Something Beautiful
renewing and emergingArchive for Leadership
Community Building Offline
George Oates from Flickr has an outstanding article about online community building over at A List Apart. What resonates with me most is the relevance of Oates’ thoughts for those of us building communities in the offline world. In particular, I wonder what the church might look like if we considered the fact that 95% of what people interact with online is generated by other users, not site administrators. We could hardly say the same thing of religious worship services, Bible studies, etc. Here’s a quick taste of what Oates has to say, I hope it wets your appetite:
People don’t like being told what to do. We like to explore, change things around, and make a place our own. Hefty design challenges await the makers of websites where people feel free to engage; both with the system itself and with each other. Embrace the idea that people will warp and stretch your site in ways you can’t predict—they’ll surprise you with their creativity and make something wonderful with what you provide.
–George Oates
Words that do not teach…
I’m loving Augustine these days. Granted, he did irreparable harm to Christian ideals regarding sexuality, but he said a lot of good stuff too. I draw your attention to this little nugget:
“Whoever teaches, therefore, should avoid all words that do not teach… It is a noteworthy quality to love the truth in words, not the words themselves. For what use is a golden key if it cannot unlock what we desire? And what is wrong with a wooden key, if it can unlock what we desire, when we wish nothing but to open what is closed.” (Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, Book 4)
Two ways…
It occurs to me that there are at least two ways to pastor: 1) To interpret the world on behalf of the people; 2) To give the people tools with which to interpret the world.
Perhaps, a third, best option is to reveal to people the tools that have been part of ones own journey, the ways in which they have been used both wisely and poorly, then to let the people choose for themselves.
