Towels, tears, trust...

The conversation with elders or board members have to start with trust. That is difficult because we base a lot of trust on consistancy, comfort, continuity, and conformity. I don't think those are bad words. We all do it. Is someone going to come in here and mess with us and disrupt our lives. We want things to keep at a certain level of equilibrium and bringing in a new philosophy can disrupt many patterns, processes, and the power structure.

So people are going to naturally be resistant at first. Many things have to be clarified, conversed, compromised before anyone will be open to change. The process needs to begin before the program does.

We found because of some lack of communication with the proper people, it caused needless anxiety on the board. Key people were kept out of the loop. This deals with power and control. You are going to get none of it if you go around the persons with the control. Nor should you ever. I learned that. A hostile takeover is different, surprise is important. The Kingdom is not hostile. It brings love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. NO HOSTILE TAKE OVER. It is yeast in the dough. It is, as we discussed yesterday, more like folding in the ingredients than forcing them in.

I am not naive. I can be very strategic. I can be a survivor and set up alliances and vote people off the island. But the Kingdom is not about that. It is setting up alliances for the sake of love, not power.

There are some key points that we are working with. Is this group a part of the "morning service" church? If there is interactivity instead of a single person speaking during the sermon, what happens if someone says something that is in err how will they be corrected? Will it pay for itself? Are they interested in doing things with the rest of the church? ...Nothing too huge.

I do not want you to think I am against anyone of these people who spend countless hours praying and thinking about the structure of the church. Someone has to. They are thinking about preserving property, programs, and personnel. That is part of their responsibilities. A major part. These people are thinking about attracting people to a place to hear the gospel and for salvation to happen. They want to reach the lost and hurting. They have created working organisms that take care of many things. Education, experiences, equipment for the Kingdom. So they are asking, "why repair something if they can't see the malfunction/"

The conversation must include people who have done good things with people who see new things. This will always take towels, tears, and trust...

I will keep you in the loop...