The next cultural worldview that we learned about in the NEW FORM conference was that of "LIQUIDITY" or in other words the sense of being on the move... Getting in and out quickly and easily in our culture is valued. This worldview is seen in job outsourcing, smaller families, rise in mobility and a sense of things and people in our lives coming and going.

This impacts the church by:
> Developing a focus on short term programming rather than a development of community and deeper growth.
> A loss in the sense of wholeness...people feeling fragmented and replaceable.
> Larger scaled undertakings and visions are prohibited by the effort required and the lack of long term involvement.

The Gospel alternative:
> Resist quick fixes
> Recapture the vision of us being connected together - rooted together - like the BODY or the VINE. We are connected!
> Our lives are not episodes, but rather part of a larger story.
> Finding and affirming the use of spiritual gifts.
> Learning to wait on God.

Implications for the form of the church:
> Helping people move into different layers of commitment.
> Helping people find their God given gifts.
> Learn from our elders.
> Celebrate anniversaries.
> Tell stories and how people are connected.
> Affirm flexibility and continuity.

Anyways - in our on the go, interchangeable worldview and values the church is in danger of doing a lot of sprinting and shallow ministry. We do face barriers in people coming and going and people not seeing how significant it is to be connected like we are. These thoughts did not capture me as much but I did think the challenge of short term commitments and a loss of deep belonging is something that is a concern for churches as we continue onward.

How can we help the Body of Christ recognize their deep connectedness and uniqueness in a world that we see ourselves as interchangeable parts. How can we focus on deeper longer termed growth in the lives of people when the pull is for quick short term experiences and a lack of patience.

I personally struggle with this myself... I am underestimating how connected we truly are and the kind of deep impact that can be made by long term work... This has not been an exciting post, but I wanted to write down some notes from the conference...

BUSY WEEKEND AHEAD!!!!!!!!

sd