A couple of one-liners from Leonard Sweet yesterday:
- Excellence is one of those metaphors that’s killing the church.
- Every church is built from the sound up. (The problem with the church today is that we don’t have a sound theology.)
- Interactive Excellence: it’s no longer about the quality of the performance, it’s about the quality of participation.
- The fundamental modern heresy is that it’s the trees that move the wind.
- Planet Earth is the garden of the galaxy.
- Christians are not conservationists, they’re preservationists.
- Amending a Red Green motto: “I’m a church… but I can change. If I have to… I guess.
- There are three requirements for change to take place:
- Change requires Reframing
- Change requires Big Dreams
- Change requires Emotional Engagement
Hopefully we’ll unpack some of this in the coming days; more to follow.
Len is the undisputed champion of the pithy (in the best sense of the word) insight!
I started a DMin with him, but had to drop out after one semester… I really miss interacting with him…
Bob… I was accepted into the D.Min. with Sweet at Drew — but ended up out here instead! Small world…
Bro Maynard, I’d like to suggest that there are four requirements for change to take place:
* Change requires Reframing
* Change requires Big Dreams
* Change requires Emotional Engagement
* Change requires A Thick Skin
:)
it’s so good to see that someone else is anti-excellent – it’s killing us! no where in scripture does it say to be excellent – that perfectionist mantra is one of the biggest lies the church has bought. great to know sweet is teaching against it! thanks for sharing!
oh, and great to know he watches red green! :)
To clarify, Sweet is not anti-excellence. He is anti-performing excellence, advocating participatory excellence.
Peace,
Jamie
Dude, how about a post-conference report? How did it go? How sweet was Sweet?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Overall, the event was excellent. Gerry & his PAOC buddies did a great job setting it up, and Sweet was outstanding as a speaker. Anyone needing an overall outline for the subject material from the whole event would have been severely frustrated though!
More info to follow as an overview, after which I could go back and start to unpack some thoughts stimulated by the discussion. Yup, it was sweet.