18. Movements have become institutions and museums. A movement is where God does what He always does, but in greater depth than we normally see, for example the Puritans, Methodists, Charismatic movement.

Defining variables of a movement are:

(i) Young people are often at the centre of a movement – everywhere but Sydney. I'm an older guy where I'm from – but here, I'm young. Young people are often at the centre of movements – most of the Methodists were guys in their 20s, Billy Graham was 19 when he first started preaching.

(ii) "Statistically I think one of the reasons your church is so small is that your young men don't get to lead them until they are old" – and they run out of gas before they get there. You say, ‘but the young are irresponsible' – of course they are! Young men say and do stupid things, but it's good to get the losses out of the way early.

(iii) Movements are marked not just by birth, but by new birth. New churches have to be planted and you need new leaders so there can be new churches.

(iv) A lot of movements are completely unaware of their influence – "I was shocked by the number of Aussies who download my sermons."

(v) Movements have supporting organisations, such as theological colleges and publishing houses.

(vi) Usually, new movements come into existence when there's new technology. For example, the Protestant Reformation happened at the time of the printing press, Billy Graham used the advances in amplification and radio at the time he was preaching. Today, we have the internet. Old systems were based on control, but today, there is no control. "You can sit on your Macbook and even if no leader approves of it, you could communicate to the world. That changes everything." People spend more time looking at a screen than a human being. Mark Driscoll's sermons are downloaded more than 10 million times each year. "That's crazy – we could never have a meeting with 10 million people, we'd call it a country."

(vii) The movement leader embodies the values and then tells the story of the movement so that the movement has integrity into the future. They are attacked and maligned and usually not appreciated until after they're dead.

(viii) Movements become organisations, which become institutions. Innovators don't go into or come out of institutions. Institutions are marked by a fear of failure and a preservation of previous wins. "Eventually, young leaders realise that it is too cumbersome to get anything done and they leave."

(ix) If an institution doesn't come back to being an organisation or a movement, it becomes a museum. "A museum exists to tell the stories of when God used to work." A museum doesn't exist to call future leaders. So you need to ask: ‘Are we a movement, an organisation, an institution or a museum?' Do the best and brightest entrepreneurial young men want to partner with you, or are they unwilling to walk with you because they don't want to be controlled by you?"

Five ways you've gone off track:

1. Doctrinally, you have too much or too little control. You define the world so tight theologically that you don't give much flexibility.

2. Relationships – people love each other and don't want to walk away from the relationships they have with others in leadership – so the love of relationship means all seats (of opportunity) are taken.

3. Organisationally, you have too much or too little control – too much, and ministry becomes too complicated, too little and people who don't have good doctrine or character can come in.

4. Pride or ‘Not invented here syndrome' – not adapting something unless it was created by someone on your team. Your worship and service structure is painful and slow and frustrating – you need to have humility to learn from other people in other denominations and discernment to know what not to implement.

5. Failing to honour founders and future. Issues of succession are difficult and significant. The key is to honour both your founders and your future. You need to do some things differently, and you need to be innovative in what we do.

Thoughts by Andy Stanley
Recorded by Tim Stevens at Catalyst 2008

Andy Stanley closed the last session of Catalyst talking about stuff that is on his mind…

1) To reach people no one else is reaching, we have to do things no one else is doing (Craig Groeschel)

* We have 175,000 people within 10 miles of Northpoint, and we aren't reaching them. We aren't going to reach them by building another church building. We have to do something no one else is doing.
* Become preoccupied with those you want to reach rather than those you are trying to keep.

2) The best idea for reaching the next generation isn't going to come from the existing generation, it's going to come from the next generation.

* If you are over 45 years old, you aren't going to have any good ideas. It's your job to recognize the good ideas.
* Don't do to the next generation what the previous generation did to you.
* Be a student, not a critic.

3) I'm looking for what can't be done in church, but if it could be done would fundamentally change the church.

* It always used to drive me nuts that the communicator and the leader had to be the same thing.
* Multi-site solved this. Now the great leader doesn't have to be the teacher.
* Like that, you may be the one to crack the code on something no one else has figured out that will fundamentally change our "business."
* Pay attention to people who are breaking the rules. It's the rule-breakers who are oftentimes the problem solvers.

4) If we got kicked out by our board, and they hired a new guy, what would the new guy change or do different? Let's walk out the door and walk back in, and make those changes.

* The problem with ministry is that we've fallen in love with the way we've done ministry.
* It's not "no pain, no gain" — it's "no pain, no change." Without pain, there typically isn't any change.
* Ask: "Where are we manufacturing energy?" The things we aren't very excited about, it takes energy to get it done, but the results aren't stellar.
* Acknowledge what's not working. Own up to it. And own up to why you aren't willing to do anything about it. What is it you fear? You need to deal with that. It is a leadership lid for you.

5) When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near. You look back with smiles and lots to celebrate, but you don't have a lot to work forward to.

* Are you willing to be involved in the future more than the present?
* Don't let success overshadow your vision.
* Success breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure.

Link to Tim's Blog here

Summary by Kent Shaffer

Kevin Kelly of Wired magazine discussed the next 1,000 years of Christianity. Here is what he said:

A World of Change

The Internet is about 4,000 days old. Our world is changing. In
fact, no U.S. president has died under the same flag he was born under.
The future is nothing more than small changes over time.

One way to think about the next 1,000 years of Christianity is by generations. It is really not that far away.

60 generations ago was the time of Abraham.
30 generations ago was the time of Christ.
13 generations ago was 1000 A.D.

Think of the next 1,000 years of Christianity as 13 generations.
What can you do to affect the next 13 generations? A chain of 13 people.

Life in 1000 A.D.

13 generations ago there was:

• official anti-semitism in the church
• illiteracy
• few Bibles
• no change in a lifetime
• practice of indulgences

Christians were not aware of how they would shape the future, but
their focus on a God-organized world was instrumental in science. A lot
has changed in 13 generations.

In 2040 

Half a generation from now, the world will experience:

• the end of the Baby Boomers
• a shrinking world population
• China as the largest economy
• 80% of the world’s population living in cities

In fact, it is predicted that 30% of China will be Christian by 2040.

Christianity Circles the Globe

1 AD :: Christianity begins in Israel
500 AD :: Christianity’s center moves to Rome
1000 AD :: Christianity’s center moves to Europe
2000 AD :: Christianity’s center moves to North America
2500 AD :: Christianity’s center moves to Asia?

It appears that Christianity’s center is making a full circle around
the world. What happens when it has its “second coming” to Israel? 

The Future

The one thing we do know about the future is that it is possible. To
more clearly imagine it, we can mark the boundaries of extreme
possibilities.

The church largely focuses on the apocalypse as the future, but you
can focus on other scenarios without throwing out the second coming.

Examples of Possibilities

• At the rate that new Christian denominations are growing, there could be 260,000 denominations by 2100.
• Mormons are growing fast. What if they become the world majority?
• The Amish are also growing fast. Could the world become Neo-Amish?
• Around 2050, will be the first time in history where we have
  doubled the world population but are expectedly to dramatically
  decrease it.
• What happens when robots with artificial intelligence say, “I too am a child of God?”
• Transhumanity
• With genetic engineering, will we remain one species or many?
• Wikipedia does not work in theory but in practice. What about Wikichurch?
• Christianity becomes hip.
• Purple Christians (a mix of Democrats and Republicans)
• Islam in Europe

Conclusion

We have to be conscious that what we do affects future generations. We should not let unbelievers write our next 1,000 years.

Link to original article here

You can watch the entire session online here