Is the light going or is there a new day rising? Sometimes that is hard to tell and in many senses the answer in this transitionary sequence is both.
Dusk and dawn
The process we are considering (and it is important to remember that it is not marked by neat crossing over points) continues and there comes a time when the former phase of being is almost gone, but a new mode has not yet emerged. More has gone than has appeared – hence the lack of clear light.
How this time is worked with is very important.
Temptations arise to find something that works. This can be a solution from within, or the adoption of a model that seems to work elsewhere. To move to a solution too quickly must be resisted. In the chaos of not knowing the way forward the space and environment for creativity appears. The pain and even the confusion are the framework that will become the birth canal.
Premature births, and even still births, can take place, but this phase will teach us to learn to trust God and to enjoy being (seeking to resist the temptation of doing). Conversations will become so important in this phase, and the ability to listen to one another will become paramount.
There will also be some voices that probably raise a sound calling for a return to the old ways, or quickly push for a re-inventing of what has been.
However, there is no going back. There has been too much movement for there to be a return to the former thing. For those who are courageous and willing to take a risk (or for those who cannot do anything else!) there is another stage to come. It will not, and must not, come quickly for there has to be an effective detoxification from the old ways.
Inevitably there will be a sense of ‘two steps forward and one back’ and also of ‘one step forward and two back’. Overall though there will be movement forward and then clarity will begin to come into aspects of what needs to take place. The clarity will not be over the whole spectrum but into parts of the future. It will not be a time for a new ‘vision statement’ to be drafted, but a few green shoots will begin to emerge in a few random places. Take hope from that, but do not seek to make bold statements about what is taking place.
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7 Comments
Hey Martin, just to log my thanks for this series of thoughts.
I know some of the structural stuff and the earlier posts on organisational dynamics have been informed by some of the recent thinking on business organisations but these last two blog posts are going into territory that most of the business thinkers can’t go. Which is probably why it is getting exciting. What we are experiencing, I am sure, is something that redefines the deepest levels of identity, the ‘what we are’ questions. And this is something that is not really available to business leaders in quite the same way. The answer always comes back to them ‘you are a company and the law says this is what a company is’. Although the varieties of company that have been emerging for the last twenty years are doing a good job of blurring that definition, our place seems to be as part of something that goes so much deeper than shape into the values and implications of the very existence of the church.
This is the bit where we resonate with the disciples in that ‘what now?’ period after Jesus’ ascension. Not that we are returning to that point, of course, and there are two thousand reasons why we shouldn’t, and can’t. But it does remind me of the questions that must have been lived through so intensely before Acts could have been written as the story of the answer. My hope, I guess like yours, is that what we are really waiting for is a pentecost, a time for the executive direction and power of the Spirit. And for the rising of ten thousand Pauls to take us into places that no decent Christian would ever have thought of going, just as Saul did for the Jews.
So we look for each other in this, like looking for those who are converting, like looking at Peter, as you described, in his moment of transition when he responds to God’s challenge, “Do not call unclean that which I have cleansed”.
And the added bonus, for me, is that I like having my Sundays back as a day for sharing and reflection and all that goes with that.
Chris, I like your comments on this taking it into territory where business organisations cannot go. I would like to think that should be the case; that maybe there are constraints on business that is not on the body of Christ? A few more days on this theme and then a little selah so hope there will be some reflections from those engaged with these blogs… see what the landscape looks like. After all for those in Christ a whole new landscape appears.
If it is true and I am not sure it is but the greek thinking says that “nature abhors a vacuum” then it is true to say that the church historically has been even more passionate about the desire to fill up the gaps, where as it is the gaps that allow us to breathe and allow the new shape to take form. I thank God that in the words of Bono “The more you see the less you know The less you find out as you go I knew much more then than I do now” we may not agree with all that sentiment but I think there is a greater willingness now to be seekers of the Kingdom as opposed to being builders of the church which is where “being” allows us to find out what we should be doing as opposed to just doing more of the same. I think!
Just catching up after a few blog-free days. Some terrific stuff here. Does anyone else feel we’ve missed out on so much by failing to really listen to one another, particularly at the point where things began to come apart at the seams. At this stage, I had plenty of good conversations with people who, like my hubby and me, questioned and eventually stepped out of organised church – particularly evangelical/charismatic churches.
It was, I guess, always going to be tricky to listen/talk with those who were and are committed to that particular mode of church but now there’s a complete desert in terms of good, honest dialogue with friends and family who remained. There was plenty of conversation but no connection and that pattern has remained. Could it be different? Do we give up?
I still sometimes puzzle over why conversations with ‘a centre, not sides’ in this specific context are so full of tension (this is a phrase William Isaacs uses in his excellent and provocative book, Dialoge – the Art of Thinking Together. It’s all about having better conversations in business and in life). But maybe that’s part of the no going back, of exile.
Yes to all of the above – very perceptive insights to enable us to “hold the space” in this crucial stage. SO agree with Kate – the vital importance of learning to truly listen to one another. A major part of some of my work is that; to listen. “Hearing one another into speech” (perhaps “hearing one another into new identity”?) is a little phrase I’ve picked up along the way….
I think we need to develop a new way to listen – the kind of listening which is deep, Spirit-partnering listening; giving real attention to the heart of the other, resisting our usual default to formulating “my” answer as the other speaks….
I’m involved in a “listening” group which uses a contemplative style to corporately hear from the individuals present; it requires a degree of self-discipline and a commitment to stillness; but the outcome is always meaningful – and sacramental.
I would say that “Dusk and Dawn” is a major portion of where Adele & I are at.
All the major points you (Martin) bring up are happening to some degree with wherewe are at.
Kate . . . Wow! Spot on with your comments on listening & conversation.
Actually, good crunchies from everyone here. Trail-mix for people on the way . . .
Some really good stuff here. Especially liked Sue’s “hearing one another into new identity.”
For the last month been meditating on the question “Is there conflict in the Kingdom?” because there sure seems to be in the church. After much seeking, it seemed obvious, no there is not conflict in the Kingdom as conflict happens as a result of wants and needs not being met. They are met in the Kingdom. Where we are transitioning to is confluence. Being a better listener with honor and respect is the starting point. I’m from Northern California and evidence of this principle is manifesting. In the past, conflict resulted in denominations. Our future will be a flowing together in unity and true connection in the spirit.