Tension

"When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and I am suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer." The Ragamuffin Gospel, by Brennan Manning

Who doesn't resonate with that? I know I do. We're all schizophrenic. Not just personally, but corporately. We are constantly balancing (at least we should be) tension in our environments.

As an example, here are three areas of tension we work to effectively balance at Granger:

1. The balance between information and inspiration. People don't need more information. They need inspiration. How do we inspire people with the right information that inspires them to take their next step?
2. The balance between the buzz of a big crowd and intimacy with friends. People like being part of a larger community; being "where it's at". But they process and grow in relationships with friends. How do we create spaces where relationships can happen?
3. The balance between authentic and excellent. In a consumer, media-oriented environment, people expect to engage with quality elements in art and technology. How can we capture attention and avoid gimmicks?
   

What tension do you struggle to balance in your environments? Are you aware of the paradoxes that exist? If not, that should be your first step.

[Repost from May 2005 - still crazy  applicable after all these years.]

Comments

[Johnny Carr]

I like this. Thanks for sharing. I thought I was the only one with a spiritual chemical in-balance!

[Jeremy Scheller]

you should take a blogging hiatus more often. this is good stuff...

[Crystal Renaud]

As you may know, we just formed a communications team at our church. Consisting of two full-time and might I add, wonderfully amazing people... (anne and myself)... :-) and have made a lot of changes recently.

With those changes, I think we have the possibility of have running into problems with #3, not in the "worship experience" part of it, but in our new kind of communication. We have to be careful to not get so caught up in the “marketing” that we lose sight of the “consumer” and the “product we’re selling.” (notice the obvious quotes I am using)…

We have a very materialistic and "me-driven" community around our church. These people expect nothing but excellence from everything – the best this, the best that – even from church. So, how do we draw them in? Have you read Purple Cow? Anne has taught me and I have learned a lot about "marketing for our consumers" recently. Even though we have to be careful with the word "marketing" we do have to compete with what the “world of America” has to offer. The church offers the most amazing story ever told – but can’t “sell” it without the people to “buy” it.

Not sure if this completely relates to your post, but I just started rambling.