The Thomas Question Next Step Research Project, Saabs and Fighter Jets

Any process is defined by the creative limits of the individuals involved in it.  As an example, consider what would happen if you took a group of people that normally designed fighter jets and asked them to build a car.  You’d get an entirely different perspective.  And according to Saab USA, this is exactly what you get when you buy one of their cars because the company was founded by 16 aircraft engineers.  So last fall they launched a "Born from Jets" marketing campaign that features fighter jets and automobiles side by side to emphasize the point.  Their message is, "We build fighter jets.  Imagine what we can do with cars."

Consider another example:  5 times a day, every day, all over the world, more than a billion Muslims need to know where Mecca is so they can face it when they pray.  How handy is it that one over-seas cell phone manufacturer has models which include 5 daily prayer alarms and a built-in compass which points the way?  It’s a feature you’d only think to include if you got close enough to another culture to gain a whole new perspective. 

It’s a simple idea.  New products come from new perspectives, and that can only happen when we include more people in the process and really listen to each other.  It’s the only way to build phones with features you would not think to include and cars with a bit of fighter jet in them. 

Now what about church?  It’s something you build in a different way than cars and cell phones, but it’s still something you build.  And I wonder who we are listening to?  I wonder what other perspectives might be out there?  Church is often built by church leaders to look like a church because that's what a church looks like.  And only then do they ask, "Now how do we involve more people in it?" Pastors develop sermons to look like sermons because that's what sermons look like and only then do they ask, “Now how do I make it sound relevant?”  But what about new perspectives?  What about yours?  When is the last time we sat down together, church attenders and church leaders, to ask ourselves, “how have things changed?  And how should that change the church?”

Well, rather than build it first and ask those questions later, I’d rather ask them now.  Some of the best ideas I’ve ever encountered came from great conversations in a coffee shop when nothing else was planned.  And then I’m scribbling furiously on napkins to capture some idea that emerged while we were just doing life and talking to each other.  So I wonder what would happen if we just talked, outside of a usual Sunday format, about the honest issues, questions and messes we all live with?  What I’m looking for is a new perspective:  yours. 

Sunday services are great, but this is about building the rest of a great church (this is something I talked about at length last Sunday, visit www.askthequestion.ca to hear it on our podcast).  We’re designing 6 one hour Sunday morning experiences to explore new perspectives with you.  We think it’s something you won’t want to miss.  It starts with some Starbucks on Sunday July 16 at 10:00 am at the Homewood Suites on Burloak just south of the QEW in Oakville.

We hope to see you there and we hope you'll journey with us. 

CSW