Wednesday, May 28, 2008

"OUT OF THE BOX"


I don't know what is harder than change. Probably not much. One of the phrases that has gone hand-in-hand with change in the last decade is - 'out-of-the-box.'


"Let's think out-of-the-box.'"
"Her way of doing things is 'out-of-the-box.'"
"Uncle Jimmy's new hair? Way way 'out-of-the-box.'"

One of the important aspects of 'out-of-the-boxness' has to do with denial of the 'status quo' by courageous leaders. To be a courageous leader in the 21st century, you need a vital sense of GOD and strong doses of boldness, purpose and direction.

I watch our younger leaders, the ones who will take us where we need to go in the next fifty years. I watch them attempt innovative, creative, 'out-of-the-box' approaches to situations. Then I watch their balloons get popped - their tires get kicked - explanations made as to why their 'new-fangled box' isn't going to work. But for many of these inspiring young visionaries, 'out-of-the-box' is not an adequate description of who they are or how they are thinking. They do not even acknowledge the PRESENCE of 'the box,' PERIOD.
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Not until they hang around with US for awhile, that is. In an effort to help them 'appreciate' the past - the rules - the contexts - the processes - we manage to teach them there definitely IS 'a box.' In fact, we try to hurry and construct the box around them, racing to get the nails in and the lid on before they get away and 'do something crazy' that might upset the 'box' and cause problems.

After all ... 'We didn't get this far by ignoring the box, did we?'

But -- here's the deal. We embrace a big vision that can not - MUST not - be contained within any box.

We want changed lives, becoming a community that reproduces other communities of real, authentic disciples of Christ.

We engage people for Jesus in ways that are culturally relevant.

We seek to be Jesus-with-skin-on to our community.

We commit to focusing on maturity and connectivity by doing ministry in small group life and then see what opportunities for serving can flow from that.

How tremendously HUGE is that? And yet, it has nothing to do with preaching or not preaching the Word. The Word is ALWAYS relevant. The problem is, WE sometimes are not.

Today's young crowd can worship God in a coffeehouse - and that setting is just as legitimate as having church in a stained-glass building with a steeple -- and perhaps, to them, much more approachable. A new generation is not concerned with the sacred cows we've set up (way in the box) -- or trying to please every person whose view of 'church' doesn't move beyond their own comfort zones or personal needs.

There is great excitement in my heart for the future of the church. We have people who want to make a difference in the lives of others. But - you can't get different results by doing the same things.

We strive to be passionate, 'out-of-the-box' followers of Jesus Christ ... people who turn the world upside down because God lives in them. We are not interested in simply maintaining or being tied to systems that have lost their effectiveness just because no one wants to rock the boat.

A big THUMBS DOWN to leadership that operates in and is paralyzed by fear. A huge THUMBS UP to moving in GOD-directions because you HEAR His voice - and then ACT on it.

"Out-of-the-box?"
I don't know. You be the judge.
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And be blessed.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"We are not interested in....being tied to systems that have lost their effectiveness simply because no one wants to rock the boat." Wow. We should all think on THAT for a while. Great blog today, Pastor Kevin.

Anonymous said...

great blog! I tend to be unconventional in many ways, so I love when people think out of the box...especially for the Kingdom!