Friends,
Peg Batcheller (New Mexico) sent me the blog below from Seth Godin. I think it bears on one of the rhythms of our MRT Experiment - that is, spending five minutes each day to engage with the MRT Community.
BTW, I'm going to experiment with sending out a new blog post every other day for a while. My thinking is that we need more time to interact with the comments on one post before jumping to something new. (So, on the "non post" days, may I ask you to invest your five minutes in the comments from the last post.)
For instance, in response to the last post about inviting people to self select into or out of a group, Mark Willis (Chicago) asks a very important question:
How do you really know what you're getting into if the community has not yet formed?
To say this another way, where do the "clear expectations" that serve as the "filter" come from before a community is formed. Take a look at my response and see if you agree. (BTW, this question has huge implications for the "birthing" of house churches.)
In the mean time, enjoy Seth below.
John
You rock.
This is deceptive.
You don't rock all the time. No one does. No one is a rock star, superstar, world-changing artist all the time. In fact, it's a self-defeating goal. You can't do it.
No, but you might rock five minutes a day.
Five minutes to write a blog post that changes everything, or five minutes to deliver an act of generosity that changes someone. Five minutes to invent a great new feature, or five minutes to teach a groundbreaking skill in a way that no one ever thought of before. Five minutes to tell the truth (or hear the truth).
Five minutes to invest in the MRT Experiment. :-) JW
Five minutes a day you might do exceptional work, remarkable work, work that matters. Five minutes a day you might defeat the lizard brain long enough to stand up and make a difference.
And five minutes of rocking would be enough, because it would be five minutes more than just about anyone else.
Here's the link to Seth's blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/03/you-rock.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29
In our frenetic world, where it seems that opportunities to spend one's time on good, beneficial pursuits and activities are like the sand on the seashore, it is extremely difficult to always know what to keep and what to discard. The reality is that we simply cannot do everything. Personally, I think this is one of Satan's most useful ploys, at least in America - if he can't get us to quit doing good things, he'll overwhelm us with good things; keep us so busy doing God's work that we lose sight of God. My struggle is that there are so many good things upon which I can spend five minutes per day. I don't really want to be anyone's rock star, but I would very much like to be sheltered in the cleft of the Rock. I don't really want to be "a mile wide and an inch deep." I am a slow thinker; it takes some percolating for me to sort out what I should think about new ideas. With that said, I think an every-other day approach to the MRT blog is helpful.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of "every other day" to give us a chance at diving deeper into comments - and maybe this is just my lizard brain talking - but I think you posting something each day (even simply posting a comment from the previous day's post) is helpful because it lands in my inbox each morning, reminding me about my "5 minutes a day" commitment. Maybe its just me - but I would have a harder time coming here each day if not for a friendly inbox reminder. :)
ReplyDeleteOf course, I've been able to go to facebook every day without reminders...
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With regard to "rocking" 5 minutes a day - I think that our whole day we ought to be anticipating those 5 minutes. They don't just happen accidentally (most of the time). Those 5 minutes are the result of scheduling your day around the skills you have and the way God has sculpted you...as well as years upon years of preparation for those 5 minutes each day.
A man walked up to a famous artist just putting the finishing touches on his work of art and said, "Wow! That's incredible! Some of the most beautiful, most realistic art I've ever seen! How much are you asking for that painting?"
The artist replied, "$20,000 dollars."
The man said, "Goodness! That's a lot of money. I mean, really, do you need to charge that much? You've only been working on that painting for a few days!"
"Well, actually, I've been working on this painting for my entire life."
We may "rock" for 5 minutes a day - but its only through a lifetime of dogged pursuit.
John, I believe you are hearing God in going to every other day. I was away from my computer for a few days, & in back-tracking through these blogs I saw so much that I missed, and I had to hurry to catch up with the rest of the blogs. I agree w Ron. This is the 3rd time I heard that quote this past week, so I think God is saying something here about being too busy working in the Kingdom that I'm missing the King.
ReplyDeleteI like what I'm seeing in these posts, and I'm gaining some different perspectives on everyone's strengths and practices. I think that is on John's heart for this MRT experiment. How does this stretch us, and how does it help us connect with other church planters? The more I know everyone, the more likely I am to partner with you all and refer others to you. Someone recently used the term "knitting and netting" the body of Christ. I like that. This is a good place to do this.
Blessings to you all.... Have a great day!
Mark, I like your comment. We don't just appear here in the glory of a few moments. God has been carefully refining these lumps of clay for years and years. We are a product of His creative hands. God has done a great thing in us.... in me... over a long and sometimes grueling, journey. I'm glad we are using His skillful design to bless one another during these 5 minutes in our lifetime.
