Lessons the Church can learn from Delta Force
Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 10:41AM What can the Church learn from a former Delta Force commander who has served behind enemy lines in Bosnia and Afganistan in a variety of special op's situations? A guy who knows how to operate at the cusp of life and death?
Delta Force is arguable the most elite counter-terrorism force in the world. I read Pete Blaber's book, The Mission, The Men, and Me for the fun of it, and the vicarious partication in his full-throtled adventures; but discovered something about why the Church gets broken and fails to function as an organic, highly effective organism.
One of Blabers central tenets in the book is, "organize for the mission." Rather than applying a rigid, predetermined hierarchy over the top of all our activity, it's far better to let the mission inform our organizing and the way we gather. As a tangential principle, Blaber also suggests that those in leadership "listen to the guy on the ground" because that guy has context-- firsthand, tacit knowledge of what's going on. So why not ask him or her, "What's your recommendation?" suggests the Delta Force commander ...and take that recommendation seriously.
When your fellowship or team asks, "How are we going to do this? How are we going to accomplish the mission of Jesus?" don't get lulled into the familiar modes of rigid and inflexible organizing. Allow the mission of Jesus to determine the "how." Will the way you go about it allow you to be light and mobile, adaptable and flexible? Or will it force shackle you into institutional and time-honored structures that serve no one but those at the top?
More specifically, when launching into a specific mission, the one Jesus has asked you to follow him into, ask, "How does the nature of this specific mission direct how we organize, gather, and function together? How will we relate to each other because of this particular mission? How will decisions be made and leadership lived out?
What do you think are some clues from Jesus' own sense of mission, and how he "organized" his band of disciples? How is this different than most organizational approaches, most ideas about Church?
Reader Comments (2)
Great post, Jim!
Unfortunately, the institutional church is always the last to change. Although something has long lost its life, the IC will continue to do it because it's always been done the way.
I wish more leaders would ask the person out in the field for their recommendations and take them seriously when making a decision. It seems in all areas of life including the church, decisions are being made by people who are far removed from the action and may have absolutely no idea of how their decisions will impact the guy out in the field.
In the church, we spend years studying and doing things that have absolutely no relevance to the world we face throughout the week. Having stepped away from all of the religious programming, I've found that each situation requires staying tuned to the voice of the Spirit speaking in my heart. In the institution, I didn't need Him. I had the Bible and the pastor.
Hi Aida. Your right, much of the Church is disconnected from the context in which they operate. It's the whole bubble mentality. The Enemy just laughs.