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Is Your Church Under God's Control?

This is the final post in the Organic Community series.  Here are my thoughts related to the book.  I'm asking you to please share your thoughts also if you've followed along at all by leaving a comment and you will be eligible to receive a FREE 2nd man united t-shirt shown here - View this photo  Note that only insightful comments will be eligible.

How can an organic environment where community and belonging can emerge be developed?  By using an organic order approach rather than a mechanical order approach.  Mechanical order is appropriate when it comes to manufacturing inanimate objects.  But developing something with life requires organic order. 

 

Nine organizational tools that you can use in a mechanical or organic order way are:

 

1. Patterns
1. Mechanical – attempt to force the realization of a plan that worked somewhere else by controlling people and processes to get there.  You try and make people into parts that will fit together to look like what you envision creating.
2. Organic – allows individuals and groups to grow and become uniquely themselves in each situation.  The group looks like the body of Christ when the parts connect and do their special works for each other.  This will be a literal spiritual expression of Jesus Christ on the earth in His second body. (Ephesians 4:15-16)
2. Participation
1. Mechanical – trying to get people to participate in created positions that serve a plan.  Participation is usually forced and people feel uncomfortable and out of place.
2. Organic – individuals feel free and responsible to act uniquely as themselves for the good of the group as a whole.  They find out what special graces they’ve been given by God and they use them to accomplish the works that God prepared in advance for them to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
3. Measurement
1. Mechanical – value is found in numbers related to an end point to be reached.  People are assessed based upon the health of the organization.
2. Organic – value is found in the story of the life of the group.  Success is found in the health of the organism from its individual parts.
4. Growth
1. Mechanical – measured in outward evidences of numbers, resources, activities and other inanimate measuring sticks.
2. Organic – takes small steps forward at the community’s own pace.  Growth is based upon individual’s maturity to completion in Christ. (Colossians 1:28)
5. Power
1. Mechanical – delivered through permanent positions.  Man is trusted with control of the body of Christ through the assignment of permanent power, no matter where the wind (Spirit) blows.
2. Organic – revolves through the parts of the whole depending on what is being demanded by the life of the organism.  The Spirit gives power to the parts that need it to accomplish His will in a progressive fashion as time goes on. (John 3:8)
6. Coordination
1. Mechanical – asks people to cooperate by falling in line with a plan to make it work.  People become commodities to be maneuvered toward a person’s vision.
2. Organic – self-organization through collaboration of parts based upon their connection.  The vision is from the Head through all of the parts together. (Ephesians 4:15-16).
7. Partners
1. Mechanical – accountability to hold people responsible for their actions.  The focus is on performance in relation to sin.
2. Organic – edit-ability to help on the journey to wholeness.  The focus is encouragement toward allowing God to live in and through the person ever-increasingly. (Ephesians 5:17-18)
8. Language
1. Mechanical – words are noun-centric.  They turn dynamic words into static words.
2. Organic – words are verb-centric. 
9. Resources
1. Mechanical – pre-determined allocation based upon the question, “How are we going to do this?”  People assume future events can and should take place and make pre-mature decisions based upon those assumptions.
2. Organic – moment-by-moment allocation based upon the thought, “This is how we can do this.”  People do what they are able with the graces they’ve been given.

 

Humans can’t build living things.  When they build something, whatever it is; it is dead.  It may serve a good purpose and show tremendous creative abilities, but only God can create and sustain something that is living.  This is where we’re breaking down in the Church.

 

At the root of who is doing the building of the Church is the issue of control.  The sinful nature seems to want to take it from God and other people in an effort to deal with the fear that comes with unpredictability.  The fear that if we let God have control, He won’t live up to His promises and take care of us.  The fear that if we let Christ be the Head, He won’t know how to animate the Body and it will find itself in chaos and utterly destroy itself. 

 

God’s eternal purpose was to create One New Man that would be alive by the life of God with Christ as the Head (Ephesians 2:14-22).  Because this One New Man is a living organism, it grows and develops organically, just like all living things.  But, because of man’s fear rooted in the sinful nature, they tend to take control away from God and try to build the One New Man themselves, in their own power.  This is like trying to engineer an animal in a laboratory.  It just can’t be done.  You can’t engineer the genetic code of God, the DNA of the Church.  The best one can do is create something inanimate that looks and acts like the living thing they are trying to engineer.

 

I’ve found that many times a conversation about giving up control gets translated into a conversation about giving up leadership.  But, an important distinction must be made here.  True biblical leaders don’t control.  “You don’t lead by pointing a finger and telling people some place to go.  You lead by going to that place and making a case.” (Ken Kesey)  Then, watch and see if people do it.  Many leaders today are pointing to a place of organic community and telling people to go there, and waiting for people to go there, while at the same time doing the same things over and over again in a mechanical way.  They won’t admit it and they may not realize it, but they are afraid to give up control.  The true leaders are the ones that are not afraid to go to a place of organic community and make a case for people to come along, even if it means going there alone.

