A Great Innovator Sleeps

Something is stirring, not yet awake. It hides in the deep. It is ancient, but always new. It sleeps in our souls waiting for true need. It has been kept silent by complacency and comfort within safe walls. Its time has come.

It used to live in the heart of the church - the unwanted, but always needed churning of inspiration that sparks change. It is innovation.

I have a theory. My wife has a friend who made the comment that the church has been an innovator in the past. That got me thinking...

1. Why isn't the church known as an innovator now?
2. What effects have we seen from this lack of innovation?

My theory: The church became irrelevant to culture when it stopped being an innovator.

Historically, the church has either made, or prompted some great innovations. The printing press was made to help widen the distribution of the Bible. Great architectural advancements came from problem-solving cathedral engineers. Our education system in America began in the church. Music education, music notation, and many innovations in musical style were born from her people. The message of salvation was spread throughout the world thanks to new ways of communicating God's love to previously unknown cultures. The church gave western society its cultural foundations.

Granted, the church has always fought change, which has the effect of killing innovation. Nonetheless, the innovators kept going knowing that what they were doing would keep the church at the forefront of cultural change.

I may be wrong here, but I believe that this all gradually stopped when innovation began coming more from outside the church than from inside. When a church member created something new, whether the church overall liked the change or not, they gave it at least some credit because it came from a fellow Christian. But when it came from secular society, it was an outsider, shunned (and in some cases called heresy and its creator sent to an untimely end). We fought it too hard, and lost the battle (or just gave up). At that point, the church began losing its cultural footing, and instead of leading culture, has been struggling against culture ever since.

Whoever does the innovation directs culture. We've seen a major cultural shift taking place since the 60's, which the church began really responding to in the 90's. That shift is called Postmodernism, led by technological innovation mixed with humanistic innovation. People long for a kind of ancient, holistic, spiritual connection through their cutting-edge hardware. Whole (sub)cultures have developed in the new social cyberspace. However, many churches ignore it or scoff at it. But these churches cannot fight the Postmodern wave that is hitting hard. Because they are not an innovator, they do not have the social clout needed to direct the flood - only bend or break with it. Only churches that adjust will survive. The ones that don't will dwindle into a footnote in history, if that. He who innovates wins.

We need to begin innovating again, even if on a personal level: meeting the needs around us. In the animated film, Robots, Mr. Bigweld is known for his statement, "See a need, fill a need." Jesus spoke of this when he said, "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'" (Matthew 25:34-36, NIV)

How many of us really fill needs? We've been lulled into believing that government programs, social organizations, and philanthropists should make sure that needs are met. "It's their job," but what happens when they can't fill all the needs? Do we step in and do what the Bible says we must? I'm ashamed to say that I don't. And thus, I pull no weight in culture. If the church innovates and invents ways of filling a need in our society, we can shape culture. If we don't, culture shapes us. Many churches don't. My church doesn't. I don't. But I need to.

Let's innovate. Let's use the tools that secular society has created (because we haven't) within the context of the culture that society has created (instead of ignoring it or scoffing at it) to spread hope, to innovate, to become a culture shaper within our society again. Give up on our bliss of ignorant nostalgia, and wake up! Perhaps that might even lead to the church getting on even footing with culture instead of being decades behind, and possibly once again moving into the innovator role! The sleeping innovator in us has to wake up, or we'll become blissfully insignificant to those who really need us.