Monday, November 03, 2008
Style and Tone
MMI carries an Alan Nelson piece on the role of rules:
For example, Nelson discusses a relatively trivial problem inside a church:
But I wonder if the people that grabbed the couches, had they been a bit more thoughtful, just a bit more energetic, and certainly as concerned about those concerned about the couches as they were about the people at the event might not have found some alternative means of seating. Likewise, I wonder if those concerned about the couches had bothered to pitch in for the event could not have been there to assist with finding that alternative means of seating instead of just griping about it afterwards.
See, what matters here is not the rules, but the grace with which the rules are applied.
I always wonder about this when it comes to the Old Testament laws. There are many we no longer abide by. Certainly the dietary ones, and I also often reflect on the rules of commerce wherein there are debt forgiveness laws, sabbatical years, jubilee years, etc. Oh sure, we have all sorts of wonderful and deep thought about why we no longer need to worry about them. But I cannot help but wonder if, in God's perfect created world, or in Christ's perfect, recreated world we would not and will not find those rules fully in force?
If they are in force in those worlds, it will be without the rancor and effort necessary to abide by them today - because people, absent the sin that weighs on us all and truly transformed into what we were created to be, will not view them as "rules" but as a natural expression of who we are.
Concentrating on the rules is missing the point - almost entirely.
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The big question is "Are you a rule keeper or a customer keeper?" An empowered team understands the importance of providing front-end people with the authority to make the right decisions for the customer in a given situation. Translated to the church, the question becomes "Are my team members told that they're empowered to make decisions that make sense?" Do you affirm this by telling stories of people who do?I'd like to suggest that the balance here is not in finding the right moderate set of rules, but in having the right people dealing with them.
Every church culture is different. I've been in some churches where I could tell that the fear of the senior pastor, board, or treasurer thwarted people from being creative, flexible, and responsive to people as needs arose. Of course, the antithesis of this is a church where there are no rules and everyone just sort of does his or her own thing...
For example, Nelson discusses a relatively trivial problem inside a church:
I coordinated the first Super Bowl party they’d ever done, as a community outreach. When the crowd overwhelmed the seating, I instructed the team to go into the halls and push in the comfy couches from the lobby. The next week in staff meeting, I heard about it.I look at that story and I say that both sides had legitimate concerns. A Super Bowl party is not very conducive to the maintenance of what may have been very expensive, very well appointed furniture. Likewise condemning what may have been a very good, very effective event on the basis of that single issue lacked a certain grace.
But I wonder if the people that grabbed the couches, had they been a bit more thoughtful, just a bit more energetic, and certainly as concerned about those concerned about the couches as they were about the people at the event might not have found some alternative means of seating. Likewise, I wonder if those concerned about the couches had bothered to pitch in for the event could not have been there to assist with finding that alternative means of seating instead of just griping about it afterwards.
See, what matters here is not the rules, but the grace with which the rules are applied.
I always wonder about this when it comes to the Old Testament laws. There are many we no longer abide by. Certainly the dietary ones, and I also often reflect on the rules of commerce wherein there are debt forgiveness laws, sabbatical years, jubilee years, etc. Oh sure, we have all sorts of wonderful and deep thought about why we no longer need to worry about them. But I cannot help but wonder if, in God's perfect created world, or in Christ's perfect, recreated world we would not and will not find those rules fully in force?
If they are in force in those worlds, it will be without the rancor and effort necessary to abide by them today - because people, absent the sin that weighs on us all and truly transformed into what we were created to be, will not view them as "rules" but as a natural expression of who we are.
Concentrating on the rules is missing the point - almost entirely.
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