Family Circle

Written on June 4, 2009 in thought

Hey! I just came up with an idea: How about all churches commit to a one year moratorium on vision-casting, goal-setting, and mission statements? All the people I’ve talked with who are involved with these kinds of things admit, some to their shame, that they are completely useless undertakings anyway. Many I’ve talked to admit that once they come up with a firm vision statement, it is immediately made obsolete by some totally unforeseen issue or event or just the plain unwillingness of the people to be herded into the thin corridor of compromise, sacrifice and conformity that leads to the death of the human spirit! Sometimes I think that working on these vision-statements make us feel like we are important and doing something significant, when all we are doing is playing with language, teasing our members, and flirting with disaster.

Today I met with atheists. A few friends of mine, who used to be faithful members of our community, invited me to meet over beer. Individually! Synchronicity or what?! One of them used to be a very faithful and involved member. Then he went through a “crisis”, and decided at the end of it that he was an atheist. He wanted to tell me that he was thankful that none of the members of my community ever pressured him in what he believed. He thought it was commendable that he was allowed to conclude what he concluded and still remain friends with these people. He thought it was noteworthy that these people would rather remain his friend than his ideological co-signer. I realized that many might think this was a failure on the part of my community to challenge this guy and direct him back to the way. Not him. He thought it was something I should be proud of… that the people of this community allowed people the freedom to be who they were and believe what they believed. Or didn’t believe. Whatever terminology you want to use.

I wonder what would happen if we universally decided to no longer embrace the whole goal-setting culture. What if we decided, instead, to just gather, like a family, and love each other and be openly welcoming to guests as well as those who would like to be adopted into our kin?

40 Comments - Leave a comment!

http://demiurgiclust.net/ shelly

I think if that were to happen, it would probably be the most freeing thing any group of Christians has ever done. *nods*
http://www.bignoise-enterprises.com/blog/ Kathy

I think this is pretty close to what our house church does every Thursday night.
http://rants2revelations.blogspot.com/ nugo

i don’t think the problem is with visioning…without it there’ll be, y’know, people perishing. i think, and we’re probably making the same point here, is the attachment and rigidity to the vision and mission rather than using them as intended…guidance. a map is helpful but we can go anywhere we want whenever we want.

btw, loving the cartoons. is there gonna be a published collection?
http://nakedpastor.com nakedpastor

nugo: I take deference to the perishing thing. Literally, the scripture means, “Without prophecy, the people perish.” In other words, without the word of the Lord we die. (Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the father). It has nothing to do with vision or mission statements, IMO.
http://rants2revelations.blogspot.com/ nugo

ah…thnx 4 the clarification. i didn’t take it literally, but interpreted ‘perished’ as lost therefore without a vision there is no direction. and again, your point well taken.
http://annedroid-annedroid.blogspot.com/ AnneDroid

“….to no longer embrace the whole goal-setting culture. What if we decided, instead, to just gather, like a family, and love each other and be openly welcoming to guests as well as those who would like to be adopted into our kin?”

This is very interesting to me because although I’m a minister, I’m employed by the government as a civil servant. I’m a chaplain paid by a secular institution (the prison service). ALL my colleagues in the jail are dominated by targets and goals and recording of statistics. I am in the privileged position of being allowed to live entirely outwith this way of doing things. And for my own sanity I SO need to keep it that way. What can myself and a part-time colleague possibly hope to do in the face of the vast human need in front of us on a daily basis? I find the ONLY thing I can do is to love the guys and be as warm and welcoming as possible and to pray that I will have eyes to see the ones God is at work in and that he will let me to tag along.

Recently Archbishop Tutu, who I know is a real hero, was addressing a gathering of my denomination here in Scotland. He said that without us God is impotent. Much as I respect the guy, I have to disagree. God isn’t impotent in the prison without me. Nor is he impotent in a church which doesn’t have a vision statement and a list of goals.

God LETS us help just because he enjoys doing so, much as I used to allow my toddlers to “help” in the kitchen even though they made a mess and everything took threee times as long. Viewing things that way takes all the pressure off, relaxes us and a by-product of being relaxed and unpressured is that we become a bit nicer!!
http://www.OrdinaryGraybeard.com David Higginbotham

David,

Well spoken…have you been reading my journal?

