Innovation: In 2008 we innovated a new way to establish a regional church-planting hub here in Marabá. It was risky and involved a retreat center in a disadvantaged community. So far it is not produced the results we are looking for, at least not at the speed we were hoping for. Rather, it sometimes feels like we are on the outside of the circle of the real results. I am young enough to keep pursuing innovation, and I am grateful for the health of the mission and churches as a larger organization. But what if I had been 60 or 70 when I moved to Marabá? Would I have been as willing to risk innovation? And what if my new, risky, innovative concepts did not work? Would I feel like a failure?
Legacy: On the other hand I remember the church I grew up in. Back in the 1980s there was a season when most of the young people left to join an innovative new church movement which was just starting up. Thinking about this now, I suspect the pillars of the older more-traditional type of church wanted to retain their legacy for future generations. They did not want to risk innovation. Safety, not Risk. When I came home from the Yukon the church was full of old people and adolescents. Most of the teens, young adults, and young families had migrated.
Think about the Old Testament elders at the city gates. The young people do the work and have the culturally relevant and creative ideas. The elders weigh in and point out danger zones. I wonder if God was designing an adaptive community to be a combination of Innovation AND Legacy?
“Clarify and cling to our core convictions and let go of everything else that keeps us from being effective in the mission God has given us” (Bolsinger, T., p. 46).
“This is what adaptive leadership is all about: hanging on to the healthiest, most valuable parts of our identity in life and letting go of those things that hinder us from living and loving well”(p 101).
Bolsinger, T., (2015) Canoeing the mountains: Christian leadership in uncharted territory, InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.