My friends at Vineyard Central are discussing some changes that have really caused me to think through some issues about leadership, form, and structure in the local church. I wanted to post some excerpts of what I wrote as a response to those changes. I have great respect for them, and I think God is doing some awesome things through them. I am certainly still a work-in-progress, and I don't claim to know everything, but these are some of the fundamental things God has been showing me in the past few months. As always, let me know what you think....

Regardless of the good intentions of “leaders”, the nature of religious institutions and organizations (networks included), tends toward a subtle shift from listening and responding to God, to attempting to manage what God is doing. It is the nature of an organizational system to produce this shift. History is rife with such examples. The institution then requires some form of hierarchy to create boundaries and act as the gatekeepers of the institution. At best, a “pecking order” will arise that gives preference to the input of some at the expense of others. The questions change from “How can we listen to and follow God together?” to questions like “Who is more spiritual? Who is most gifted? Who can contribute? Who is allowed to participate as a leader?” Ultimately, there is an exchange of spiritual authority for institutional power.

I believe, in spiritual terms, there is a cost to trying to be effective. It is the cost of freedom in exchange for conformity to standards, rules and obligations (the language of institutions).

Basing our identity on a network, institution, or movement gives us a vested interest in such to succeed, and causes us to sacrifice simple relational connectedness for management, boundaries and hierarchy. It becomes increasingly easy for leaders to confuse serving and managing. Putting restrictions on what is simply “sharing Christ’s life” takes the focus off of Christ and puts it on the uniqueness of our methods, or the voices of self-appointed experts. I know that you want to see people partake in wholeness, freedom, and life. But, I don’t think that rules, regulations, methods etc. mean that people will experience that. It does not follow that if we “do Church right” that people will “act right.” We don’t need influence, money, or programs that can be managed or exploited to release the Body to do as God leads them.

Perhaps what God started, God will make effective. What God birthed, God will grow. When it is time, God will let it die, and something else will take its place.

Later I wrote:

I guess my point is that the "rules" become increasingly important when the organization/network/institution is the focus, as opposed to being focused on helping individuals know, hear, and follow Jesus, and letting the networking happen as a natural result. When the network is the focus I am not sure there can be true "equality and consensus." It is not the nature of organizations to allow that to take place. So, maybe the question is, do you really want to become a formal organization/network? I think there are other options...