Re-Calibration for the Soul
I think there’s something healthy about re-calibration. Re-calibration is helpful because, well, stuff changes.
The wheels on our car get out of line. We need a re-calibration to get the automobile working as it should.
The purpose of our business is no longer clear. We need a re-calibration to figure out what it is that we’re doing in the marketplace.
Our spines get misaligned from all the years of bad posture. We need a trip to the chiropractor to re-calibrate our bodies so they work properly.
We need to re-calibrate our ministries and churches as well. And often. This isn’t a new idea (Andy Stanley calls it “getting rid of the old couches”), but it certainly is one of the least-practiced ones.
Think about it: The group you were reaching five years ago is no longer the same. They have new ideas, new values, new beliefs and new visions. If you continue to do things in the way they’ve always been done, you’ll be reaching out to people who no longer exist. They’ve changed. If you don’t re-calibrate, all that time, energy and those resources will go to waste.
It’s a pain to get your car’s tires rotated and aligned. That’s why few of us ever actually do it. Going to the mechanic, sitting in a stuffy waiting room, paying someone for the work–a real pain. But the benefit? Your car works as it was intended to work. All because you were proactive.
What would happen if more of us took the time to re-calibrate our churches and ministries? If we pushed through the pain of change, the monotony of scrupulous evaluation and paying someone to do the work that needs to be done (or, conversely, stop paying someone for work that’s not getting done)?
What would that look like for you?
It's not new, because it's called “sabbath” (at least, sabbath seems to take care of most of what you're talking about without the need for couch-language).
There's a rather large difference between recalibration and recharging. Sabbath is meant for rest, for realizing you are a human 'being' not a human 'doing'. Rest has nothing to do with recalibration. Justin is making a plea that we rethink, revamp, and reorient our ministries and theologies because failure to do so will result in obsolescence. As he said, if we don't take the time to realign our ministries, “[we]’ll be reaching out to people who no longer exist.”
Jake… Usually we see eye-to-eye, but I'm afraid I might have miscommunicated.
All I'm suggesting is that we need to take time to realign our ministries when they've grown outdated. Is that what you were reading?
Yes, Kyle. Yes. Thank you for clarifying!
It's not new, because it's called “sabbath” (at least, sabbath seems to take care of most of what you're talking about without the need for couch-language).
There's a rather large difference between recalibration and recharging. Sabbath is meant for rest, for realizing you are a human 'being' not a human 'doing'. Rest has nothing to do with recalibration. Justin is making a plea that we rethink, revamp, and reorient our ministries and theologies because failure to do so will result in obsolescence. As he said, if we don't take the time to realign our ministries, “[we]’ll be reaching out to people who no longer exist.”
Jake… Usually we see eye-to-eye, but I'm afraid I might have miscommunicated.
All I'm suggesting is that we need to take time to realign our ministries when they've grown outdated. Is that what you were reading?
Yes, Kyle. Yes. Thank you for clarifying!