinear, you grasp the concept of small – because big thing happen when affected on a small level.

Small changes:  a butterfly flaps its wings in Africa, and a thunderstorm causes a flash flood in Texas, related events?  Yes, according to nonlinear thought.  Nonlinear thinking says that small events affect large events (this is why predicting the outcome 100% of any event is so hard to do).  Everything changes on a micro level before the changes are noticed on a macro level.  For example, when we age we age on a cellular level, collectively this cellular change affects the whole people and ageing takes place; collectively we see the difference as our parents and grand parents.  Small changes, big effect – that is why home groups are so important in a nonlinear community of faith.  They are key to the growth and governance of the community as a whole.

System Changes:

A community of faith based on an internal leader based control system is outside the norm for a nonlinear people.  Leadership in a nonlinear postmodern world is servant leadership, leadership by example.  This means, the traditional (which is non-biblical) mode of governance in the church will not work for a nonlinear-minded people.  For the postmodern people, church is not a business and must not be run like a business.  When we run a church like a business we are more concerned with the plate then we are with people and hiding greed as “stewardship” is just wrong and misguided.  Corporate church is the biggest problem to the postmodern mind, and is doomed to failure in the coming future.  Individuals must be allowed to develop a personal vision for where God is leading them.  The leadership of the church must take that as their first and primary role.  The leadership has become out of touch with the people of the church, and people leave when they feel out of place.  Leaders, in a nonlinear church, do not control they coach.

Decentralized:

Out of all the concepts I have ever shared with Pastors and church Leaders, this is the one the fear the most.  I have found it interesting, that when you speak of decentralizing the governance of the church, that will agree as long at it does not affect their position.  Over the past the lay people have striped control from the Pastors, and the Pastors have tried to regain control by becoming “control freaks.”  But what I have found over time is this, where there is a vacuum of leadership and dictator will rise to control.  His troy has proven this, and church history has proven this.  Most modern leaders have a “the buck stops here” mind set.  They are judged on there failures and success (when we seek possibilities this is no longer an issue) and so they desire to control the work of others.  Here is the best way of seeing a decentralized leadership – we all work for a Jewish Carpenter.  He is the leader and he does not need you to lead in his absence, because he is not absent.  I do not follow people because of a title or position, I follow people who know the narrative and they are moving in that direction.  I understand the story and I will follow a friend.  People did not flock to Jesus because he had the title “Messiah.”  They did not come out in droves because “he was in control.”  They did not come and sit at his feet because he was called “Teacher.”  They came because he knew the narrative.  They heard the truth; they saw him transform the lives of those hurting; they came because he hid nothing.  They saw him as a friend, not a control freak.

When we decentralize control we see the church operating in a smaller system where smaller groups can understand the narrative and move ahead in Christ.  It is based on the concept of 100% trust in the people who are part of God’s Church.  History has proven that neither the clergy or the laity trusts one another, but we are moving to the next level, where all are priests and we learn from each other. 

Closing:  The Strange Attracter

Central to chaos theory is the concept of a strange attracter.  I remember when Babylon 5 ended and the new series “Crusades” started.  There was a “techno-mage” who asked the Captain a few questions “Who do you follow and who do you trust?” – what would you say?