ReplyDeleteWe (two workers in Hawai'i) like the move to every other day posts. Honestly, it has been difficult for us to catch on to the conversations that have been going on recently. We were hoping for a few more "relating-with-real-people" stories from the revolution but we understand too the need for the "scientific" discussions among the pipe-laying crew. We were hoping for more stories about how each of you are relating to post-Christendom people. We're trying to figure out how to do that ourselves without wearing the necktie and name tag. Perhaps our situation is different from everyone else? Are there others out there who are trying to figure out how to operate as undercover missionaries? Or, are most of you known to your community as outright religious workers? We'd love to hear stories from you about John, Sally, Hank, or whoever they are. (You obviously don't need to use their real names.)
ReplyDeleteI guess, our problem is that we have too much action going on here in the midst of our neighborhood, workplaces, and house church. It seems that the relationships around us are eating up our time and energy. Maybe we're the only ones, but it seems difficult for us to get to the computer every single day and spend 5 minutes on this. (I know we're all thinking, "Well, you make time for the things you want to do!") You all are fantastic writers and thinkers and sometimes we catch ourselves saying, "How did they get all of that out in 5 minutes?!"
Anyway, thank you everyone for letting us ramble like crazy people who have become simpletons since getting out of seminary. Hopefully, in the future we'll have something more profound to say. Until then, we hope your day is filled with awesome missional episodes in the lives of those lovely people around you. God be with you.
Anonymous in Hawaii (sounds a little like sleepless in Seattle!) said...
ReplyDeleteWe were hoping for a few more "relating-with-real-people" stories from the revolution but we understand too the need for the "scientific" discussions among the pipe-laying crew.
My response...
Keep on me about this. I know I can get into the theory too much and it's the stories that are so powerful. I've got a good one from Chadd coming up in a couple of days.
And, obviously, we need everyone in the MRT Community to be story collectors. Send them to me when you see them.
Anonymous in Hawaii,
ReplyDeleteYour post seems to relate to some things God put on my heart this morning. Lately my life has begun to seem very complicated. I work as a teller at a local credit union making just enough to support my wife, whose working on her Masters, and myself. I am still involved with my cohort from grad school (MRNA), I am involved in the MRT community, we have a house church we meet with on a weekly basis, and am just trying to keep up with life ontop of all of this.
So i was sharing this with God this morning, and just felt an overwhelming appreciation for my wife. In the midst of all this chaos, she is there and we are together and love each other just because. Sure, there are many reasons that we fell in love, but i don't think i can put any concrete reason to why i feel the way i do about her. It is a love beyond reason. I was struck of the simplicity of the love, and henceforth God's love for me. I began to realize that in the midst of great visions for the Kingdom of God, what was sustaining me was this simple love with my wife. Maybe deep down part of me wants to share some of God's glory in all of this, but i was not created to share in that Glory. i was created to experience the Glory of God's simple love. The love he reveals in such relationships, like i have with my wife and my best and most closest friends. It is out of those relationships that i am energized and given sustenance for the journey of life and love with the greater Bride of Christ. The thing i felt God shared with me this morning that it is this simple love that is the building block, the DNA, of the Kingdom.
Austin
Two thoughts stand out for me in this thread.
ReplyDeleteOne) I'm curious if there are types of stories we are looking for or if anything goes? Would you like to here about the planning process of a city-wide house church event? Would you like to hear about the sending process for one of our house churches in starting a new one? Would you like to hear when I have a significant listening experience? All or some; do we have a criteria?
2) I have appreciated things like 5 minutes a day or "experiment" language in replacement of goal-oriented language. I have found myself frustrated with goal setting; it creates anxiety in me that emerges from some past failures. More specifically, I think we failed because we were running out ahead of God. Something about this try it and see mask on top of goals has been helpful for me in a way that gives me courage and makes me feel like I am more in tune with God in the process.
To Anonymous in Hawaii. I started out the 5 minutes a day in the MRT thing doing pretty close to 5 minutes. Now that the routine is established I find it important to share as a contribution to you all. I don't usually know what will be a blessing or what will be wasted space. I move forward in posting believing that something that connects with me may connect with you and also believing that I need to be present for the community if I am to be part. So, I have started going over on 5 minutes occasionally to find the thing worth exploring. There has seemed to be a lot of reading lately which has made it take longer. I don't think of myself as very articulate at all, just experimenting :) Aloha
Several have mentioned the 'experimental' nature of living in Father's will. The problem with being goal-driven is not that goals are bad, but that the only goals that matter are Papa's goals. Running ahead of him is OK as long as we turn and look before we go too far. Keep checking, keep watching, keep listening, keep following.
ReplyDeleteJesus said 'I do only what my Father does, I say only what I hear my Father say.' We need to live that way too, don't we?
How can we do that except by watching, listening, and doing what we see him do and hear him say.
What's the difference between watching and listening? Perhaps paying attention to the stories we tell one another is a good way to watch him at work, while VIRKLER is a good way to listen. Any other thoughts on that?