Gazelle Church

I picked up a book a while back... not a very great looking book, mind you, but hey, it was fifty cents so what do you expect? Every year, my denominational publishing house has a book sale, and every year, I buy even the dumbest looking books there is the slightest chance I might read someday, just because they are super cheap... it doesn't make any sense, really. But you'd be surprised to see how many people head to the ever-popular "dock sale" to buy books they have no real intention of ever reading... that, and ratty little stuffed animals and other assorted trinkets which didn't sell at full price either.

Anyway, this book I purchased... I kinda sorta had church planting in mind when I thumbed through it, and decided what the heck... surely it's got two quarters worth of material in it, right?

Yes, actually. Maybe even a dollar's worth! It's a big fat textbook I have no intention of reading all of it. However, I was interested in the chapters on marketing, so I decided to sit down during lunch and read the first few pages to get a taste of whether this book was super boring, or only moderately boring. But page two really got my attention. This is what I read (keep in mind, I'm thinking church-planting, not business enterprise):

"Entrepreneurs have seldom received the attention and respect shown to the executives of extremely large corporations" (see, this already parallels the church "enterprise" very nicely).

But it goes on... "Entrepreneurs who are willing to take risks have been the leaders that have produced our recent economic growth... Without the drive, energies, and dedication of entrepreneurs, new business formation would never take place... Entrepreneurs have proven over and over again to be the pioneers who convert ideas into products; dreams into reality. Entrepreneurs blend creativity, innovation, and risk taking with hard work to form and nurture new ventures."

And here is my favorite quote: "J. B. Say coined the term entrepreneur around 1800 in his discussions of the entrepreneur as a person who shifts economic resources out of an area of lower productivity and into an area of higher productivity and higher yield. He postulated that the major role of the entrepreneur was to exploit change, not by doing things better but by doing something different. He viewed the entrepreneur as someone in society who upsets and disorganizes the status quo."

Wow, change out 'entrepreneur' with 'church planter' and the productivity terms with spiritual terms... and you have a pretty good definition of the emerging church: Small, risk-taking, more flexible, willing to do things differently... shifting resources out of lower spirituality into higher spirituality, exploiting change, not by doing things better, but doing things differently! In essence, rejecting the status-quo (just because 'we've always done it that way').

Finally, the interesting, yet rather wordy intro had one more thing to say that I found very appropriate to church planting. Quoting David Birch, the author divides economic companies into three classes: Elephants, Mice and Gazelles. The Elephants are the very big, slow growth companies that are unresponsive to the economy. Mice are the small, self-employment, no-growth 'Mom and Pop' companies. And Gazelles are the new ventures that grow rapidly, tend to locate in select 'feeding places,' and are significantly innovative.

Hmmmm... I don't necessarily want to equate numerical growth of a church with financial growth of a business (though I must admit, there is an inherent connection)... but I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I want the church I serve in to be as fast and graceful in the kingdom as a gazelle in the grasslands. I want to take risks... I want to live dangerously (knowing there are predators about)... I want to analyze my new community and ask God, "What needs to happen in this place so that people who are hostile or ambivalent toward God can powerfully experience the reality of Christ?" I hope people show up in droves, of course... people hungry for something new (yet ancient), something refreshing, something, powerful, something very, very good. However, if only a handful come and want to be a part of this innovative, risk-taking, status-quo busting ministry venture in Ellensburg... then I need to be OK with that as well.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I'm excited... very, extremely, passionately excited to go 'home' again... take some risks, love people in ways they've perhaps not experienced by the Church before... and be a witness to what God intends to do in us and through us. Some Christians may be offended by our desire to be innovative, and some may even be inspired to join us in our spiritual adventure (which would be wonderful)... but frankly, our 'target audience' is not Christians... It's a highly eclectic mix of sinners who may have real concerns about church... but nevertheless hunger for the encouraging, forgiving and empowering love of Jesus the Christ. As my friend Jeff put it recently (since Ellensburg has a unique blend of cultures and personalities)... we should put a sign out front that reads, "Cowboys, Hippies & Co-Eds welcome!"

Amen, Jeff. That definitely sounds kind of weird, but very Gazelle-like to me!