If the commute from Kansas City to St. John wasn’t a 3 1/2 day drive…I would be a part of your commumity and you would be my pastor…naked or not.
fishon

I wonder what would happen if we universally decided to no longer embrace the whole goal-setting culture.
——–Depends. If you want to no longer embrace the goals set by Jesus, then….
But if you are talking about some man-made goals, no problem.
fishon
http://nakedpastor.com nakedpastor

fishon: nope.
Jounda

I was wondering if you could add “building funds” to the list of things to set aside? When we get wrapped up in ‘the vision’ we tend to forget about the people who are involved – we bcome more institutional rather than loving. Yes, I vote to have the building fund added to the petition (was there a petition? so that we can get on with loving those around us!
fishon

NP,
Not sure what you mean by “nope?”
But as I reread my post, maybe I was not clear enough. I am for following Jesus’ goal setting.

But I have no problem with doing away with man-made goal setting that is not biblical.
fishon
J

Sounds good to me. Problem is though, for some churches, “to just gather, like a family, and love each other and be openly welcoming to guests as well as those who would like to be adopted into our kin” would require the setting of these things as goals, visions etc etc. It wouldn’t just happen otherwise (ie sadly, I don’t think those things woudl come naturally… ).

The church has taken on the world’s methods, and in so doing has, I think, abandoned some of Jesus’s teachings – the first shall be last being just one example. In church, the first will be first – and they better have a good income, a good education, look pretty, all the worldly criteria of “success”. Then they can be seated at the top table, sup with the minister and be appointed to a nice responsible role in the congregation.

I’d be interested to know what others think – are non-believers expecting churches to look just like a business meeting, a university lecture, a marketing presentation? Or do they expect us to be different – not just in appearance, but in practical matters?
http://www.mimosa-mikaela.blogspot.com Mimou

Amen!
http://www.henze-associates.com/blog/ Cal

The Holy Spirit managed to lead the entire NT church to be, “In one accord…”

Where is it that we got the idea that people were to be in charge of this Church thing anyway?
http://www.dewsbery.de Victor

Can’t get my head round the contrast here.

David, you have an enormous vision (to change the way everybody everywhere thinks so that they think like you instead). Here you cast this vision into a one-year action plan, and in other posts you have set out various incarnations of “10 things to do to avoid action plans”.

Then you claim to be the anti-vision guy.

Sorry, my head is spinning.

(Semi-disclaimer: I like the creative outside-the-box thinking that you express, which is why I keep coming here. But again and again you parody the “bad guys”, while at the same time you use almost the same vision-casting methods.)
http://nakedpastor.com nakedpastor

Why, when I say “let’s stop envisioning”, does everyone insist that this is visionary thinking? i can’t get my head around that!
http://www.dewsbery.de Victor

Because you suggest that other people should follow your ideas. You have an idea, and you want to influence people (which is why you say things like “How about all churches commit to xxx” and why you come up with the anti-action action plans etc.)

There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence people. I do it too. But it opens up the dialogue more if we are clear about the fact that that is what we are doing.

Your ideas are provocative and visionary. That is not criticism, it is merely a neutral statement. I can then decide to what extent I share your vision. But trying to say “this vision is not actually a vision” comes across as a conjuring trick (and obscures an impassionate consideration of the elements of your vision).

You paraphrase your message as “let’s stop envisioning”. Why is that little word “let’s” in there? You can happily admit that you just said “let’s”. (Or did you not mean “let’s” when you said “let’s”?)
Fred

We’ve done that. It’s not useless. There. That’s one. Now you can’t say “All the people I’ve talked with who are involved with these kinds of things admit, some to their shame, that they are completely useless undertakings anyway.”
http://withoutchurch.blogspot.com criticaltc

or maybe we could scrap the whole church gig and just be loving to people who are already in our lives through work, location and recreation?…just a thought…
Doug

I couldn’t agree with you more about this. There’s a humorous website called Stuff Christian Culture Likes, and mission statements should be added to it. Seems to me we already have some pretty clear mission statements that were spoken two thousand years ago, such as Matthew 25:45, Matthew 28:19-20, and 1 Thessalonians 5:14. Why add to ‘em?
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrmagoos57/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrW94iR0P7O7wE&feat=directlink faithlessinfatima

“I wonder what would happen if we universally decided to no longer embrace the whole goal-setting culture. What if we decided, instead, to just gather, like a family, and love each other and be openly welcoming to guests as well as those who would like to be adopted into our kin?”

