I recently read The Internet is Not the Answer by Andrew Keen. (Read my review here, and then go read the book itself!) While I was reading it, I had several thoughts that I’ll be sharing with you over the next few weeks, the first of which is just how interconnected Silicon Valley is.
Some of the founders of major Web 2.0 companies were a part of failed Web 1.0 companies and several have now gone on to found and/or fund new tech companies. At first, I wanted to call this a bit incestuous, but then I realized that this isn’t a negative. It’s a positive. In this sense, the culture of Silicon Valley is a healthy one in that it’s foster new life. (Let’s not chase that analysis too deeply because there are a ton of negative aspects of this culture, most covered fairly well in Mr. Keen’s book.)
Silicon Valley is an interconnected community of entrepreneurs and leaders, and this is where I wish the Church was headed.
Under-Churched
A few months ago, an established church in a community about forty-five minutes from my town established a new church plant.
In my town.
A block from my church.
I was not happy about this. I wasn’t fuming, but I was angry because I felt like this church was intentionally or, at the least, inventively encroaching upon my church’s turf. Fortunately, God’s not as stubborn, prideful, or as short-sighted as me. My town is fairly small: it’s a village, in fact, of less than 10,000. If everyone in my town decided to go to church, in town, on Sunday…there wouldn’t be enough parking, seats, kids’ workers, donuts (for the adults), or Goldfish crackers (for the toddlers). Clearly, this church plant isn’t unneeded. My town, like most, is under-churched.
So rather than being upset by a church plant, I need to be fostering life.
Fostering Life
The Church needs to foster life. Local churches who are healthy, growing, or at least stable need to be looking around for ways to advance God’s Kingdom by planting churches. Rather than thinking that a community has too many churches, maybe we should start thinking that each town needs one more active church. That’s not to imply that most churches are inactive, but it’s human nature to get comfortable and then get complacent. Thus, a town that’s “full” of churches, might actually be lacking an active church committed to evangelistic-discipleship.
That being said, pastors and churches need to be fostering life in the Church by planting local churches who can engage new communities in new ways in order to made new disciples. A “successful” pastor who has an established church and has a track record for mentoring his staff so that they can mentor/disciple others really ought to be helping church plants and church planters. The same goes for churches who are actively making disciples and have been blessed by God with fat bank accounts: spread the wealth and speed the light!
So, does all of this mean that I’m going to be volunteering at this? No. But my church is going to be helping a church plant, from within our denomination, in the next town over.
Baby steps.
How can your church increase it’s interconnectivity to foster life in the Church?
[Top image via Pulpolux !!! via Compfight cc & sprout image via MrWoodnz via Compfight cc]
Eric Dye says
I think it comes down to power. Everyone wants to be in the drivers seat calling the shots. Our pride is what prevents us from this—imo.
Phil Schneider says
I agree, but I think fear is a big factor. Pastors put a ton of effort into their people, knowing full well that many of them are so immature/shallow that they’ll jump ship as soon as a flashier church opens up.