 

Is there order in God? Yes.

Is there structure in God? Yes.

Is there government in God? Yes.

 

But God’s order, structure and government are diametrically opposed to the worlds (John 15:18-19).  It’s alive and always evolving.  Sadly, many of those that are considered “leaders” today are attempting to engineer the Christian life according to the world’s system, which is what we need to identify and move away from.

 

Creating an organic environment for community to grow is just like creating the environment for any other living thing to grow.  The right conditions must be met.  The more you use the nine organizational tools in a mechanical way, the worse the conditions become for life to grow.  When used organically, the nine organizational tools create the environment for the organism to grow, thrive and its life (Christ) to be shared with all.

Prior posts in this series:

Is Your Church an Object?

Is Your Church a Clone?

Is Your Church a Body?

Is Your Church a Scoreboard?

Is Your Church a Factory?

Is Your Church a Hierarchy?

Is Your Church a Collaboration?

Is Your Church Old Covenant?

Is Your Church a Noun?

Is Your Church Asking "How?"

Myers, Joseph R. "Organic Community"

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Is Your Church Asking "How?"

The ninth and final organizational tool that can be used in a mechanical or organic order way is resources.

Prior posts in this series:

Is Your Church an Object?

Is Your Church a Clone?

Is Your Church a Body?

Is Your Church a Scoreboard?

Is Your Church a Factory?

Is Your Church a Hierarchy?

Is Your Church a Collaboration?

Is Your Church Old Covenant?

Is Your Church a Noun?

Mechanical plans begin with the question “Where are we headed?” followed immediately by “How are we going to get there?”  They are intended to secure safety, but really they result in a plan that prescribes the “how” prematurely.  They believe that all questions will be resolved by going through the process of asking and answering “How?”  But many times the question “How?” isn’t a question at all.  Rather, it is a comment rooted in a spirit of scarcity.  It is a belief that we lack the right tools and the right methodology to know enough and be enough. 

 

But with organic order, the question “How?” is skipped and people jump straight to the possible solutions.  They don’t ask “How are we going to do this?”  They say, “This is what we can do.”  There are many possibilities and we can operate in whichever one is appropriate for right now.  They realize that what they are to do is be who and what they are right now.  With organic order, you don’t pre-determine how problems will be solved and resources will be allocated.  You decide in the present how you should solve problems and allocate resources amidst the many possibilities in whatever way is appropriate at that time. 

 

One way the church has promoted a spirit of scarcity is in its efforts to assimilate people into the mechanical plan of the church.  This is a scarcity view of how the church is to be a part of people’s lives.  A better way is to think about what the church should be doing to be the One New Humanity that it is meant to be, not a copy of the Old Man we see operating in the world.

Myers, Joseph R. "Organic Community"

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Is Your Church a Noun?

The eighth organizational tool that can be used in a mechanical or organic order way is language.

Prior posts in this series:

Is Your Church an Object?

Is Your Church a Clone?

Is Your Church a Body?

Is Your Church a Scoreboard?

Is Your Church a Factory?

Is Your Church a Hierarchy?

Is Your Church a Collaboration?

Is Your Church Old Covenant?

The words that we use reflect what is in our hearts, expresses social structures, shapes worldviews and shapes the way we behave and believe.  Language matters.  Words matter.  They are symbols for ideas that we are trying to communicate.  When I say the word “tree,” what you and I think of for that word will be different unless you and I are looking at the same tree at the same time and from the same perspective.  But, typically our ideas are similar enough to have the same understanding of what the word means. 

 

Another factor to remember is that language is living.  Words and their meanings evolve.  A word can be a noun and get turned into a verb and vice versa.  “Bad” actually can mean “Good.” “Shut up!” and “That’s ridiculous!” are actually used as compliments.  And “Blackberry” is not just a fruit anymore.  Plus, we make up words like “internet” and “download.”  

 

What is beginning to change is that we are moving from a noun-centric language to a verb-centric language.  Words like “church,” “community” and “gospel” are becoming more verb-like because we are looking more to describe the process, the experience, and the “being.”  These words are becoming more dynamic and less static. 

 

Let’s take the word “fire,” for example.  Fire is not an object.  It isn’t a person, place, or thing.  Fire is an ongoing process.  It has no substance.  However, when we talk about fire we must objectify it and make it a noun so that we can structure a sentence around it.  Much the same could be said of words such as church, congregation, worship and God.

