It’s been a long time since I posted anything on leadership, so here goes. What follows is a link to a great site called lifehack.org and an article called “10 Great Ways to Crush Creativity.” lifehack.org isn’t a “Christian” site, but I do have to say that many of their principles are just Scripture applied (truth is truth).
Following the link I’ve listed “churchy” paraphrases of Mr. Sloane’s witticisms. These paraphrases are compiled from attitudes we at Worship Concepts Network have encountered at a few select churches among the many we have partnered with. The irony is that these comments were made at some of the churches that sought us out to help them increase their quotient of innovation, creativity and effectiveness. OK, I couldn’t resist the sarcasm, go figure…
Ten Great Ways to Crush Creativity
1. That’s questionable etymology/hermeneutics/eschatology and doesn’t properly translate the original Hebrew/Greek/Pig Latin I studied for my MDiv/DMin/PhD/XyZPdQ at Muchsmarterthan U. Seminary.
2. Too many ideas muddy the waters; the church needs clear direction from the Senior Pastor. Jesus didn’t have a committe, He had disciples. (This, of course, ignores the fact that very few pastors are Jesus and that “we are the body,”not ‘he’ (i.e. the pastor) is the body.”
3. The congregation just doesn’t have the Pastor and staff’s leadership perspective. They couldn’t possibly grapple with this issue.
4. We already have a clear vision of the Great Commission; we just need to apply it like we did in the good old days.
5. Vocational ministry is a lonely business which requires 80-90 hours work per week;I just need to keep my nose to the grindstone. If I just apply everthing thing I learned from Tony Robbins/Steven Covey/David Allen I can do all the ministry of my church; after all, I am the Senior Pastor.
6. People are still people. Regardless of the current drop in involvement, our strategy has worked for the last ninety years. Besides, the internet and social-networking are just a fad much like radio and TV.
7. The Pastor-Parish Relationship Committee requests your presence at meeting convened to review the Video Game Night that resulted in Kool-aid stains on the Fellowship Hall carpet (in spite of the attendance by 300 teens who would not have otherwise darkened the doorstep of a church in one million years).
*The contemporary version of this is: That didn’t seem to be your sweetspot; we didn’t set you up for a win…let’s try you in this position that we haven’t equipped you for, you have no passion to fulfill and will probably result in your being miserable and leaving the church. That way we’ll be able to tell people that it wasn’t our fault at all, but was because you didn’t fit as a team player.
8. part a. That may have worked at other churches, but we don’t do things that way here. You might not be a good “mix” here.
8. part b. We’ve been pillars of this church for decades (centuries). Inviting the Lutheran/Mehtodist/Baptist/etc. church from down the street to join us in starting a soup kitchen might theologically confuse people.
9. Contempt breeds comtempt. (OK, we’ve never heard a church leader actually say that, but many of them promote only from within and then wonder why there aren’t any fresh ideas or that poor attitudes stay the same from one leader to the next.)
10. This isn’t rocket-surgery; it’s just ministry in an increasingly diverse and everchanging culture. The principles that we learned in seminary at Smarterthan U. forty years ago still apply; people are people, afterall.
No, really…this one is at least PG-13, maybe even R.
“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you! Take me away with you – let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.” Song of Songs 1:2-4
“Egadz! Cover your virgin ears…get the kids out of the room. What an outrage! It’s scandalous! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
Consider for one moment what would happen if some goatee sportin’, gauge wearin’, tat displayin’ emergent church type described a relationship with Christ like this from the pulpit. What if an otherwise demur young lady described her desire for God, in terms of the latest, hottest “Bond-girl” anxious to “bed” the super-stud “Bond, James Bond.”
Who among us would ever describe our longing for God’s presence like a hot, steamy foreign film; a scene between two breathless, passionate newlywed lovers that are so anxious to experience the ecstasy of union that the open-mouth, tongue probing kissing starts in the elevator…continues with the disrobing just outside the wedding suite doors and climaxes with…my, it’s getting warm in here.
Or, how about Jesus describing His church like a pin-up girl, keeping a poster of us up on His wall like a the ubiquitous “Farrah” placard of the seventies? Only, He really does have a mad, passionate (appropriate) relationship with a really hot babe…His church (His bride).
Let’s be honest, this type of thinking isn’t just remote to most Christian’s thinking, it’s revolting. Most of us find it an anathema and repugnant. No proper follower of King of kings would ever allow this thought to fly over our head, let alone build its nest in our hair (sorry, Martin).
Disclaimer: I’m not necessarily advocating that we flaunt these descriptions in the public market or shout them from every pulpit. But, we also shouldn’t regard them as completely foreign to a relationship with Christ; not necessarily the graphic descriptions, but the breathless passion they engender.
After all, right there it is in scripture…right there in the Bible. A lover “resting between my breasts” (1:13); “no wonder the maidens love you” (1:3); “my heart began to pound for him” 5:4).
Rather passionate and seductive, wouldn’t you say? Kind of takes your breath away if you let your imagination run with it a while, doesn’t it? And, I’ve left out the really graphic stuff.
But, that’s my point. When was the last time the thought of Jesus took your breath away? When was the last time you had a “crush” on Him? Do you let Him seduce you? Do your knees go weak when you think of Him?
It’s much safer for us to think of our relationship with Christ in business terms. Business contracts don’t make us blush. Corporate mergers don’t take our breath away, they let us stay dignified. They’re measured, thoughtful and considered…and certainly don’t make us weak in the knees.
Mad, passionate love affairs are undignified; drive us to act like fools; consume our every waking moment; overwhelm us to extravagance. Would anyone ever describe our relationship with Jesus using the words undignified or extravagant?
My daughter, Abbie, has some great quotes on her computer desktop that I think Solomon would have appreciated. I hope they describe my foolish, and completely appropriate, passion for Jesus.
“Love: a wildly misunderstood, although highly desirable, malfunction of the heart which weakens the brain, causes the eyes to sparkle, cheeks to glow, blood pressure to rise and the lips to pucker.”
When do I blush at the thought of Jesus?
“To him she seemed so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else’s heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell.”
Is our infatuation with Jesus so strong that we don’t understand why everyone else’s heart isn’t wild for Him? Why aren’t we so mesmerized with Him that we’re afraid to approach Him? But, knowing that to approach Him only makes the spell stronger.
“Love is when the woman (or man) of your dreams becomes a reality and sleep stops being a priority.”
Do you ever stay up all night just to be with Him?
“Love enables you to put your deepest feelings and fears in the palm of your lover’s hand, knowing they will be handled with care.”