Excellent points made, but this to me is the nugget... "The truth of the matter is, even if (you think)you're right in your beliefs, (that you're)right in your doctrine, you may be actually wrong in your execution," (emphasis mine)
Applicable across the board. This needs to be sent to the GZ imam. One mans opinion. Barry > > _Ministries_ () |Fri, Sep. 10 2010 06:13 AM EDT > Christians Challenged to Stop Ignoring Innovators, Early Adopters > By _Audrey Barrick_ > (http://www.christianpost.com/columnist/audrey-barrick/) |Christian Post > > > Author and speaker Erwin McManus believes that all the innovators and > early > adopters have been filtered out of church _leadership_ > (http://www.christianpost.com/topics/leadership) . > > In the meantime, the church has been led by late adopters and nostalgics, > he pointed out on Thursday. > And though early adopters make up a small percentage of the population, > McManus is convinced that churches will not be able to shape the future of > any > _culture_ (http://www.christianpost.com/topics/culture) if they don't > reach what he sees as "the top 12 percent." > "Even if you have the majority, you do not have the defining influence of > where culture is going unless you reach the top 2.2 and 12.4 [percent] of > culture," he said as he addressed seminary students and _pastors_ > (http://www.christianpost.com/topics/pastors) at The National Leadership > Forum, held > at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla. > "But most of the decisions we make cater toward the majority and the > nostalgics and entirely ignore those who shape and create culture." > McManus, an innovator, recently made the transition from full-time pastor > at the influential Mosaic church in Southern California to starting a > company that would engage the world of art and culture. It was a dream he > has had > but never tended to, he said. > In the last couple of years, he and his wife took out millions of dollars > in investment loans to forge forward with what he felt his soul was > saying > to do. He felt called to create community, tell a story and bring meaning > and beauty to the world on a different platform. > Meaning, story, beauty and community are the four things he is convinced > every organization, church and business needs to focus on if they are > going > to develop the healthiest and most vibrant people. > There are many unhealthy Christians out there, he lamented, along with an > incredible number of unhealthy companies that are influenced by > Christians. > The 51-year-old speaker said he meets a lot of people who have a > relationship with Christ and yet are still searching for answers to their > life > "One of the things you'll discover ... as you listen to your own soul is > that you spend a great amount of your life trying to bring meaning to > your > own life. And, by the way, most people are not going to church so the > place > they're actually trying to find meaning in their life is at work," he > noted. > "And if their job seems meaningless, if it seems as if it's just a waste > of their life, they just go in and clock in but check out, you will never > get the best of people." > "How many people just get up on Monday and do the same thing they've done > every single Monday – go to work and just turn on route automatic and no > longer have any meaning in their life?" he laid out. > When he started his new company, which includes a filmmaking component, > McManus wanted to make sure that he does things that are meaningful in > every > way. He was inspired by the Old Testament figure Solomon who found > everything "utterly meaningless" after experiencing wealth, power and > success. > "We want to help everyone find meaning in their life and help translate > the > story that each person actually matters in the world," he said. > He rejected the business model that former General Electric CEO Jack Welch > had famously employed – finding "A" people, tolerating "B" people and > getting rid of "C" people, as McManus summarized it. > McManus believes there is greatness in everyone and leaders need to help > pull that out of everyone. > "The reality is that every human being is placed on this planet and one of > the things that drives humans is their need for meaning and if you can > make > every job meaningful then you will guarantee that every job will be done > to its highest level of excellence," he said. > The innovator recently employed a young designer who creates bags out of > materials that are tossed, particularly military pieces from World War II. > "Steve (the designer of Temple bags) had a metaphor ... to take everything > that's trash, [that] no one cares about ... and redesign them so that > people can realize that their life, though it may seem worthless and > ragged and > no longer of any value, if they'll just allow God to reshape and > repurpose > their life, He can create something beautiful because we're really the > temples," McManus highlighted. > Christians are called not only to bring meaning to people's lives but also > to bring beauty, he emphasized. > But he has found that churches have brushed off the importance of beauty. > Early this year, Mosaic church produced a Doritos commercial that was > among > the three chosen by the American public to air during the 2010 Super > Bowl. > McManus was criticized by Christian leaders for not placing the Gospel > message in the commercial. > To such criticism, he responded, "We actually believe that if we do > something better than anyone else in the world, we will earn the right to > be > heard." > "Part of what has happened is that we have lost our conviction that beauty > is actually important in carrying the Gospel to the world," he said. > In the church, McManus feels there is an "arrogant misconception" that > Christians hold – that because they are people of the book or people of > truth, > they're healthy. > "The truth of the matter is, even if you're right in your beliefs, right > in > your doctrine, you may be actually wrong in your execution," he pointed > out. > "We can keep trying to preach at people, demand that they listen to us > rather than tell a story so compelling they can't help but hear us," he > told > Forum participants. "[But] if we're going to reach these innovators, > early > adopters, pioneers, explorers, artisans, cultural creators ... we better > stop > acting as if we've already earned the right to be heard and trying to > cram > the most beautiful story that has ever been told down people's throats." > "We need to start doing things that are astonishing and beautiful, that > are > compelling and reach inside of the human spirit and make people long for > the God who created them," he challenged Christians. > "The wonderful thing about the opportunity that we have is that we can > take > the broken wreckage of our life, the worn out pieces, the stuff that we > thought God could never use and through the honest, transparent > expression of > who we are sharing what God has done, we can tell a story that will pack > them in." > > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
