Improvisation as Church Functioning...
From a response to a blog post:
Great question and response...What I hope to do is be a part of the 'new' paradigm while honoring the 'old' paradigm but never getting clingy to ANY paradigm because God is above all of them.
I used to perform improvisational comedy...The basic tenants of Improv include: Focus, Listening, Putting the other performer/s above yourself (you are not there to make YOU look good or be the star), Agreement and Offering (also called 'Yes..and...' which helps to move the story or scene forward)..If you get too stuck on what YOU want the scene or story to look like and fail to respect your scene partner/s, you greatly impinge the flow of the story or scene. You also make everyone else have to work harder to protect the integrity of the story or scene. Each performer has their own strengths and weaknesses, their own improvisational style, their own unique selves - and when improv works, everyone flows in a wonderful synergy (think of the best stuff you have seen on the show "Whose Line is it anyway?"...am I right?! :) )...
One of my mottos has become 'Life is Improv' because I think these are principals that can be universally applied. I also think that they apply to church functioning...If we all agree that the task at hand (the main plot of the story or scene if you will) is to bring the light of Christ to the world, then the best way to do that is to honor each other and work together in the flow of the Holy Spirit.
Great question and response...What I hope to do is be a part of the 'new' paradigm while honoring the 'old' paradigm but never getting clingy to ANY paradigm because God is above all of them.
I used to perform improvisational comedy...The basic tenants of Improv include: Focus, Listening, Putting the other performer/s above yourself (you are not there to make YOU look good or be the star), Agreement and Offering (also called 'Yes..and...' which helps to move the story or scene forward)..If you get too stuck on what YOU want the scene or story to look like and fail to respect your scene partner/s, you greatly impinge the flow of the story or scene. You also make everyone else have to work harder to protect the integrity of the story or scene. Each performer has their own strengths and weaknesses, their own improvisational style, their own unique selves - and when improv works, everyone flows in a wonderful synergy (think of the best stuff you have seen on the show "Whose Line is it anyway?"...am I right?! :) )...
One of my mottos has become 'Life is Improv' because I think these are principals that can be universally applied. I also think that they apply to church functioning...If we all agree that the task at hand (the main plot of the story or scene if you will) is to bring the light of Christ to the world, then the best way to do that is to honor each other and work together in the flow of the Holy Spirit.
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