Differences and differences. Recently a friend of mine decided to move out of his established circle of professional influence and into another. As I sat down with him and we debriefed it he said something interesting and I want to summarize our discussion.
Basically, we have two choices in whatever we do:
To affect change where we are.
We become a part of the system we are in, emerge ourselves, and bring about the change we want through slow, meticulous process. This train of thought and action has the strength of safety, of shepherding, and of gentleness. Those who choose this path are the unsung heroes who preserve unity and affect slow, safe change. It is not good nor bad, it is simply a track that some choose to follow.
To move outside the system to affect change.
Author Clive Cussler tells in his autobiography about how he became an author of pure adventure/action novels: he wanted to do it and no one else was doing it. Herein lies the more dangerous path. This is the path that leads only to the “penthouse or the outhouse”- these people will either see wild success (my friend Micah Kephart) or crash and burn like a dying star (thereby becoming cautionary tales like Mickey Rourke).
Now, summarized we see the choices before us. Both will bring change, one fast yet unsure, one slow and steady but (to some degree) certain.
This is not an attempt to paint heroes and cowards but rather to encourage the reader to consider both their current position and desired path. The church and world desperately need both types of people, desperately needs them to partner and appreciate each other. The processors must see the prophets and iconoclasts as necessary to push and pull organizations faster than they are comfortable with because all organizations trend towards bureaucracy…. And the movers and shakers must- at times- move a little slower than they would like in order to get the processors to come with them so that they are (as John Maxwell once said) “leading and not taking a walk”.
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