Relevant?
I am reading an excellent book on leadership and read something last night that I wanted to share with you. It really spoke to me about the institution of the church and maybe some of the issues I've been feeling. See how this grabs you…

"I believe each of us has a rubber band with one end attached to our backside and the other nailed firmly to the wall of tradition. Even when we want to change, and do change, we tend to relax and the rubber band snaps us back into our comfort zones."

"If we don't learn to live with change, we have to realize we may not be around very long. General Shinseki understood this very well. Two years before 9/11, the army decided to transform itself - leaving behind the armor-heavy structures designed to fight the Soviets to become lighter, more flexible and more rapidly deployable. Of course, the army is one of the most tradition-bound organizations around and General Shinseki faced a barrage of resistance and criticism. Be he had a clear warning for the officers who objected to the transformation process. "If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less, the army must change because the nation cannot afford to have an army that is irrelevant."

"Businesses (I'll add Churches) that can't change don't just become irrelevant, they become extinct. Tradition has two sides - one good and one bad. Don't let traditions become your company's (church's) tarpit. Honor them but know when to let go."

"We are in world of permanent white water. There aren't any sections of slow water. We're not moving from pool to pool. We have to constantly navigate and reorient ourselves."
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The church has to stay relevant. We swim in rapid waters. Life moves very fast. There is no room for coasting. The church has to reach out where it has never reached before. It has to realize that men aren't what they used to be. Life changes. Interests change. The old model is old for a reason - it no longer is effective. There has to be new, fresh, innovative approaches to reach folks. Why are so many of the booming churches casual, serving Starbucks in the lobby and showing movie clips? Because it reaches folks. Is it what we are all comfortable with? No. But it reaches folks and isn't that goal in the first place?

There is a reason that 9 out of 10 folks in Montana/Wyoming, etc have never attended church - the church that has been delivered to them hasn't been relevant. We feel pretty good in the South because our churches are large. Yet, I wonder if we took Wynnbrook or Cascade or St. Luke and plopped it down in Colorado Springs if it would be so large? Churches in the South have the benefit of location, location, location and a population that has engrained in them the duty of attending church. That tradition could very well die with this generation if the Southern church cannot revive and become relevant.

I believe one of the reasons Bill Shorey stuggled at Morningside is because they de-emphasised the pipe organ, stopped Sunday night services and changed some of the "tradition" of Morningside. His messages were right on target. Many new, strong believers joined the church. Many lost were led to the Lord and the church paid off its debt and the budget grew by 50%. Yet, the traditionalists couldn't stand it. He (to some of them) "ruined" their church. He changed their traditions. He seemingly took away all that mattered - pipe organs, fried chicken, Sunday night services. Bill's attempts to make that church "relevant" failed because the traditionalists didn't want to change. I am afraid they will rapidly move back onto the path of irrelevance. Yes, they'll get their traditions back.

Usually after a Pastor leaves or Headmaster or Coach or CEO leaves - you replace him with the opposite. You couldn't replace Jimmy Blanchard with another visionary, preacher/ motivator, slap you on back, dynamic man. He'd never match up. So, you replace Jimmy with a conservative, more quiet, more serious, traditional banker. So, Morningside will get their traditions back because likely, they will hire a traditional pastor. He'll be good on visitations, great with the older folks, love the pipe organ and the fried chicken and his messages will be "nice". They'll slide back into irrelevance - the path they were on before Bill arrived. My prayer for them is that Bill was a pioneer (those are the ones that get the arrows in their butts) and that perhaps God used him to light enough of a fire that the church will say "we're not going back". I fear it will happen the other way.

Why are so many men embracing the message of Wild at Heart? Because it digs back up what has been silted over in our souls by duty, tradition, being nice, trying hard not to sin, pancake breakfasts and life groups. These are the things that dull a man's soul. These are the things that tell a man his heart really is rotten. That he is simply a "sinner saved by grace". The inward pull of a man for ----- m o r e ---- there has to be something more to all of this ---- that pull is there for a reason. God put it there. If all church is about is simply being nice, most men want no part of that. If church is about what it truly means to be a man - to have integrity, to know how and when to fight for what you believe, in how to lend our strength to our women, in how to raise up our sons, in knowing there is an enemy, in knowing that we do have a good heart and there is so much more than remaining at "I am simply a lowly sinner saved by grace" ----- if church can be about all that, then it can remain relevant.
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Without realizing it, the author of this leadership book has changed his bank by using the culture of the heart. He doesn't realize (I don't think) but he has gone after the heart. He totally turned this bank upside down and had them throw out all they thought about banking - threw out conventional wisdom. His primary goal was to make work about being apart of something far grander than just banking - "it is unfulfilling to work for a company you can't feel passionate about". He captivated his people with a vision of being the "world's greatest bank". "With passion, work can be a heroic quest - we're out to change the world."

I ask you, what is the church's heroic quest? The reason so many church's are irrelevant and dying is that they have no notion of the grand story, no notion of inspiring their people to take up a sword in the heroic quest. No call to men to be heros. The church prefers men to be nice. Passion means "boundless enthusiasm for your vision". Boundless means "no boundaries". That make the church very nervous. The church prefers boundaries. The church prefers dutiful men over men with passion.

I think to remain relevant we have to take a serious look at all the conventional wisdom and follow God where He may lead us - even into places that are uncomfortable.

Soar!