I’m quite sure that not many wd welcome a religion of ‘Love yr neighbour as yrself and nothing more’ just yet….but one can hope
fishon

nakedpastor said, on June 5th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Why, when I say “let’s stop envisioning”, does everyone insist that this is visionary thinking?
————Simply because it is a vision you have for the community.
Discribe visionary thinking. Then we can compare your definition to what you hope, see, and try and convince others of.
fishon
fishon

finf,
What is wrong with goals? Jesus has goals for us. “Love your neigbor” is a goal Jesus has for us, wouldn’t you agree. Jesus had a goal for Peter, “Feed my sheep.” Jesus also has the goal that his Church will “go into all the World.” He also has a goal that his Church will use its talents and gifts for the kingdom.
fishon
Brenda

I had a church that had a different vision every year but they were all very simple; things like “Following God’s Call” or “Growing in God’s Love”. We all got to define those things as we wished. My current church does not even include the word God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit in its mission statement. I would much rather attend my previous church, but it is 600 miles away…..

Brenda
http://societyvs.wordpress.com/ societyvs

“What if we decided, instead, to just gather, like a family, and love each other and be openly welcoming to guests as well as those who would like to be adopted into our kin?” (NP)

Churches would collapse in on themselves with no one to ‘rule’ – lol.

I think we all know what we want from an ideal community – but people are very precise and picky – and come to Lord’s table with opinions, biases, and agenda’s. problem is, no one realizes they are trying to control the movement of God in Christian circles – and I think where your heading is freeing some of this up finally.
Jerri

I actually suggested this to our church leadership two years ago….
They thought I was crazy and said as much.
The bottom line is this:
I think the institutional ruts of the church are too deep and too many of us are afraid.
….and maybe we should be afraid.
God is a relentless and passionate lover. If we were to love as He loves, Iam convinced the world would erupt in blissful pandemonium.
http://www.ststephenspub.com joel mason

vision statements: the problem is that few people are good enough at bringing them through to their stated “goals.” That is why it feels or is useless. it feels that way because you spent that weekend and those prayers actually getting excited, only to see it fizzle.

If you can pull it through the long haul, do it. if you can’t, find another way to plan with your community (smaller goals maybe that take less energy).

Here’s my real beef dave. and this is a larger issue in me than just this blog post. I have ceased to believe that friendship is based on sameness (we’re really all the same, in our hearts, we’re seeking truth). friendship is based, again i say based, on difference. it is not just enriched by difference (as if our differences were cute little things), no they are the foundation for our communication and fidelity.
There is a myth that love means no pressure, that love means “i let you choose for yourself.” I like the sentiment, i really do. if it were possible, i would be in full support. but if we are not molded by one community, we are molded by another, there is no such thing as unbiased free choice. thus a relationship based on “no pressure” is one that ignores the differences that separate us and fuse us together; similarities are boring. the journey of people to and from God is a weird one to be sure. i truly don’t think we help the journey by pretending we “know” less than we do (read “know” as “have come to know” or “have been drawn into a community’s story by experience, discernment, mystery, and tradition”). Bonhoeffer’s “cheap grace” idea is challenging to me but helpful as we confront the terribly boring powers of this world.

thoughts….
http://www.ststephenspub.com joel mason

Sorry to be long, but for the sake of clarification! here is a blurb i wrote to a friend that I think describes the kind of balance I hope for in community life.

In my beginning conception of a healthy community, I envision (and have somewhat experienced) a process in which a person is guided strongly by the convictions they have ascented to in their community. the community also enforces this ascent. But there is something else. I hope for the kind of community which calls for a certain kind of rebelliousness in its members. There is a time and a place for a person to go into the desert to discern, to escape negative “group think.” In this way, the person might bring back a contrary and even prophetic perspective to the usual practices of his/her community.
So i’m dreaming of a “business as normal” conception of calling where the community’s story rules, but built in within the structure of that community is the call for prophetic and prayer-ful rebelliousness.
http://nakedpastor.com nakedpastor

Joel: thanks for your thoughtful comments. i can’t see the value in vision for a community at all, either large or small. i don’t think this disagreement with vision and goal-setting for a community is motivated by an inability to see goals through. it’s isn’t because i’ve been unsuccessful. it’s because i ideologically disagree with the concept. and your other comment, about being a member of a community while critical of it… well, IMO, that’s just being human and sane, isn’t it?
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrmagoos57/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrW94iR0P7O7wE&feat=directlink faithlessinfatima

Fishon…with respect to the examples(goals)that you give ,I have little disagreement…but biblical religion and contemporary culture haves provided some believers with goals that often demonize the outsider and ultimately dehumanize the believer…what shld be the goal…Truth or biblical religion?…..I think we err if we can only think that they are one and the same.
fishon

finf,
Biblical religion [NT], I would submit, has not “provided some believer with goals that….” It isn’t the teachings of the NT that provides the cruelty to demonize, but the mis-interpretation and quest for power that makes for cruel and dehumanizing goals. The blame must be placed in the right place, and the goals that Jesus taught are not the right place because none dehumanize man, but ultimatle lift mankind up.

