Getting It Out There

OK. So you're sitting with a friend.

"Hey, I've got this great idea," he says.

"Wait. I've got an idea, too," says you.

"Shut up," he says. "Listen! Here's my idea: We should . . ."

"No! Let me say what my idea is, because I'm sure I've got the same idea as you!"

And you do. And it is.

Today I read one page of a book. And I wanted to shout, "No! Let me say what my ideas are, because I'm sure I've got the same ideas as you!"

So I will. I haven't read another paragraph. I want to get my ideas out here first. Then we'll see if we're cutting the same wave.

I've had these ideas swimming around in my head for a while. They've actually been percolating, like no-knead bread dough, between my ears for years. I'm not sure about them, and I don't know what to do with them exactly, but here they are, in no particular order.

• Doing church cannot be programmed. 
• When programming is successful the first time, it is because somebody was listening and following the directions of the Head.
• Our world, with its vast cultures and needs, cannot be served best by lock-step application of any one master plan.
• When successful  programming is bottled up like moonshine and sold around to other churches, it loses it's punch and becomes an impotent representation of the original.
• The further away the programming gets from the still in which it originated, the less powerful it gets until it is watered down to zero.
• You cannot use a template and think that God will produce the same results each time it is used in every place it is used for all time. Each place God shows up needs its own MO, crafted by a clever Holy Spirit, and given power by the Head.
• Our job is not to superimpose our plans, dreams, visions, on God. Our job is to listen, brew, and jump.
• The work of doing church cannot be localized in one person, or a team of people. Trust needs to be fostered to enable everyone to go where the Spirit is leading.
• Buzz words, trendy orchestrations, cute marketing schemes, and academic theological tendenz can't take the place of surrender and waiting.

Now I will read the rest of the book. We'll see if I'm right.