Thinking in Church
Saturday, October 18th, 2008The five last bastions of thinking are the car, the john, the shower, the church or synagogue, and the gym.
So says Joey Reiman, a “top” innovation consultant and CEO of BrightHouse (Inc. Magazine, June 2008, 102-03). On a page devoted to the topic, “how the creative stay creative,” the ideas included recommendations for organizations to:
• provide reflection-conducive space and time to think
• seek out diverse constituents
• reach across disciplines by inviting “luminaries” to speak and hang out
• publish inspiring thoughts, pictures, and articles for consumption by the group and beyond
• encourage flexibility by mixing up who does what on temporary teams to accomplish projects
• reward good ideas
and suggestions for individuals to:
• do something new, never before attempted
• be open to critique, ready for constructive interchange rather than defensive monologue
The notion that the church is a place to THINK is not commonly understood in our culture, but it’s spot-on. Far from being the “opiate of the masses,” the church community challenges participants to grapple with ideas of life-changing and world-impacting scope, to interpret scripture and bring it to bear on the given scenario of our complicated lives.
But how does the church score on displaying and encouraging creativity? This seems to vary a whole lot more from congregation to congregation, but in general we could do much better in this area.
In the beginning, God created…