Limitations - Softcover

Seeing Church Through the Prism of Corporation  (An Excerpt from Limitations)

When people conclude--even without consciously thinking about it--that it is possible to pick up ekklesia, refer to it as church, and then move it inside the operational and cultural apparatus of corporation, the implications are far-reaching. The ekklesia, like the young watermelon we looked at in an earlier chapter, ends up being placed inside a glass-like container, and by virtue of that fact, is compelled to take on the shape of the container. Our understanding of church thus becomes characterized by the features of corporation and all that it implies.

By virtue of what a corporation is, its DNA supplies a never ending propensity to focus on leadership, performance, and function. The culture of corporation--any corporation--is predisposed to look for ways to establish processes, measure success, and quantify results. This is one of the reasons so many church corporations are quick to think in terms of "values," and the way human power sources might be harnessed in order to promote those values.

Many church members, and especially church leaders, thus find themselves quietly--and often unknowingly--drawn to the place where they set a higher priority on values, and the quantifiable results of promoting those values, than they do on humility, transparent relationship, and hearing the Father's voice.

From the Preface:

Over the years, many books have passed through our home. Most of them, Becky and I have read and then given away, loaned out and never gotten back, or sold at yard sales. On a shelf in our bedroom, we have a small collection of "keepers" that we cherish and don't lend to anyone. There are only about 30 volumes there--books like The Believers New Covenant by Andrew Murray, You Can Hear the Voice of God by Steve Sampson, and The Green Letters by Miles Stanford.

I think we prize these books for the perspective they present, rather than the information they contain. Such a distinction may sound vague, but it is significant. Being better informed is good, and to be valued, but more knowledge about something doesn't necessarily change what we see; only the precision with which we see it.

Perspective is different. Perspective doesn't focus on the precision of our sight so much as it does the angle of our sight. A man perched atop a mountain will see things differently than when he is standing in the valley, or staying at a cabin that is halfway up the slope, surrounded by a grove of trees. And in the same way that our perspective of the landscape can change, depending on our line of sight, so too can our perspective toward other things.

This is a book about perspective.