I Can See Clearly…
As I started reading A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix by Edwin Friedman I said to myself, even if you do not like this book you have to find something about it you can connect with, after all Dr. Clark really likes this book. That being said I had no problems finding something I like in this book. In fact, I know it is impossible to read all of the book for a post this one is definitely going to my side desk so I can reread it in its entirety.
There is so much to like in this book. I am a fan of history. I know there are many who find it monotonous but I love history. So when Friedman begins with the beginnings of the Renaissance having its roots in the voyage of Columbus I was hooked. As I read further I began to understand this book was not a history book at all but I was intrigued at Friedman’s assertion that the main reason for Europe to have come out of the Medieval time was the voyage of Columbus, and yet not even him but his predecessors who burst through the imaginary line of the equator in searching out the world. I found it fascinating when he revealed someone born in 1492 would have witnessed “the flowering of artistic imagination, the Reformation, the invention of the watch, observations of space and experimentation with lenses and the publication of the first newspaper” [1] You find the same type of leap forward for someone born in the 1930’s, the car, the jet plane, computers, cell phones etc. Friedman also compares the two ages in saying the time we live in now mirrors the Dark Ages for several reasons. He calls this an “imaginative gridlock” He argues, and I believe rightly so, that American culture is gridlocked the same way European culture was before the Renaissance. He the stuck nature of our culture resembles that of Europe at that time in that we have our own “equators” that we are afraid of going over. Just like the sailors before Columbus were afraid they would fall off the Earth, we too have irrational fears that keep us from leaping forward.
I loved his characteristics of a gridlocked system, “an unending treadmill of trying harder, looking for answers rather than reframing questions and either/or thinking that creates false dichotomies. [2] It was within this discussion that I completely bought into this book. I read about the issues of a culture/family and I see the same issues at the heart of the church today. I see it within my self, if I just work harder I can turn around what is happening in my church. If I look for new answers to the age old question, “Why do churches seem so inner focussed?” so I can fix the problem. I have thought I had the problem solved many times only to find I was completely wrong. So when I am reading through the foundations of this book I can see the church. It is not hard to find book after book and article after article on church growth, or breaking through certain barriers. Whether they are attendance barriers or attracting a certain group or changing the outreach of the church you will never lack in finding someone to give you the “secret” to doing it. I have come to the conclusion that there is no catchall answer, (I know that is probably obvious). What Friedman’s book argues is that it is not about getting more information or data but to reframe the question that is being asked. He states, “The willingness to encounter the unexpected that Columbus and these other explorers manifested not only can free minds from their sets’ it also enables us to imagine the unimaginable. And no society can continue to evolve as long as it makes cloistered virtues supreme.”[3] So what I start to see is that a church is a society which is cloistered around what they want in church, not what is best for reaching out. How does a church begin to change its outlook? It begins at the beginning. No, I do not mean planting a new church in an already choked community. I mean, as churches we need to start back at the beginning of our time with Jesus. There are so many in churches who think they are mature Christians and yet they sit back and are unable to see past their own equators. By that I mean this, they cannot imagine doing things in a different way because they have seen it come and seen it go and the one thing that remains the same is them. If churches were full of mature Christians, fully discipled Christians, then we would not have a inner focus problem. A fully mature Christian realizes it is not about my wants and needs, it is all about being obedient to Christ and reaching a lost world as we are called to do.
I hear so many Christian leaders disparage the herd mentality of this world. The problem is though, we in church have that same mentality. We are not part of the herd of self need and self wants, we are sheep in the Great Shepherds flock and we are to listen to His voice above all. That is where change needs to happen in the church, we need to do a better job of discipleship and that will, in turn create a focus on the world and its need for a savior.
[1] Friedman, Edwin H., Margaret M. Treadwell, and Edward W. Beal. A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix. New York: Church Publishing, 2017.14.
[2] Ibid. 38
[3] Ibid. 52.
