Re-think, Repent, Reimagine...Renew?

My brother-in-law, an excellent blogger, recently suggested I should get a blog. I didn't have the heart to tell him I already had one but so rarely posted on it that it wasn't worth putting out there. But, it got me thinking...so I decided to start posting a bit more often (say, once a month instead of once a year?). So here goes...

A friend recently began an excellent conversation about "The New GM" and lessons for churches. I think he hit the nail on the head and so I wanted to share his wisdom. As I got ready to hit the "share with note" button on my google reader, I realized I had seen this video before except a bit longer and without the rah-rah America imagery...the "Re-think Church" video now being pushed by my very own church, the United Methodist Church. I've posted both below and I encourage you to watch them in succession to see the similarities...





Pretty good ads, huh? And it would be great if these organizations actually live up to their media campaigns. Both ads show at least a modicum of confession and move toward repentance (although, sadly, GM does a better job of taking responsibility for its own culpability than the UMC does) and both look forward to a vision for renewal of their organization. And both, implicitly, look to a brighter future for the entire planet. Good news indeed.

But that's where my schizophrenic nature to be both idealistic and cynical reared its ugly head. The problem I see with these campaigns lies with the tendency for institutions to maintain the status quo rather than move beyond themselves (call it Jaynes' First Law of Institutional Dynamics). For example, see just about any "movement" that has become an instution, from the church, to the US government, to starbucks.

And, sadly, we've all seen this tendency in action. The United Methodist Church had another ad campaign (not completely retired) suggesting we had "Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors." All it takes is a quick search of youtube for "united methodist amendments" and you can see that we are still fighting about just how "open" we want to be...years later. And GM is not free from focus on maintaining its own institution either. They were supposed to use the $20 billion in bailout money to "reimagine" and prevent them from bankruptcy...instead, as Jon Stewart notes in this typically insightful clip, they "pimped their building" (not really, but seriously...where did that money go?).

My question for both GM and the UMC (and any institution that needs "re-thinking") is, how are you going to get beyond the hype campaign and actually do what you say you are going to do? When it comes to actually closing dealers (or churches) are you going to do so with grace and vision for the future? When it comes to innovation and new ideas, are you going to support innovation and innovators as your media suggests or channel them into your own vision for "what's best" for the institution? In other words, are you going to put your money where your mouth is, or just your foot?

Confession and Vision are both important, indeed crucial, to the work of repentance, but there must also be Action for the true work to be accomplished (see the series of posts from a friend on Wesleyan sanctification theology). I like that GM is re-imagining its brand structure and models. And I am ecstatic that the UMC is wanting to re-think church so that we are more missional. But, the cynic in me says "believe it when you see it."

Let's hope we all "see it" soon. It is, at least, a good start.