I have been thinking moire about this idea of what make a church effective. The more I think about this, the more I begin to realize that one of the problems that I am having is that I, like all of us, have this view of the world that says that when something is not working, all I need to do is find the flawed or broken part and replace it.
While that works with machines, it doesn't work with a living organism. In a living organism, you have to take into account the whole. The church is a living organism and it is a dangerous process to think that we can 'fix' something that we think is broken or not up to par and assume that the whole will be better. In relationship-based and living organisms, which the church is, health and effectiveness is measured not in how well oiled and smooth running things are, but in how they are doing at accomplishing their purpose.
A plant is desirable and effective as long as it is showing growth, able to or preparing to reproduce, and is contributing to the wider system. What would happen if we thought about churches from that perspective? What would it change in the way we saw them or evaluated them.
More on this later, I think.
