The Experience Trap

This is from one of my favorites, MARK BATTERSON. Though not directly support related, there are some points that apply; and it all applies to the work to which the Lord has called us, and the work which is enabled by our supporters:

A few years ago I read a book by R.T. Kendall titled The Anointing. I memorized something he said because it's so true: "The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday."

One of my greatest fears is that I would lose my innovative edge. I never want to become a closed-system. That's why I read like crazy. That's why I go to conferences. That's why I do reconnaissance at other churches. It boils down to this: you never arrive. And if you think you have, it's the beginning of the end. One of my fall back verses is I Corinthians 8:2: "He who thinks he knows does not yet know as he ought to know." Translation? The more you know, the more you know how much you don't know!

Did some research this week on what is commonly referred to as the experience trap. On one level, experience is important. We need a deep knowledge of our domain. But if we aren't careful, old methods can blind us to new possibilities. I wrote a little bit about the heuristic bias in Wild Goose Chase. It is the tendency to think the way we've always thought and do it the way we've always done it. Another way of saying it is this: at some point, most of us stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing ministry out of memory.

I have a core conviction: there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. We also have a core value: everything is an experiment. But in order to maintain a culture of innovation, you have to believe that there might be a better way. Over the years, we've tried to periodically put everything we do on the table. We don't want any sacred cows. If a service isn't working, we'll kill it. If we need to shift sermon strategy, so be it. If we need to radically change our small group structure, we'll do it. Going to a free market system of small group wasn't just one of the most important decisions we ever made. It fosters innovation because we expect our leaders to get a vision from God and go for it.

I really think it comes down to this: stay humble and stay on your knees. Thank God for experience! It fuels wisdom. But let's not let it blind us to new possibilities!

I love the church. I bleed the church. And I believe our best days are in front of us. But old wineskins won't cut it. I'm praying that God would continue to raise up a generation of right-brain leaders who dare to be different.