I've spent several days now listening to MPR going on about the
bailouts. And for good reasons. This is a big deal. It seems we're
witnessing the collision of several factors -- among them are a
twisted-up economy, a prolonged war, greed, corporate dishonesty, and
poor leadership. But, I believe, the most devastating and longstanding
reason is an utter failure of imagination in these corporations that
led to their inability to adjust their structure to changes in the
world around them. Consider that the big 3 auto makers have
consistently invested in SUVs and large engine models despite the fact
that demand points toward smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles.
And now these industries are coming to Congress, to the American
people, asking for a bailout. But are they going to change their
business model? Will their infrastructure be transformed to overcome
these factors that led to the present situation. Or, are we simply
propping up a system that is ultimately unsustainable?
Is it a stretch to think that this parallels what has been happening in
our church? Congregations that were formerly flourishing -- and are
still located in well-off neighborhoods -- are now floundering. We are
living in a post-denominational, post-Christian world where
participation and support for the nearby Christian church is not a
given or even necessarily all that socially acceptable -- and yet our
church budgets keep growing and growing.
And, in the midst of these -- and other -- factors, congregations come
to their membership or the diocese and ask for more -- a bailout of
sorts. If
we just had more money to hire a youth minister...If we could just run
ads in the paper...we need more congregational development
But where's the imagination? Where's the recognition that the world has
changed, people's expectations and behaviors have changed, and we --
whether we are large industries or a church -- are failing to change
with it? Are we behaving like these failed leaders in the auto and
financial industries and just trying to prop up a system that will at
some point inevitably collapse into itself?
We elected a president who ran on the banner of 'change'. The jury is
still out on how much 'change' will actually occur. But in some ways that is not the most relevant point. The point is that we as a society are crying out for
something new, something creative, something that is sustainable, that
brings us together.
Can't the church be creative enough to be that in this world? Isn't that what the Gospel calls us to do?
