“Don’t let your passion become annoying”
Ramblings through belief, immaturity, grace & wisdom.
I received one of the most memorable bits of advice about two months ago from speaker Rob Bell. I was in Michigan at a smaller conference and he had some time between two sessions where he invited anyone to suggest topics for the next session or just bounce questions off of him. I was completely surprised that only a handful of people jumped on the opportunity. At the same time, I was selfishly happy because we had a short moment to connect.
My question stemmed from a new and burning desire for complete, unadulterated and Spirit-filled authenticity in my leadership area at Westside. We have come a long way in the short time we have grown but at the same time, I see the trend in our church of copy-catting methods and practices from other churches. And on the other hand, I see churches smaller than Westside looking to us for the same things.
That part is really scary to me. I see the need to help other churches, but at the same time, before we put any of our resources out there, we need to have a plan for how to responsibly share these things with them – instead of just giving them the fish…showing them how to fish. How to gut the fish. Cook it up…or not…Sushi’s pretty good from what I hear. And run with them along the journey. Whatever. Maybe they want to put the fish on a piece of wood and mount it in their Family Life Center. Or maybe they want to use it to feed stray cats. Whatever God is leading them to do with their fish – I hope we can help them listen to that leading and don’t muffle it out instead.
There is purpose and wisdom in learning from the mistakes and successes of others; in fact, if I remember correctly a very wise man once said, “As iron sharpens iron….” But I believe in the unique and beautiful calling and inspiration the Father has given each of us to fulfill His kingdom purpose. Not just pastors or church staff or leaders – but all of us followers who are branches extending from the tree of life. I passionately believe that if we stop and listen closely…if we quiet the voices and the buzz of growth and progression and technology and postmodernism and relativity….maybe we can find that true authenticity that is birthed in us all by grace on a cross and a command to “Go..”
And that was the extent of my discussion with Rob. It actually was a lot shorter than everything I just wrote, but was comprised of the same idea.
How can we challenge those around us to be more authentic in this McDonalds-ized church culture?
He said it was something he’d definetely address and I walked off smugly, thinking how his response would affirm everything my little heart was crying out.
When it came time for my question – his very first sentence was, “First – don’t let your passion become annoying.”
I about lost my lunch. I felt as if I had been kicked in the stomach. Talk about a discerning guy! He knew exactly where my heart was. When I get passionate about something, it consumes me. Which then I pass on to those around me. And it isn’t always with grace or openmindedness.
As I travel through the blogging world, every single day I read something somewhere that I disagree with. I see how more and more people are buying into this new way of doing church. Not that these influential churches aren’t reaching people or that lives aren’t changing. That is not in any sense what I am leading into. I just see how easily our minds are limited when we see successful churches and think that’s the only way of doing something.
I could write on for another three hours about this – but if you haven’t checked out now, you probably will soon. Sorry this is such a scattered post. I have a lot running through my mind and I’m really tired. But hopefully in this mess you’ll maybe get a glimpse of something I care about. And hopefully I can learn to graciously express my thoughts…and hopefully they’ll be graciously received.
Do you think that by modeling a church after a “successful” church, leaders may be quieting their unique callings and creativity? Should influential churches share in responsibility knowing some churches are copying their every move and recording their every word?