Wednesday, January 28, 2004

A snobs journey

OK, so I’m a snob. Now that’s clear, I need to weed through my life. How did I end up a snob?


Please, as you read this, don’t try and put names and places to my story. It’s my snobby narrative and I don’t want it used to think bad of any other people. It’s about me OK?

You see, I started out as a bright young thing in what would become a sort of NZ mega-type church. Along the way I realized that some of my mates were dropping out of the mega-type thing. So I began to ask whether they were “back-sliding” or what? Part of this was Graceway, and a journey with a great group of people, together learning about being real, being creative. A lot of healing, a lot of creating, a lot of redeeming went on.

Then along came what I call the “heresy trial”; on the mat, back at mega-type HQ. Never told what was wrong, but funding was suddenly an issue. This was a very painful period of my life, watching those I had loved and respected inflict some pretty painful wounds in me.

So I’ve been whacked about a bit, experienced a personal lack of space for innovation from larger church places. And I don’t want to see another young leader go through what I’ve gone through.

So God bless the large church. And I mean that. But my life experience makes me a bit wary of the relationship between institution and innovation.

In fact, I have a whole folder of “papers” on innovation I’ve given to various institutions. A waste of a few trees really.

So I believe that God uses all sorts of shapes and sizes, from Balaam’s ass (Numbers 22) to Jael’s tent peg (Judges 4). And I believe in Easter Friday and Sunday, that God can redeem; me, mega and emerging. So I plug away within institutions. That’s the call of God on my life. But I hate to see another bright young thing on the mat at mega-type HQ. Because it’s been a really hard place to be.

There. A snob’s story. Never before told on-line. I’m trusting you OK. It’s not for guessing and adding names and making connections.

Posted by steve at 06:42 PM

1 Comment

  1. Steve- well I have called you many things but snob was not one of them. I susoect the snobbery comes along by the way you want to stand up for those on the margins – but can so easily forget about those close by. I remeber using the term snob od someone else that we both know quite well in how he treated and spoke to me… Watch you don’t fall into the same trap. If the mega churches are buying in then is that such a bad thing – we were here first, we may never sell as many books as the mega churches do on the subject, but then God called us to be trailblazers not settelers.
    Peace – I do enjoy reading the blog – it gets the juices going

    Comment by michael — January 29, 2004 @ 1:17 pm

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