Theologizing on Michael Hyatt’s mini-essay in the “What Matters Now” project – “Vision”

“Vision is the lifeblood of any organization. In a down economy things get very tactical. We are just trying to survive. Decisions become pragmatic and after a while this wears of people. They don’t know why their efforts matter. They cannot connect their actions to a larger story. Their work becomes a matter of just going through the motions. When times are tough, vision is the first causality.”

Jesus cast a great vision for people, which he called the Kingdom of God. It was within this vision people were spurred on to follow Jesus, join the Church after Pentecost and even die for the vision in the years following. The vision Jesus cast is a powerful vision and one which still moves people today to do amazing and powerful things. It is by locating themselves in that vision people find purpose and meaning. Vision is powerful and yet, vision is the first thing to go when the times are tough.

Look at the New Testament, as the Christian communities began to face tribulation and tough times, there was a loss of vision. This is why Paul is so brilliant. He addresses the problems and questions each community had about what it means to be Christian, but at the same time these problems did not consume Paul. Paul keeps calling people back to the Vision.

When people were talking about what gifts of the Spirit were best, Paul said look we are focusing on the wrong thing and we are loosing vision. The Vision is we are all ONE BODY.

When a slave runs away and seeks out Paul to ask the owner on behalf of the slave for freedom, Paul says, you are focusing on the wrong thing. The Vision is Christians are to TREAT ONE ANOTHER LIKE GOD TREATS US.

Today, the American Church is in a bit of a decline. Some in the UMC are focusing on attempting to get more members, to get more money, in order to pay pensions and health insurance. I feel, in this “down economy” of the American church, many people are focusing on the wrong thing, namely membership and money. We have forgotten that everyone is already a member of the Body. We do not need to make anyone a member, they already are. The Vision is to make disciples. The Vision is to find where e can serve not how the church serves us.

I think the first step to pull the American Church out of this “down economy” is to ask God to resurrect the Vision of Jesus.

This is my prayer.

Theologizing "What Matters Now"

I want to take sometime and theologize on some of the mini essays of the “What Matters Now” book project. While I know I will not address each essay, I wanted to begin to address many of them over 2010. If you want to read all of these essays or if you want to read the entire mini essay that I will tackle, I want to point you to search for this free book online. I will just take what I consider the essence and blurbs of these mini essays and attempt to make connections to the Trinitarian God, Christianity, Church, and theology. So I invite you to read download this book, give it a read, and if you find a mini essay that speaks to you on any level, send it my way and I will do my best to get to it.

Tomorrow I will post a response on Michael Hyatt’s mini-essay in the “What Matters Now” project – “Vision”

Worship as soccer

Last week I began to express a metaphor for worship as football. While there may very well be wonderful things about the football approach and understanding of worship, I find it to be too 'control' focused and highly protective. Rather, I wonder what would it be if worship were approached not as football but as soccer?

Soccer seems like the ultimate game of trust. Each team knows what they are doing even though they do not come together as a total unit throughout the game to check in with each other. As the plays develop each person must be keenly aware of what they are doing as individuals but must make sure their actions are connected to the overall plan of the team. There is a lot of deviation that happens throughout the course of the game, but that deviation must instantly be figured into the scheme of the game. For instance, if one player in the 'back' position decided it would best serve the team to move to a forward position, then communication happens on the fly (verbal or not) and the other team members must cover the actions taken by the former 'back'.

There are not a lot of pads in soccer, just thin shin guards. So if you want to tackle someone, you have to physically touch them. This is dangerous for both players, not just the one being hit. There is one coach, but they do not have control over the plays as they develop. There is no play to "call", only persuasion.

If you see a soccer game in Europe, the crowd is very involved with the game - and not just when there is momentum. People are singing and dancing, with a feeling that what you are doing as a crowd actually effects the game. In fact, if you are not singing and dancing in the crowd, you stand out.

The spontaneous play of the game could very well contribute as to why soccer is known as the "beautiful game".