 

When we take words that should be verbs and turn them into nouns, we show our need to objectify, limit and even control the ideas set forth by them.  God is easier to get our minds, concepts, and theology around if the Godhead remains only noun.  But God describes Himself with the verb “I am.”  The Trinity is not three objects.  The Trinity is a dance of three verbs.  Three “I ams.” 

 

Verbs describe an ongoing process.  Human beings, for example, become.  We are constantly in motion; constantly changing; we are not still and unmoving. 

 

Do you view words like “church”, “community”, “gospel” and “God” as nouns or verbs?  Your answer to this question will affect your language, your processes, your structures, and your outcomes.  For example, if you view the word “church” as a noun, it will allow you to treat it as an object that we can control at some level.  This view gives us permission to think that if we could come up with the one way of structuring a church, then everyone would want to be involved.  Everyone and every group then becomes a widget that we can mold, maneuver, organize, direct, and control.

Myers, Joseph R. "Organic Community"

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Is Your Church Old Covenant?

The seventh organizational tool that can be used in a mechanical or organic order way is partnerships.

Prior posts in this series:

Is Your Church an Object?

Is Your Church a Clone?

Is Your Church a Body?

Is Your Church a Scoreboard?

Is Your Church a Factory?

Is Your Church a Hierarchy?

Is Your Church a Collaboration?

Accountability is the buzz word du jour.  These days, any company that develops a master plan of accountability and demonstrates they can keep everyone in line and behaving well will find a receptive hearing among stockholders and stakeholders who nervously seek to protect their investments. 

 

Accountability happens by mechanical order.  An individual or group decides that accountability must be in place and then works up a plan in an effort to “create” it.  It is a system where laws are in place and those that are disobedient suffer the consequences put forth by those given the power to hold us accountable.  It amounts to manufacturing relationships that hold people responsible for his or her actions in a way that is:

 

• Hierarchical – one person is obedient to another
• Abrasive – the accountability partner practices “tough love” by being caustic and insensitive
• Unhelpful – progress toward an integrated life does not happen
• Harmful – the accountability is psychologically and spiritually damaging

 

In ways big and small, people get “audited.”  These means of monitoring seem to work well when they are applied to business.  But what happens when we apply similar measures to people?  We put them under law, not grace.  This is Old Covenant thinking. 

 

Organic order is about grace, not law. It’s “Edit-ability,” not accountability.  An editor’s function is very different than that of the accountant.  They help wipe away errors while keeping the voice of the author.  The author will submit a rough draft.  The editor makes suggestions, even disagrees at times with the author.  The author considers the editor’s suggestions, and will often make adjustments.  The author and editor continue to go back and forth until the project is complete.  The entire process is one of give-and-take collaboration lived out in the moment. 

 

An accountability partner focuses on sin and the individual’s cooperation with a standard and expectations in relation to sin.  A partner in Christ focuses on being there for someone in relationship to help them along on their journey to wholeness.  

Myers, Joseph R. "Organic Community"

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Is Your Church a Collaboration?

Mechanical order coordinates through cooperation.  A lot of effort is focused on creating centralized control, consensus and structural protocols.  The trouble with this is that the spirit of cooperation is a rigid spirit, one that stifles creativity and discovery.  It is more concerned with sequence than rhythm.  It squashes the human spirit. The mechanical plan becomes the master.  The person or people who developed the plan then will frequently talk about how they want collaboration, but in practice, what they really show is a desire for you to cooperate with their plan by falling into line and making it work.

Prior posts in this series:

Is Your Church an Object?

Is Your Church a Clone?

Is Your Church a Body?

Is Your Church a Scoreboard?

Is Your Church a Factory?

Is Your Church a Hierarchy?

 

The person who develops the plan typically has good intentions, but is afraid of what might happen if they give up control, so they make sure they keep it.  The problem is, people are not primarily looking to cooperate with our plan for their lives.  Cooperation is an effort to control how people participate.  When you do this, they feel violated.  Giving up control is not advocating chaos.  It’s advocating for an organic order that works in self-organizing ways. 

 

Organic order coordinates through collaboration.  It lives out a healthy process of connecting, but not by asking for people’s cooperation.  It grows out of what you experience together – from connecting, not from falling in line with someone else’s program.  The parts work together with a fluid, graceful movement like birds flying in a pattern or a school of fish gliding through deep waters. (Collosians 2:19)

 

Often, people talk about “intentional community.”  Typically, what they mean can be summed up with words such as purpose-driven, measurable, scientific, deliberate, planned, calculated, or premeditated.  The problem is that all of these words are rooted in assumed control, and community cannot be controlled with intention.  The truth is that we can have some control over the environments in which community usually emerges, but we have little or no control over community actually emerging.  We can intend for the process of community to begin, but we cannot create community intentionally.  

Myers, Joseph R. "Organic Community"

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