in:TENSION

One of the reasons I've been chewing on the idea of tension is because of Alan Roxburgh. During the Emergent Conference, he and Doug Pagitt spoke on the reality of the Church. Alan unpacked the story of the Isralites during the Exodus. God'c chosen people leave Egypt and head for the Promised Land. And yet, they meet the unexpected life of the desert and complain, desiring to return to Egypt instead. Alan said, "You and I have left Egypt, the Promised Land lies in our future, but the desert is our present situation. What are we going to do about it? Complain and desire to return to the 'glory days' of how things have been done or learn to embrace and enjoy the journey itself, the journey in the desert?" The tension of leaving Egypt behind and yearning for the Promised Land ahead.

Later in that same session, a comment was made by a guy named Jason who said that he and his ministry were "dancing in the tension of what discipleship looked like." That comment stuck with me, dancing in the tension... I approached Jason and told him that his comment had grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go.

Upon returning from the conference, we had an all-day Pierced staff off-site meeting. I brought up this idea and asked the team to list the tensions we minister in in the community of faith (defined by the two extremes at either end of the spectrum). The next day I asked our leadership team the same question. This exercise resulting in some incredibly fruitful and beneficial conversation with our staff and our leadership team.

Here is a compiled list of both of those conversations:

Mystery/Explanation

Tradition/Non-tradition

Over-exacting end/directionless wandering

Knowing exactly where we are headed/not having a clue where we're headed.

Familiarity/Unpredictability

Shoddiness/Over-excellence

Our role/The Holy Spirit's role

Quality/Quantity

Waiting on God/stepping out in faith

Comfortable, inviting environment/"In your face," challenging environment

Safety/Danger

Being/Doing

Worshipping in all Spirit/Worshipping in all Truth

Over-organization/Chaos

Apathy/Arrogance

Idealism/Reality

Constant discouragement/complacency

Knowing how far we've come/Knowing how far we have to go

"Mother church" Homogeny/Pierced Independence

"Seeker-sensitive" teaching/Deep, exegetical teaching

Overly-polished service/a service where we "wing it."

Relevant/ancient

All 20-somethings ("us")/All people of all ages ("them")

Breadth/Depth

Now it's your turn. We need your help: are there any other elements of tension we should consider adding to this list?

Comments

[J.R.]

P.S. I thought about from an individual perspective: what tension do I find myself in with my leadership philosophy? After much thought, I came up with this simple paradigm:

Influencing everything we do/influencing nothing we do.

[Rich]

As a Worship Leader, How about the tension between:

Pleasing Everyone/Pleasing God

[Rick Holman]

Hey J.R.

There is an interesting book called "Polarity Management" that deals with the tension of dealing with opposites. The author, Barry Johnson, has built a consulting practice around helping organizations distinguish between problems to be solved and polarities to be managed.

This notion speaks directly to your concept of tension, and I think you might find it useful to deepen your exploration. Polarities do not go away. Each pole of a polarity, centralized vs. decentralized for example, have both an upside and a downside. These polarities can also be thought of as dilemmas.

The way to handle a dilemma is not to think of it as a static construct where one must choose one pole or the other. Rather, think of them as dynamic processes with each extreme having both an upside and a downside. In other words, apply it to the situation at hand understanding that you get the good with the bad and be ready to adjust when needed.

Dilemmas can never be solved, they can only be dissolved by going to a higher level of understanding. Hope this helps. What do you think? (I have the book if you want to look at it)

[Jon]

Rick,

Yes, I have read that book by Johnson. A good one. (Sorry, J.R. -- your ideas aren't orginal...but they are good!)

I've been thinking a lot about the tension I find myself in in every area of my life...there is a lot more there than we realize, if we only look for em.

Jon

[nate hulfish]

reflecting last night as i sat through an elder board (bored?) meeting, i would add the tension between creativity and control (especially when it comes to leadership)...

i believe there is a tension between allowing/encouraging disciples to creativly minister and express their faith and as a leader ensuring (controlling) that they are remaining true to the truth of the entire gospel...

if creativity and control are not held in tension...you swing toward unorthodoxy (too much creativity) or leagalism (too much control)...

[J.R.]

Good addition, Nate. Very important to live in that tension. I'll add it to the list.