Think Outside the Box

It's impossible to think outside the box if we never get outside the box. Maybe that's why Jesus did so little discipleship inside the four walls of the religious institutions and so much discipleship on the road and on the go.

Yesterday, I headed to NYC for a quick day trip with a couple of friends. I've been wanting to go to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) for a while. Knowing that Ryan would rather watch paint dry in the basement than gaze at Matisse, I decided to spare him the drudgery and went with two artist friends.

It was visual overload. So many significant pieces. Picasso, Matisse, Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Miro, Duchamps, Dali, Seurat, Warhol...room after room. Works that changed art history, culture, and even a little bit in the way I see the world. My synapses were firing in a million different directions. I don't know what it all means yet, but I know I engaged in a lot of thinking outside my usual box and that will ultimately translate into new metaphors and stories that will inform how I approach ministry. And perhaps more importantly, how I live as a human being stumbling through life trying to love God and love people better.

If we want to do ministry that is innovative and creative, then we have to hit escape velocity from our traditional ministry environments. We need to get into movie theaters and art museums and history books and nature and environments that spark activity in the parts of our brain that aren't often accessed. It will give us more to see.