In the face of significant change and opportunity, I think we fall in one of 3 categories:
Uninformed people need information and insight in order to figure out what to do next. They are approaching the problem with optimism and calm, but they need to be taught. Uninformed is not a pejorative term, it’s a temporary state.
Clueless people don’t know what to do and they don’t know that they don’t know what to do. They don’t know the right questions to ask. Giving them instructions is insufficient. First, they need to be sold on what the platform even looks like.
And frightened people will resist any help you can give them, and they will blame you for the stress the change is causing. Scared people like to shoot the messenger. Duck. I think the worst kind of frightened person is one with power. Someone in a mob of other frightened people, someone with a gun, someone who is the CEO. When confronted with a scared leader, time to run. Before someone can change, they have to learn, and before they learn, they have to cease being scared.
One reason so many big ideas come from small organizations is that there is far less fear of change at the top. There is nothing too lose. I wonder if we should reward the risk-taker that fails than the stagnant, scared leader.
Main Idea: Comfort the frightened, coach the clueless and teach the uninformed.
WOW!!!!! I believe I may have shot a few people in my day… And I think I’ve been hit! LOL!!!! Awesome Matthew! I learned something in study a couple of weeks ago that was life changing for me yet so simple (simple, hmmm, sounds like me doesn’t it?). “Meanness preceives a threat”. That’s it. When I start feeling like lashing out at someone, being mean to them, I need to stop and ask myself where this is coming from? What am I afraid of whether it be real or imagined to cause me to react this way? And when someone is being mean to me, I need to stop and ask myself the same question… Eye opening…
I like this post, and God knows I love to shake things up. But I gotta dig deeper here… before the change, motives of the heart should certainly spring up as part of the discussion. The view of change to some may be a stumbling block or a perceived power grab. I’ve had my disagreements with many traditional folks in the past, and I’ve come to understand that their best environment to serve and love God is one in which I shrivel up and die, because my brain simply functions differently. Changing their environment, while it may be far better for me and plenty of others, would shake their faith much like the Jewish exiles. They may need to be exiled, but I can’t force them to do it, and I don’t want to answer to God for their lack of growth in the sunset years of their life.
I still think they are missing the whole picture though, and for that reason, I accept the change I believe you are envisioning for Antioch. I trust you because I trust God and the position he’s brought you to here. I remain available as a lump of clay for Him as you work to grow the kingdom in Washington.