Old School Innovation

In my last post I gave you some background on why you can help me and I caught you up to speed concerning a ministry that I believe God wants us to pursue. Now, I will expound on the “first” aspect of this potential ministry, but first allow me to explain how I’ve approached this topic.

A decent portion of my education dealt with the controversial task of introducing new and complex innovations into established cultures. There are, predictably, approaches to this issue that hail from disciplines as varied as psychology, sociology, marketing, ethics, political science, and anthropology. As I sat in class or had my nose in books I always tended to imagine what the Unchanging One would think of these perspectives on change. Isn’t it interesting that God is sanctifying his children in a world that is going to burn one day? We can have so much hope for peace in Him, yet this world will have wars and suffering until the end of time. My education couldn’t offer satisfying practical advice, but just provided dilemmas of its own. In Political Science we learned to brandish as Fundamentalist any notions that something in the past, like the early church, is worth emulating. Yet any radical musings that hoped for positive change called for the stamp of Progressivism. I find this paradox especially delightful when I consider how innovation in Christian sub-culture might improve our unity, well being, and influence to the extent that we resemble the early church. This is no “Hark!” to olden times, but neither is it an attempt to harness human potential in a march to utopia. Remember, it’s no goal of mine to solve the world’s problems, but to join God in advancing His kingdom. So, let us dare to place one eye on Acts 2: 44-47, and 4: 32-37, while we consider if the following innovation could serve to help our churches be MORE UNITED, WELL CARED-FOR, and INFLUENTIAL …

With these goals in mind, let us put to use some sort of interactive website to communicate the supply and demand of goods and services among Christians. Side Note #1: I think the best way to create and manage such a thing is a non-profit organization, but that discussion is for another day.

Now for the nuts and bolts, keep the above goals in mind when thinking about these: One function of the site could be as a “Registry of Help”. The agency could encourage Christians in a group to register their material belongings and non-material skills, services, and expertise, making them available for others to borrow or utilize as needed. A person with a particular need can communicate that need to the agency, by either searching the site or directly contacting the agency, whichever is most appropriate. The users most immediate sphere (small group or team) will first be searched for the desired help, if this group cannot meet the need, the search will continue to the user’s church, followed by the user’s community of churches, until the need is met. If no solution is registered with the agency, then a request for help can be sent out via the same order of priority. Also, when unexpected and especially urgent needs arise the agency could mobilize a rapid and strong relief effort through its member network.

God has blessed His body with many human resources. These spiritual and vocational gifts can really serve to meet our goals if properly utilized. Just a few examples of services that the agency could network include the following:
-Counseling: Both lay and clergy counselors could register their particular gifts and experiences so Christians in need of such help could efficiently and confidentially find the best help for them.
-Mediation/Arbitration: Connect Christians in conflict with unbiased third-parties who are willing and able to assist in solving differences outside of the public’s eye (1 Cor 6).
-Childcare: Connect volunteers with other users who may need but cannot afford childcare. (Could some church offer a class to train and endorse the childcare providers?)
-Employment: Connect the Christian employers with users who are unemployed/underemployed.
-Business: Register the Christian-run businesses in the area so users can choose to patronize them.

Many needs and resources are, however, purely financial. By allowing users to donate and request money, the site could fulfill a similar role as that of the “Apostle’s feet” from Acts 4:34-35. Money may be received, managed, and distributed according to needs as interest free micro-loans, emergency funds, or ministry donations. Of course, the intention would not be to replace regular tithing to users’ own churches. This function could be especially helpful if it ran a consignment shop that, for a fee, sells peoples goods for them (on eBay or Amazon, for example, as a way for the agency to have earned income). It could also receive goods as a donation in-kind, sell the items, and place the proceeds into the “Apostle’s feet” account to be distributed.

There are two other possible features that others have mentioned would be useful, both of which would serve well to get groups initially involved with the agency, especially the website. The first would allow users to coordinate social activities through an interactive calendar program that allows them to automatically sync their church or small group events calendar with their personal schedules. The second would be to host some kind of work-flow collaboration program that, for example, could help student organizations work together to draft new constitutions and by-laws in accordance with the new ISU Student Organization Recognition Policy.

Thus far, those are the ideas that have arisen for using innovation as an aid for better UNITY, CARE, and INFLUENCE in our churches. There are, of course, some things we need to be cautious about. For instance, we ought to take measures to protect the security of people’s belongings, and to discourage this service from becoming just another marketplace. The organization must also be sure it is serving to strengthen, and not to undermine, each of the church families it partners with. There may also naturally be some negative connotations with this since its basically an e-Commune. That said, solutions are workable and no doubt I’ve missed some other possible functions or considerations, so now is your chance to communicate them.

Side Note #2: The potential scope of the site really excites me, but realistically it would initially serve just a few interested small groups. In time, however, it could expand church wide, and eventually encompasses many Churches within Ames. If things prove effective, it seems reasonable to eventually expand into other cities, maybe starting with those with Great Commission Churches.

There is a “second” aspect of this potential ministry that is essentially the OUTWARD effect of achieving greater unity, compassion and influence: being used by God to prepare people for the Gospel through networking and equipping social ministries. The website concept may also have some functions in that realm but I’ll leave that to my next post. I will then discuss the niche that the outreach ministry will fill, how it ought to partner with existing ministries, and why I believe its mission is unique. I will also attempt to lay out a sort of scriptural defense of why I believe God is interested in using social ministry to prepare people for the Gospel, and why the particular approach I’m suggesting is likely to be used by God most effectively, as an addition to what the church is already doing. Till then, PEACE, LOVE, UNITY, and EFFECTIVENESS.