August 4 Krum Star Article
"A Conspiracy of Goodness"
A metaphor, according to www.dictionary.com
is “A figure of speech in which a word or phrase
that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate
another.” In other words, a metaphor is a kind of
short-hand where one thing is substituted for another
and in the process, gives us a lot of information about
the topic. For example, when Shakespeare says, "All
the world is a stage" he give us in that one phrase
a huge picture of how life really is lived in the public
eye and that we are all actors and participants in a much
larger drama, and a drama observed by others.
Multiple metaphors are used
to describe the church. Things like: "mission outpost,
army of God, garden, family, country club, three-ring
circus, hospital, orchestra." Individual churches
generally operate out of what may be called a "governing
metaphor" of some sort, although this overarching
metaphor may not be well-articulated or even discussed.
Peter Senge, in his great book, The Fifth Discipline,
called these metaphor “mental models.” Those
models/metaphors always exist and always, whether spoken
or unspoken, direct the way the church or organization
operates.
For example, take the common
one, "We are a family church,” i.e., the governing
metaphor is family. Consider how families operate: there
are definite insiders and outsiders, but with generally
clear ways for those on the out to come in, especially
in healthy families. We often see long-held shared family
stories that bind people closely but that may not be shared
openly with those on the periphery. Family churches tend
to be warm and friendly places that put a high value on
knowing the names of everyone who comes in, something
that may unintentionally keep the congregation small.
Every governing metaphor operates somewhat like this.
A metaphor for church that
I’ve heard recently intrigues me. It’s been
termed “A Conspiracy of Goodness.” I’ve
often wondered how a church would operate with this as
the governing model where every action, thought, word,
and deed conspire to bring about goodness. Join us on
Sunday—we’ll talk about it then.
