Models

We think through building models. Think of them as lenses, blueprints, and maps. They tell us where we are going, what outcomes we are seeking, and  determine how we see the world.

When Europeans “discovered” America and began the great Columbian exchange-they filtered their experience through the models they already had. The island chain they discovered they called the “West Indies” because they were operating within a model that told them they were close to India. They later found out they were incorrect but the name stuck.

A part of new discovery, innovation, and change is revising models to reflect the new reality. And here the church is…smack dab in the middle of a new world. Social Distancing. Virtual Worship. No-touch Pastoral care. It’s not what we expected as February turned to March, and now it’s April and we are like Columbus and his peers looking for the dragons we assume are just beyond the horizon.

We need to be revising our models. Now. While we cannot gather. Before the new normal begins. This is the time to exercise  the muscles of creativity and to be intentional about the lenses, blueprints, and maps we use to understand ministry.

Jesus addressed this sort of issue the way He addressed lots of things-through story.

“Luke 5:36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. Luke 5:37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. Luke 5:38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.” (Luke 5:36–38 ESV)

Unfortunately, we like our wineskins-we fall in love with our models-and they become less and less effective when the world changes. What wineskin issues are you addressing? How are you thinking through and adjusting your mental models? How are you preparing for a new world of ministry?

Don’t assume that “there be dragons!” Maybe the Lamb was leading us here all along.
That’s just my personal Bobservation.