When Paul called for the removal of the sinning man in 1 Cor., it wasn’t about power or dehumanizing him; it was about protection of the Body and the ultimate protection salvation of the man. That was the goal, but in many of todays religious societies, if we call for the removal of a sinner, we are deemed cruel and mean-spirited. However, if interpreted correctly, the goal of what Paul was teaching was the restoration of the man, so that he could be brought back into the community.

But alas, the two problems–those of the contemporary religious culture that says that is mean-spirited and those who love power and bullying who say, that man can never be a part of us again.

The goal of the truth of biblical religion is pure and not the problem, but man gets in the way, and becomes the problem.
fishon
fish
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrmagoos57/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrW94iR0P7O7wE&feat=directlink faithlessinfatima

Fishon…”.the truth of biblical religion is pure and not the problem”…I envy yr faith…human artifacts, especially religious narratives are rarely as pure as you might suggest…at best, I think the scriptures shld be a means and not an end, so in that sense need not be pure…they are merely signposts along the way…ultimately,we are the judges of what is pure or impure,higher or lower,right or wrong
fishon

finf,
The problem with signposts is that they constantly change with the times.
A 35 MPH sign now changes to 25 MPH, and you get ticketed because you have been driving that signpost for 10 yrs, and habit has set in. Now you pay a penalty. With the NT there is no changing; it is solid as a rock. The problem comes when man tries to change it–confusion.

Finf, who are the “we” of ‘we are the judges of what is pure….”
Be very careful with that answer. But I look forward to it.
fishon
http://stuffchristianculturelikes.com stephy

So good David. I think goal-setting makes us feel like we’re getting something done and can turn the focus to us and what we can accomplish instead of what God is doing in the big picture.
http://nakedpastor.com nakedpastor

thanks stephy
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrmagoos57/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrW94iR0P7O7wE&feat=directlink faithlessinfatima

Fishon…I wd disagree as to the ‘solidity’ of those documents…rather they appear to be much more mercurial ,but nonetheless revealing as to the evolving dynamics of a young faith under construction. Of course,the solidity claim is in the subject matter,not the writings themselves…that’s what I meant by signposts

As for the judgement comment, genocide,slavery,the subjugation of woman,etc. don’t become moral if we can teach that the Bible and thus The Lord sanctioned such behaviour. Morality can progress or digress…our value judgements depend on what we use as the grounds of our position.
fishon

Jesus didn’t sanction genocide, slavery, or subjugation of women. At least, not that I recall.

And where might those value judgements spring forth from?

Are all value judgements equal?
fishon
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrmagoos57/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrW94iR0P7O7wE&feat=directlink faithlessinfatima

Fishon….I wasn’t suggesting that he did ,but I offered those subjects as examples of things that most wd now find immoral,but some interpretations wd have to support. It’s difficult to think otherwise if you believe that God is the author of the book and the only agent necessary for revelation.If not ,then a proper discussion of morals, what they are and how they might progress or digress might follow.

I’m not sure in what sense are yr last two questions
fishon

Was asking in connection to your statement: our value judgements depend on what we use as the grounds of our position.

And from those different positions [what might they be?] are they all of equal value?
fishon
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrmagoos57/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrW94iR0P7O7wE&feat=directlink faithlessinfatima

Fishon….I apologize for my tardiness….not ignoring or unwilling to reply,got busy with a few important things….I’ll try to pick it up….

It’s interesting to think about morals and how we are such moral creatures.There are very few conversations ,especially when the subject is about a particular behavior in ourselves or others, that don’t involve a value judgement.We’re even willing to bend the rules as to what is right/wrong…sometimes stealing and lying can be good things….the’ Robin Hood’ or ‘White lie” effect. We can make the codes,but there are always exceptions to the rules.