About the Author
Jason Turbeville
A pastor, husband and father who loves to be around others. These are the things that describe me. I was a youth minister for 15 years but God changed the calling on my life. I love to travel and see where God takes me in my life.10 responses to “I Can See Clearly…”
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Jason,
I think we get so comfortable that we ourselves have a hard time seeing around this gridlock system. I too appreciated this concept (and need to read more about it) and have seen in my own life and ministry how there was a temptation to become “gridlocked”.
Being a herd-like follower of Jesus yet not shutting off our brain completely is a paradox that we do need to challenge our people (and ourselves ) too.
Greg,
In one sense we are a herd, man I had not even considered that even though I know it. So we have to figure the right herd to follow. The paradox is which way for follow within the church.
Jason
Jason,
Yes, when Dr. J says he likes a book, we should pay attention for sure. After reading your comments on church problems, who can fix it, and how there is no “secret” to doing it was frustrating. And then, you brought obedience to Christ into the picture, and everything became clear again. Thankyou. While you might not be able to fix the problems, you can identify the cause of the problems; sin. Yep, dirty old sin spread over everything we try to fix. Knowing the cause, the source, and the problem actually gives me hope in Christ and keeps me centered in Him, wearing the armor of God, so that thru Him strongholds can be torn down for His purposes and glory.
Stand firm,
M .Webb
Mike,
I was just as frustrated as you, the problem is obedience to Christ can be a murky thing within a church. For example, when I was a youth minister there was a group of girls who participated in a program called Acteens. They have a once every four years conference and a few years back it was at Disney World and the leadership brought it to me. After looking over the schedule, the thing that struck me was how little time was spent in the conference and how much time was spent at Disney having fun. They wanted to fund raise for this instead of a mission trip and I just felt that it was not a good thing. I spent time in prayer and informed the girls to a flood of tears so I thought use this for a teaching moment, I asked everyone to pray for one week about what God said to do. I had already spent 2 weeks in prayer about this because this was a “sacred cow” in this church. A week later the same thing I just felt God was saying use the opportunity to go help a community in Oklahoma and the girls and their leader wanted to go to Disney. I lost and there was no mission trip that week. The girls raise three times as much money it would have taken to go to a mission trip to go essentially play. It was God’s will is what I heard but I was sure it was not. That is the hard part of seeking God’s will in an inward seeking church.
Jason
Yes, I really like the idea of reframing questions. The pastor at the Hong Kong Saddleback church said something siilar. He said something like, “answers are easy–google does that. The hard thing is asking the right questions.”
I wonder how you might reframe your question to help your church become more outreach oriented?
Jenn,
I was struck by the pastor at Saddleback as well. In fact that same statement has been running through my mind lately. How do I reframe the question is the hard part.
Jason
Jason,
I’m a history lover too so I understand your immediate connection to this book. I also feel that I want to ‘finish’ this book at some point in the future. (It might just have to wait until we graduate!)
You were open about the ‘fixes’ you have bought into when trying to move your church in a new direction. Now that you have begun to grasp Friedman’s work how do you think this will inform your efforts in the future? When you lead the church in a direction that some or many find uncomfortable and you ‘hear’ about it or some leave what will be your response? Do you see the response being different then it might have been prior to this book?
Dan,
I think the key to reframing the question and moving a church through changes is having a bunch of small conversations, moving slowly and loving them through it. I am starting to see a change and am loving the time I am spending with them.
Jason
Jason,
Thanks for your observations this week. I especially liked your highlighting the metaphor of “crossing the equators” in our gridlocked systems. It takes a great adventurous spirit to break away from the herd, and I pray you will keep discovering that as you lead your church to realize its pathway of missional service as being the calling of the church.
Jason, yeah the connection to the dark ages really shocked me. Its hard for me to think of myself as someone living in the dark ages, but if Im only living in fear then I essentially am.
your ending point was excellent. We have herd mentality inside the church too, amongst the the sheep and the goats!