Ed Young of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas writes about creative tension for Leadership Journal. He focuses on three areas:
1) Exellence vs. Expense
“In today’s technology-crazed world, it’s tempting to keep buying the hottest equipment. But does that purchase serve a higher purpose, helping reach people more effectively, or is it just a cool toy for your team to play with? You don’t have to buy high-end gear to be cutting edge. Yes, you may have to spend some money for technology. But you can be creative without being a large, wealthy church.”
2) Spontaneity vs. Structure
“In order to connect with people, we’ve got to find the sweet spot that incorporates passion, personality, and performance. Plan what you want to say, how you are going to say it, and where you want to lead your audience. But then be flexible enough to make changes if it’s not working.”
3) Consistency vs. Change
“We’ve made clear at Fellowship that things will constantly change. It’s what I call being consistently inconsistent. The message will not change, but how we communicate it will, so we can reach a variety of people in a variety of ways. Every time you talk about the vision of your church, which should be often, reinforce this idea of change.”
James VanDyke
April 15, 2005
I’d like to debate Ed’s first point. While there is truth there, I’m not sure this message is one that most churches need to hear.
One of the reasons that this website has a following is that churches are very good at cutting costs. I think churches swing too far though trying to cut corners. They end up hurting the effectiveness of their efforts.
Fellowship may not need to spend huge amounts of money on the latest gear but that’s because they’ve already made heavy investments to be able to create creative messages that really communicate. In the full article, two of the examples he picks would be impossible without expensive investments.
I think Ed may have missed the real message that many churches need to hear. Like all good things excellence is hard work. And as the adage goes, ‘You have to pick between good, cheap and quick because while you can have any two; you’ll never be able to get all three.’