1/ Much of the evangelical world is still reeling from the mass resignation of Willow Creek’s leadership. There are some very thoughtful reflections on the situation and I’m particularly grateful for this by @KatelynBeaty: religionnews.com/2018/08/10/bea…
2/ Rather than set my attention on Hybels’ sin or the mistakes of leaders, as legit as those lessons may be, I see what’s unfolding as an opportunity to examine the dangerously fragile systems created by the Evangelical Industrial Complex. Much like Goliath...
3/ Megachurches appear large and powerful. We are impressed by their enormous influence and their undeniable effectiveness & efficiency. Why send thousands of Philistines into battle when a single Goliath can win the war? Likewise, why train and equip thousands...
4/...of pastors and ministers, why establish and maintain thousands of congregations, why manage the mess & inefficiency of so many churches when a single megachurch & celebrity pastor can reach millions? Why? Because Goliaths are fragile. He fell with a single stone...
5/...The same marketplace values of efficiency and effectiveness that have enamored evangelical churches have also made them dangerously fragile. We may now add Willow Creek to a growing list of megachurch implosions. Most were not brought down by...
6/...a complicated series of events. They were not sunk by unpredictable perfect storms, but by light drizzles of rain. They were not slain by attacking armies, but by single stones—usually a single leader’s departure for any number of reasons. I wonder what lessons...
7/... we will learn from Willow Creek? Will boards keep better watch over senior pastors’ communications? Good. Will they make sure a woman’s accusation of abuse or misconduct is taken seriously and fairly investigated? Very good. Will they focus on a leader’s...
8/... character more than their effectiveness? Very, very good. But that’s not enough. It’s time to have a serious conversation about the inherent flaws & fragility of the church model itself & the dangers even to the non-megachurches that emulate them. As Dallas Willard...
9/... often said, “Your system is perfectly designed to produce the results you are experiencing.” The system is producing a clear pattern of megachurch implosions, and it’s not just the result of character flaws in a senior pastor. That’s nothing new or unique to...
10/... megachurches. Consider the Roman Catholic Church. It’s had some terrible, immoral popes over the centuries. It’s been rocked by scandal, abuse of power, heresy, and depravity. Yet, it still stands. The RC church is not fragile. It is robust. It’s worth noting that...
11/... much of the Evangelical Industrial Complex will ridicule Catholic and Mainline churches for being irrelevant, inefficient, and not innovative. But how many 1980/90s era megachurches will still be ministering a century from now? It’s a tortoise and hare story, but that...
12/... doesn’t mean merely perpetuating an organization is the same as faithfulness to Christ’s mission. A church’s goal shouldn’t merely be survival, but the flourishing of the gospel in the lives of people living in intimate communion with God and one another. And that...
13/... requires models of leadership and structures of ministry that are the opposite of fragile. What author Nassim Taleb calls “antifragile.” A robust system can endure changes and stresses without collapse. But Taleb defines an antifragile system as one that...
14/... actually benefits from shocks. He says, “They thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors.” Think of muscles—they don’t just endure when put under stress, they actually become stronger. Muscles are antifragile...
15/... And that’s a very good description for the church we see both in Scripture and throughout much of history. When the first persecution hit the early church in Jerusalem (Acts 8), the disciples scattered, the church grew, and it became stronger. That’s antifragile...
16/... And the church is growing most rapidly in the most under-resourced, hostile parts of the world today. It’s a reminder that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness, and that he has designed his Church to be antifragile after the pattern of the cross. The forces of...
17/... evil believed they defeated Jesus on the cross. It was the “hour when darkness reigns,” but in truth it was the defeat of evil, the victory of Christ, and the beginning of the New Creation. The antifragile vision is at the center of our Gospel. But many of the church...
18/... models we have pursued betray this heritage because they are more enamored by the efficiencies of the marketplace than with the idiosyncrasies of God’s kingdom. Willow Creek has taught us many things over the years, but it’s greatest lesson for us may be...
19/... unfolding today. It’s teaching us that Goliaths are fragile. They are powerful, impressive, and undeniably efficient...but one little stone will fell them. Christ has called his Church, like his cross, to be antifragile. To only grow stronger as it engages the forces...
20/... that rage against it in the world. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Fin.
