Before you head off into this weekend and the holiday that ensues, here are three things that I read and thought about this week. I hope they are as helpful to you as they have been for me. Have a great weekend and Happy Fourth of July!
#1
The great lesson of this turnaround is that when any relationship system is imaginatively gridlocked, it cannot get free simply through more thinking about the problem. Conceptually stuck systems cannot become unstuck simply by trying harder. For a fundamental reorientation to occur, that spirit of adventure which optimizes serendipity and which enables new perceptions beyond the control of our thinking processes must happen first. This is equally true regarding families, institutions, whole nations, and entire civilizations.
A Failure of Nerve by Edwin H. Friedman
“At Avis, we try harder.” That may be a good slogan for a rental car company, but it is not an effective way to live our personal or community life. Especially when you find yourself stuck. Trying harder sometimes just digs you in deeper. Just like when some friends of mine would take their trucks to the lake and drive through the mud. When you get stuck, spinning the wheels more actually makes it worse…or so I have been told!
What then do we do when we get stuck? Friedman says curiosity, a spirit of trial and error, and a willingness to ask new questions is the way we find new solutions to old problems…not just doing the same things over and over and hoping for a better result.
So, let Avis try harder. May we give some space for God to work through the curiosity, humility, and a willingness to learn.
#2
The consensus sought is not an agreement of human voices on God. It is a work of the Spirit creating the unity of the body of Christ.
Classic Christianity by Thomas C. Oden
Lots of talk on unity these days. We seem to desire to align based on our thinking but that has never worked. Hence over 30,000 denominations. Also, God doesn’t take votes. Doesn’t lead by taking poles of public opinion. God works through the spirit by giving gifts which produce fruit. The church isn’t unified by a theology but by the gift of a relationship with his son. John Wesley was of the mindset that it is not thinking alike but loving alike that brings unity. Focus on Christ. Love him fully. I guarantee you it will reshape our understanding and lived reality of unity.
#3
“Eugene Peterson offers a word of warning: “Impatience, the refusal to endure, is to pastoral character what strip mining is to the land – a greedy taking of what can be gotten at the least cost, and then abandonment in search of another place to loot.”
Living Into Community by Christine D. Pohl
Dr. Pohl was a ethics professor of mine at seminary. She died recently and I have been reflecting on her influence on me concerning hospitality and church leadership. The above quote is a great reminder for the need of patience. We (leaders, indeed Christians in general) are farmers not hunters. We plant and water and weed and wait. The need for patience is everything.
todd nelson 